Caitlin had told him what had happened. And Cisco. And of course Harrison. They had all detailed how the disruptor had, well, disrupted his whole system, right down to his meta Sentinel core. It hadn't broken the loop, but it had really put the Speed Force out of whack, tearing apart the Sentinel, the meta and Barry.

When Wells had told him about bringing in Len, Barry had just about collapsed in a terrified heap of nerves and nausea.

They knew.

"Of course we know!" Caitlin stated. "You were obvious! But Snart? Really, Barry? Leonard Snart? Captain Cold? The criminal who tried to kill you?"

"Not since the first time," Barry muttered defiantly.

"He hasn't exactly gone easy on you later either!"

Cisco didn't look all too happy either, but he held back with the accusing looks and the death glare.

"We all saw what Mr. Snart can do for Barry," Harrison interjected calmly. "He is a conduit. A shield and anchor. That's less than a Guide but a lot more than one, too. It's quite an ability to have, especially since it's completely passive, close to unrecognizable by your current science, mainly because no one is looking at such talent. You really are backwards in that regard, people. Who in their right minds thinks that there are only Sentinels and Guides?"

"Conduit," Barry echoed numbly.

"Yes. When you decompress, he's your conduit. Right now he's more of a shield actually. A very personal shield, only tuned to your frequencies as a metahuman Sentinel. Your very personal calm center. Someone you easily respond to, even without direct touch." Harrison gave him a knowing smile. "That's why we called him, asked him for help."

"And he came," he whispered.

"Yes. Instinct goes both ways, Barry."

Caitlin still had her arms crossed in front of her chest. "Why, Barry? Why him?"

"Dr. Snow," Harrison sighed and gave her a long-suffering look. "We've been over this. Mr. Snart has a certain genetic make-up that allows him to act as just the small puzzle piece Mr. Allen needs. Empathically speaking he's close to a zero on any scale. He can't influence him. He can't manipulate him. On my Earth this kind of connection is as valid and valuable as a Sentinel-Guide bond. We might not have this variation of the variation, where a conduit is also a shield and an anchor, but that's where realities are allowed to differ."

"They aren't bonded," she argued.

"No." Wells smiled patiently. "Not in a way this Earth would see it. But they are connected. Mr. Snart cannot abuse it in any way, if that is still your worry, Dr. Snow. Even after seeing what he did for Mr. Allen. You told me yourself that you were surprised by how much Leonard cared. A lot can be faked, yes, but he reacts to a Sentinel in need. That cannot be faked or play-acted. That was Leonard, not Captain Cold. On top of that, we all know Leonard has been around The Flash to give a helping hand or two for a while now. Without a major incident."

Barry refused to flush. He had yet to work out all of his emotions. He knew he felt good when around Len. He knew he could relax, could trust in the other man like he had never been able to trust anyone ever since Eobard Thawne again. Despite their past, despite all the pain and the death, something inside Barry simply knew as a hard, irremovable fact that Leonard Snart would not betray him.

"You like him," Harrison piped up, eyes alight with humor.

He did. He had for a long time, starting before Snart's road-trip through time, and now it was pushed even more home. He liked a supervillain who had tried to kill him and who had saved his life several times. His own way. His own style.

"When did that happen?" Cisco asked, looking puzzled.

"I… don't know."

"You are aware that Mr. Snart returns those feelings, aren't you?" Wells gave him a pointed look.

"I… maybe."

"Oh, definitely."

"He's not doing relationships."

Harrison chuckled. "The two of you have been in a relationship for quite some time. Believe me when I tell you that Leonard Start does relationships. He is quite invested in what the two of you share. He came when we asked him. He stayed even after it was clear you had pulled through. He might not have dropped his guard for long, but he does care, Barry. A lot."

Barry chewed on his lower lip. "I feel… better around him. Calmer. Balanced."

"Conduit," Wells just said, nodding sagely. "There you have it. He's good for you, but not just on a purely functional level. There are emotions involved and not just from your side."

Barry sank down onto a chair, looking and feeling conflicted. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys," he finally said, looking at Cisco and Caitlin. "I… didn't think it would go over well, seeing as how our past was so far."

Caitlin rolled her eyes and Cisco just snorted, but he didn't look too upset. More like he would have liked to be in on it right from the start instead of finding out with all the others.

"Is this going to be a problem?" Barry wanted to know.

"You working with Cold? We knew that already," Cisco stated, a grin already forming on his lips. "Or you hanging out with Snart afterwards? Do I even want to know what you are doing when you decompress with a known supervillain?" He waggled his eyebrows.

Caitlin slapped his arm.

"Hey, ouch!"

"He's not a supervillain anymore," Barry muttered.

"Ah yes," Wells said, still grinning. "There must be a story behind that. And it's not just about the mysteriously erased files. I've heard some stuff and it sounds… legendary."

Barry shot him a look. Harrison shrugged amiably.

"He is a thief and a killer," Caitlin reminded him. "He tried to kill you, Barry! The Flash. You can't just forget about that, can you?"

"He never seriously tried to really hurt me, Caitlin."

"Never seriously?" she exclaimed.

He met her eyes, determined and refusing to back down. "Yes, never seriously. The first encounter was serious. He did try to take me down."

"He did hurt you! You would have died from frozen blood vessels if not for your healing capabilities!"

"I know, Caitlin," Barry said calmly. It was a calm he had felt more and more often, always around Len, and it was now deeply settled inside him. A calm and a knowledge that Leonard Snart was his shield. "Captain Cold tried to take me out of the equation. Yes, it hurt. But everything else between us, it wasn't about killing me anymore."

"He shot at you and he hurt you!"

"So did many, many others. A lot worse." He refused to think of Eobard Thawne. "We had a deal and he stuck to it. It was a game and he was very good at it. We both liked playing it. For Len it was the thrill of the hunt, the adrenaline, and I loved the kicks it gave me, too. And I liked being around him. I didn't know it was instinct and that it was him who made all of this so much… calmer."

Wells was humming, looking pleased. "Someone really should go into the whole subsection research on Guides and Sentinels, people. So much potential. So many variations. You would have known a lot sooner what he is if this world had such research."

"Barry…" Caitlin sighed.

"He's my shield, Caitlin!" he exclaimed. "He anchors the Speed Force when it comes undone. And it does! It has so many times! Because it's also connected to more than just genes. It's connected to me, to my head, and my emotions! And he helped me," he added. "So many times. He didn't get anything out of having my sorry ass sitting on his couch, eating his food, drinking his beer, talking his ear off! He let me and he didn't use it or me. He never used a single shred of what I told him… I liked just… being there. He feels… good, Cait. So very good."

"Wow," Cisco breathed, his smile a little on the dopey side. "Man, you've got it bad."

Barry sighed and ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head. "I didn't know those emotions had come into play, too. It just happened. Not overnight. Not recently. It came slowly, over time. It's been something between us for a while now and it only got stronger…"

"It might just feel good because of the whole conduit connection," Caitlin argued, but it sounded weak, like she wasn't convinced by her own words. "He could use that against you when it suits him."

"How?" he demanded, voice rising. "How would he do that?" Barry shook his head. "He can't. It's a passive ability."

Caitlin bit her lip.

"Would you say the same if he had turned out to be my Guide?" Barry challenged.

Her eyes widened, her mouth opened, then closed, and finally her shoulders slumped.

"No. But he isn't a Guide, Barry. He doesn't have that bond. A Guide can't ever betray their Sentinel."

"I know he never will. He's had plenty of opportunity. And he came here, didn't he? You asked him and he came!"

Wells nodded. He had apparently waited for that particular fact.

"That he did. For all intents and purposes, he is like a Guide to you, Barry. Your meta Sentinel needs something special. Mr. Snart is that something special. It doesn't involve a form of primal instinct to bond to balance your senses on that one person. It doesn't even involve any form of empathic link. It's simply there, isn't it? A fact in your lives. Something you know it what you need."

Barry nodded.

"Why now?" Caitlin asked, arms still crossed in front of her chest. "Why not before?"

"I don't know everything about Mr. Snart or what became of him, aside from what Barry told us," Wells spoke up, "but it might be that his abilities were triggered by what happened to him before his return. The latent connection was there. You forged a kind of partnership, didn't you?"

Barry nodded wordlessly.

"And you felt an attraction."

"Well… maybe?"

"He isn't a bad specimen of a human male," Harrison agreed with laughter in his eyes. "Also very smart. I can see where the attraction comes from, even without anything as powerful as an empathic draw. Which, in your case, wouldn't be possible."

Barry's eyes sought out Caitlin's, then Cisco's. "I know this is a lot. I know it was a lot for me, too. And yes, I'm know who Leonard Snart is and who he was. I'm not an idiot. He's not a good guy. He's not a bad guy either. Not anymore. A lot has happened since we first and last met. He was always different and it's that difference I need. I didn't have a name for it until now. Now I do."

Caitlin sighed. "We have worked with not so good guys before," she finally conceded, though she didn't look happy.

Cisco shrugged. "And he's kinda tagged along with you for a while now. Like some weird shadowy side-kick."

Barry chuckled. "Never let him hear that, Cisco."

The other raised his hands. "Oh, I won't. So… Cold's an ally now?"

"Maybe more?" Harrison prodded. "You might want to talk to him about this… closer aspect of your relationship, Barry."

"Not sure he wants to hear it."

"I wouldn't be so sure." He winked. "Try it. Mr. Snart had some unguarded moments, and no, I didn't go against his wishes to keep surveillance off. I have eyes. He might brush it off as services rendered out of whatever good deed of the day he needed to do, but there's more to it."

Barry shifted nervously. The pull was incredibly hard to ignore, that need to go and find Len, feel that strange sense of ease when they were together. It wasn't a necessity, it wasn't the threat of a zone if he didn't go, but the emotional shift from ally to trusted friend had always been accompanied by the appreciation he had felt for the other man. Not just the physical form. That was completely fine anyway. But the whole package, snark and deadpan sarcasm included.

"Go," Caitlin said softly.

"Caitlin…"

"Go," she repeated. "He means something to you. Go."

Now he was here. With a peace offering and his nerves shot ten times to Sunday.

"We need to talk, Len."

Leonard Snart was his conduit. His shield. Just his. Like a Guide and not like a Guide at all. A unique connection between them that wasn't a bond and yet there was a tie, forming a partnership between them that wasn't spiritual or empathic. It was the Speed Force, reaching for Len, finding something it seemed to like, and while it wasn't a sentient creature, it was Something. It was alive, in a way. And it liked Snart.

Looking at the man now, taking in the cold blue eyes, the neutral features, the lowered brows, Barry knew there was so much more between them. He just knew. There were very human emotions. He had been the recipient of those emotions in so many small ways. Gestures, words, a look, then the physical presence of the man with him in the isolation chamber while Barry was at his worst point, his gentle touches and his warmth.

"'We', Barry?" Len echoed, voice sharper and almost icy. "No, 'we' don't. We don't talk."

"Actually, we do. All the time. About all kinds of stuff."

Len's expression was close to neutral, but Barry could see a lot in those blue eyes.

"You didn't have to leave."

It got him a scoff. "With Detective West hanging around, it was time to beat a strategic retreat. It's a drag to break out of a holding cell." He quirked an eyebrow.

"I wouldn't have let Joe arrest you!" Barry protested.

"Oh really? You would have whisked me away to your secret hide-out?" Len taunted. "S.T.A.R. Labs is your secret hide-out, Flash."

"And it's a large enough complex to lay low and wait for Joe to leave," Barry snapped. "You know the lay-out. Inside out, right?"

Len smirked.

"So you know how to stay invisible. You just up and left, and Joe was the excuse!"

"Touche," came the drawl.

Something inside of him reacted strongly, felt something familiar, something that had touched him before. This was… everything. Facing off against Cold had always felt good. Not because he was thwarting a heist or bringing in a criminal. Barry hadn't been able to pinpoint just what it was about the man, but his spirits felt lifted after every encounter. He was more at ease.

Grounded, a little voice supplied unhelpfully. Balancing. Your conduit acting as an anchor.

And then, after Len's return from his Legends stint, their irregular meetings, sharing a meal, a drink or five, sharing just… their presence. The way the tightness in his chest had always eased around the other man. Being so close to Len had his very core calm down and even out. The endless energy inside him, the power that was the Speed Force, seemed to turn from a roaring vortex into a bare whisper or murmur. It was still there, could rise at the blink of an eye, but it was so much calmer.

The inhuman speed, the lightning-fast thoughts and racing mind, were suddenly enveloped by cool, calculated logic. It didn't stop or became less. It was… stronger, more controlled, no longer knotted into a dense ball of unlimited possibilities.

Barry felt the cool touch, tamed but not broken, still wild and yet so very much his.

It was all there, together with what he, the still very normal human being, felt. Of course Leonard Snart was an attractive man, but Barry wasn't shallow. He didn't go for the looks alone. It was everything Len was, even the criminal side, the man who refused to be called a hero and had yet done so much good, had helped right so many wrongs, the man who had gone with a time traveler to correct history.

"I can still feel you, Len," he said softly. "Not like a Guide, though I have no idea what that would be like, but you're here. Anchored. I can feel your calmness."

"Well, good for you," Snart shot back.

His face was a mask, but his eyes couldn't hide his own whirling emotions anymore. There was a spark, a fire, one that was a mirror of Barry's own; a fire that was blazing hotly. He had seen that look before, quickly pushed behind the usual expression of indifference and the well-known smirks.

"Actually, it is. You are good for me."

There was a harsh laugh.

Barry reached out and let his wrist be caught by the other man's hard grip. He tapped into the Speed Force, let it come to him as a cool, streamlined power that was under his complete control. Let it envelop them, touch Len and him, and he saw it in the widening of Snart's eyes how he felt it himself.

"What… Barry…?"

The mask was gone. The wide-eyed fascination coupled with a sliver of apprehension was real. As real as the deep calmness Barry felt.

Something sizzled over his mind, curled around the surface, and it was almost loving. It was new and familiar in one. It was what he had always wanted without knowing it, what he didn't want to lose again.

Snart's eyes were suddenly like chips of ice, his face closed off, and the ripples disappeared like they had never been there, a figment of Barry's imagination.

They hadn't been, though.

"Don't," he managed. "I'm not…"

"You are. You've been for a long, long time. We both know it. I'm done ignoring it, Len."

Raw emotions flitted over his features, too fast for Barry to identify, but incredibly powerful nonetheless.

"Don't confuse instinct with emotions!"

Green eyes sparked with golden electricity. "I don't. I know what I feel. I know when it's the Speed Force or the Sentinel. I've never been in the market for a bond. Neither are you. You're not a Guide, as you have claimed so often before. I'm not a Sentinel who needs someone for his senses. I do fine on my own."

"Decompressing is not bonding. "You're pushing it, Scarlet. Dangerously. You're getting too close. You've always been too close."

"You let me."

Without much of a fight.

Something hummed between them. Like low level currents of electricity. The world around them echoed with it.

"You let me come close," Barry repeated, voice soft but intense. "It was your decision. Not an accident. You don't do accidents. You relinquished control, Len."