We didn't talk that night.I was still hurting and way too emotional and we were all tired so we just collapsed back on my bed. I felt so warm and safe and happy and drained.
The next morning, I woke to soft murmurs. I blinked groggily and peeked up at them.
"-On the thirty-first?" Mick nodded thoughtfully.
I shifted and yawned. Both of them looked down at me.
"How are you feeling, doll?" Mick rumbled. I took stock. My arm had a dull ache and I still felt tired but the happy glow in my chest made everything feel better.
"I'm good," I told them with a happy grin. Their faces softened, smiles curving their own lips.
"Good. Hungry?" Len asked before leaning down to kiss me gently. I nodded. Mick dropped a kiss on my lips before slipping from the bed. He took most of the heat with him and I pouted. Len chuckled.
"Come on."
We got out of bed. I dropped by the bathroom before meeting them in the kitchen. Len immediately and gently pushed me into a seat and handed me a glass of water.
"Thanks...babe." I tried it out and Len and Mick both laughed. The sound filled my stomach with warm sparkles.
"Whatever you want, love." I couldn't believe I was so happy. Two gorgeous, amazing, loving men actually wanted me. I squirmed with delight.
After a hearty breakfast, (I always needed more calories during healing), Mick, Len and I settled on the couch.
"So, we should probably talk," Mick announced. I tensed reflexively.
"Am I already in trouble?" I asked meekly. They both chuckled and shook their heads. Len took my hand and laced our fingers together.
"No. But this isn't exactly your usual relationship. For it to work, we all need to have open communication. I'm sure there will be things we figure out along the way but it's important that all of us feel able to talk with each other."
"Have you ever done this before?" My stomach churned a bit as I asked the question. They didn't lie.
"Yeah," Len told me. "Once. it didn't work out." His face darkened a bit and I bit my lip.
"Was it because there were three of you?" I asked sadly. Mick rubbed my knee comfortingly.
"No. It was because the other guy was a dick."
I sighed in relief. His thumb made soothing circles into my skin and I hummed.
"Well, you two are the experts. How does this conversation go?" Len seemed to snap out of it. He smiled and kissed my cheek.
"Alright, let's talk." And we did. For hours. First, they explained how they saw this relationship going, (they'd been together for years and hadn't been tempted to let someone else in often. Only me and the mystery jerk). To the public, this would be considered an open relationship but they assured me that they didn't want anyone else.
"You're it for us, dollface," Mick said with a wink. I wriggled in delight and they both grinned.
"Are you alright with that? A committed relationship with the two of us."
It was a serious question and I could tell Len wanted a serious answer but I didn't need to think about it for long. I wanted this. Just the three of us. I couldn't imagine ever wanting someone other than these two.
"Yes." A sense of relief came over the two of them.
"Good. Because we don't intend on sharing you with anyone else," Mick rumbled a bit darkly. The phrase filled my chest with warmth. "You're ours."
I'd always thought possessiveness would make me bristle but there was something in the way Mick said it that just made me shiver.
We kept talking until they brought up boundaries. I bit my lip as they asked what my boundaries might be.
"Like...sex?" I was mortified by the squeak in my voice but neither of them laughed. Mick rubbed my knee again and Len squeezed my hand.
"That's part of it," Len said gently. "But not all of it. It's about how the three of us want to be treated individually, about how we can settle into this together and-" A knock came at the door. I startled. I hadn't been expecting anyone. Len and Mick both tensed.
I stood and hesitated at the knob, glancing back at them. They seemed to understand and slipped to the wall behind the door.
I opened the door and was surprised to see Barry. He'd never visited my apartment before. His brown eyes were wide and worried.
"Barry? You ok?"
"Am I ok? Am I ok?!" I startled at his raised voice. "Why am I just finding out that you went to the hospital for a gunshot?!"
I blinked.
"What?" My voice sounded strange, flat and dangerous. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mick shift. Len caught my gaze briefly and he gave me a reassuring nod. Barry crossed his arms.
"Four days ago you were in the hospital. I can see the bandage!" I glanced at my shoulder. I was only wearing a tank top. "Why didn't you tell me?!"
All my nice, warm feelings were gone now. Only to be replaced with something boiling hot.
"Didn't tell you." My temper spiked, making my voice waver. "Didn't tell you?! I called Joe the night someone broke in but he was too busy. All of you were too busy. Why do you think I left seven messages on your phone, Barry? I've been calling everyone but no one has picked up!" Barry's face went a little slack. He tried to stammer some excuse but I suddenly felt tears spring to my eyes.
"You know what? I'm done. I can't do this anymore. Being ignored by everybody, getting hurt without anyone noticing or caring. It's over. Don't call me for any more hero stuff. I can't do it. I won't do it. And you know what, how about you all just keep leaving me alone. I think I like it better that way." '
With that, I slammed the door in his face and threw the lock. I even put up the chain to be safe. I whirled around, angry tears streaking down my face. Len and Mick stood there, arms held out to me.
I pressed into their embrace. They wrapped around me, held me close and let me cry.
It took me a while to calm down. Barry knocked on the door for a while but eventually left. I ranted for a while until my temper finally petered out and then sank onto the couch, grumbling. Len pushed some water into my hands. I had a headache now and my throat felt dry.
"I'm sorry," I finally mumbled. Len sat down and pulled my legs over his lap.
"For what?"
"For all of that."
Len shrugged.
"Barry and your friends are idiots and you've had that bottled up for a while." At my confused look, he arched an eyebrow. "We've been with you for a while now, doll. We've seen how they treated you. We just didn't say anything because it wasn't our place."
"Now it is," Mick said darkly, coming into the living room with a plate of sandwiches. I picked one up and began to nibble on it.
"I'm tired," I said, rather pitifully. Len rubbed my shin.
"Eat something. Then we can take a nap."
…
We managed to finish our conversation after our nap. I felt better. A lot better. Telling Barry off had freed something in my chest. I liked it.
"So boundaries?" I started. We were in the kitchen now. I stood beside Mick and helped him as he worked on dinner. Len was apparently banned from making anything more complicated than mac and cheese.
"Those might be something that comes up more easily as we go. The main thing you need to know is that being with us is safe," Len continued, hopping onto the island. Mick nodded as I handed over a knife.
"Yeah. Anytime you need to stop and ask questions or discuss concerns or boundaries, you tell us." Mick gave me a warning look that was filled with so much affection, my toes wriggled. I accepted a plate of vegetables to wash.
"You guys too," I told them. They were quiet for a moment and I looked at them. They stared at me. "I mean, I'm learning so I'm probably going to mess up at some point. Being with me is safe too." Mick leaned down and kissed my hair. Len's eyes were so warm they seemed to have melted.
"We're all going to mess up at some point," Len said quietly. "We all just have to remember that we love each other and that we can always talk about it."
…
I went back to work once my doctor had cleared me. My routine settled into normalcy. Barry called a few times but I only felt a twinge of guilt as I ignored him. I kept an eye on the news but I wasn't called in for hero duty, something that gave me immense pleasure.
Mick and Len talked about moving in somewhere together. I'd thought about it. They pretty much lived at my apartment anyway but I held back. This was still new and I wanted to take things slow.
Things were good. We had a few tense moments as the months went by but things were smoothed over pretty quickly. I felt myself settle into place like a piece of a puzzle.
…
"What's all this?" I asked one night as I came home from work. Len and Mick were still up (as they usually were) but they were pouring over papers and what looked suspiciously like a blueprint.
"Our next job," Len replied casually but when he looked up there was something hard in his eyes. I bit my lip, wondering how the hell their professions hadn't come up in our talk about boundaries.
To give myself time to think, I turned away from them and carefully peeled off my jacket, hung it up. Hung up my purse. Put my keys in the bowl.
They were criminals. In the past months I'd forgotten that fact. They had become just Len and Mick, my incredible boyfriends. But they were criminals. They were thieves.
And I was supposed to be a hero.
I chewed my lip and turned back to them. Both of them were acting nonchalant but I saw the tension in their spines.
I sat down in the easy chair.
"I have no idea what to do here." My admission seemed to surprise them. They both blinked and I shrugged. "You're both criminals. I haven't thought about it much but it's true. I still think stealing is wrong but I highly doubt I could really stop either of you."
They exchanged a look as if they were running numbers in their heads.
"No. You probably couldn't," Len admitted slowly. I shrugged again.
"So, how are we going to work this out. I don't approve of this."
Len leaned back, blue eyes resting on me as he thought. Mick rolled his shoulders, a gesture I'd come to learn as uncertainty.
"Our deal with the Flash remains. People won't get hurt."
I fixed them with a look.
"And the Flash himself?"
They exchanged a glance.
"What about him?"
I blew out a sigh and slumped back into my chair.
"He'll show up to stop you. You'll all fight again. After everything that's happened, would you hurt him? Really hurt him?"
They didn't answer but they also didn't meet my eyes.
"He's still my brother," I continued. "Whatever's happened, I don't want to see him hurt or killed."
"Why should that matter to you?" Mick snapped.
I blinked at him. He locked gazes with me and fire burned in those dark eyes. I struggled to remain calm.
"Like I said, he's still my broth-"
"He sure as hell hasn't acted like it!"
Mick jumped to his feet, his fists clenched. Len stood immediately and grabbed his wrist but Mick's eyes were fixed on me.
"So what if we hurt him! He deserves it!"
I jumped to my feet as my own anger flared to life.
"I don't want that!"
"What about what we want?! He should burn for hurting you!"
The words struck me and made my voice die. I stared at Mick as the weight of what he'd said sunk into me.
Had anyone ever cared that much about me before? Surely my parents had. Before everything had happened. I knew my dad still loved me deeply but he was in prison. He couldn't be there for me the way he wanted.
An overwhelming wave of love burst into my chest and tears filled my eyes. The sudden change in emotion made my head spin.
"Oh, Mick," I breathed. He looked startled and then I rushed forward and hugged him tightly, burying my face in his neck. A few moments passed before he hugged me back.
After a minute, I stepped back and dried my eyes. I'd never seen Mick or Len look so confused.
"I love you guys too," I said simply. Len's eyes softened a bit at the edges and he leaned in to press a kiss to my temple.
I let out a breath and took Mick's hand.
"I appreciate that you love me that much, Mick. It feels good to see how much you hate my getting hurt." Mick's shoulders relaxed a bit and his grip tightened around mine. I made my next words gentle. "But hurting Barry would hurt me." He sucked in a breath then blew it out huffily.
"Fine," he muttered.
Len reached up and brushed some hair from my neck.
"At least, nothing he can't recover from," he offered. His tone was teasing but that hard glint was back in his eyes. He didn't show it like Mick, but he was just as furious with Barry.
I bit my lip as I hesitated.
"Fine," I slowly relented. "Nothing he can't recover from." I wasn't entirely happy but I knew that was probably as good as I was going to get.
…
They went through the heist. I watched the live coverage. The Flash received a bit of frostbite on his arms and a few burns to the chest but nothing he couldn't recover from.
So I got another review of this story and it sparked the fire for it. No flames. This is just for fun, but thanks to everyone who sent in a review. Sorry, it took so long. I hope you enjoy it.