Everything was threatening to get out of control.

No. It already was.

For the first time in his life, Leonard Snart knew he was no longer in control of what was happening. He was clinging to the last flimsy remnants of this illusion of control, but it was a losing battle.

Because of Barry Allen.

The Flash had shot down a few of his plans in the past, had thwarted heists, had derailed jobs, but that had been… his professional life, not the private one.

His emotions were all over the place and Len knew he was screwed. Absolutely screwed. He wanted it all, really, stupidly wanted it all, but a dark part inside him still refused to accept… this. And 'this' was the best that had ever happened to him. It felt real. It felt good. It was something that had no price tag and entailed no debts. It was Barry and Barry didn't have a crooked bone in his body, wasn't a con, had no ulterior motive, and he was the most honest person he had ever met.

Len had been given so many small glimpses into who Barry Allen was, and how special, how… rare and unique. This man... This was his. He wanted it. He wouldn't let anyone take it from him. It was a possessive, selfish side, one that refused to wither and fade. It had only gotten stronger.

Leonard Snart didn't do relationships. He didn't do feelings! Getting attached to someone, a person, would make him vulnerable. It would make him open for loss and pain. He would do stupid things to protect that person.

A nasty voice pointed out that he had become attached to various people. His sister wasn't part of the equation because she was family. His only family. Lewis didn't count and never had. Mick had always ever been a partner.

The nasty voice laughed evilly. That had changed. With joining the Waverider, Leonard Snart had changed. There had been a team and he had reluctantly, but steadily, formed bonds with each and every one of them. Len would have said he wasn't attached to his former team, but that was a lie. There had been stronger ties to some of them, and he and Mick had grown as partners, too.

He had gotten attached.

Look what had happened, he thought darkly.

He had sacrificed his life for them; had traded his for Mick's.

Now there was Barry, and Barry was even more dangerous. Barry had already gotten close to him before the Waverider, before Rip Hunter and his idiotic quest. Because he was Barry, because he was this extra special kind of special.

Len closed his eyes, refusing to give up and surrender so easily. There was still some fight left in him. "What do you want, Flash?" he asked neutrally.

"Barry. The name is Barry."

He didn't fall for the bait, balefully staring into those bright green eyes, fighting the attraction, fighting the emotions that had developed not over night but over a long, long time.

"And I don't want you as a Guide. We established that I don't need one. I never needed one and never will be. What I want is… you. Just you, Len."

He scowled, eyes hard. "As what? Your cuddle toy? No thanks. Not my shtick."

Barry didn't so much as smile. His expression was uncharacteristically serious, eyes now even more intense. The Speed Force was still around them, that place outside reality, freezing time, turning them into an island within reality. It was fascinating, almost terrifying, but he fought to give in to his wonder and almost child-like glee at being inside this eternal energy source.

"I want you as a partner," Barry now said carefully. "My partner. You're someone I trust."

"You shouldn't. Trust me," Len said, voice carrying only a minute tremor.

"I do. Have done so for a while now. I trust you with myself, my life. I know I can. It's… easy. Comfortable. I can be myself; open. And I never really figured out what I was doing was… that."

"Of course you wouldn't. Genius mind, able to process so much at an amazing speed, and you are still clueless."

"I'm not… I wasn't…" He sighed. "I got a lot on my plate. I just… reacted."

"Your normal spiel. Nothing new there. I'm still not your Guide!" he repeated. "There's no connection! There can never be one!" And why did he sound desperate to his own ears? Deep down inside Leonard Snart knew that it was a done deal, that nothing could be changed, no matter how badly or madly he fought it.

"I know," Barry said softly. "That's why you feel so perfect."

Len stared at him, stunned. "As your lightning rod?" he asked sarcastically.

"My anchor. My shield. The conduit, as Harrison calls it."

"Anchors can only weigh you down," he launched another attack.

The speedster shook his head. "Or they ground you. I'm grounded, Len. Very much. You're all of that to me and that's so much more important. I can feel how you calm the Speed Force, the lightning. I can relax. I can decompress. It feels so incredible… to be able to… unwind. You make it all… slow down. You are incredible."

The words hit something inside him. Something deep within the ice of his soul, surrounded by so many defenses, even Leonard Snart didn't really know how to take them all down again. They were ancient, these defenses, from his childhood, when he had first started isolate his emotions from everything else. He had quickly learned never to show anything of himself to anyone, not even his closest family, which was only one person. Lisa. His only sister and the one he had protected as best as possible from an abusive father.

The shields had become walls. Nothing would get through. Nothing could get out. He was forever a very private person, never opening up completely.

To no one.

Now the brittle construct that was his soul shivered as Barry's words seeped in, bringing with them a softness he had never experienced before. The walls didn't crumble and most likely never would, but something reached for him, for Len, and he wanted it.

So very much.

"And it's not just the whole not-Guide shield conduit whatever thing. I didn't need that to know that I like you," Barry added with a tiny smile. "If you were nothing but Leonard Snart, I'd still feel it." They were standing close; very close. "I, Barry. Not the meta, not the Sentinel. I've liked you for a long time before I started to look forward to just hanging out."

"What's not to like," Len drawled, falling back on his usual sardonic voice.

"Hm. I agree. The whole package, right?" Barry sounded teasing, almost playful.

Len felt something knot and unknot inside him, clenching and unclenching. "You're not so bad to look at either, Scarlet. Barry." He lifted the corner of his mouth into a tiny smile. A real smile.

"The not so inconsiderable bonus?" Barry asked softly. "But I've got to warn you, I'm also kind of a klutz sometimes. And have a knack for tardiness."

He chuckled. Since Len still had a tight grip on one wrist, Barry reached up with his other hand and cupped Len's cheek. He finally closed the last distance and kissed him. Snart would be a fool not to react to the warm lips, the hum and shiver everywhere around them.

It was a soft kiss. More like a tentative first foray into a whole new world. For a first kiss it was unspectacular and wouldn't make it into any of those wildly unrealistic novels about finding your perfect mate.

"You're insane. Absolutely insane," Len murmured when they parted.

He wanted this.

He had never wanted, desired, anything more than this.

"Could be Stockholm syndrome," Snart added.

"Or it's just me falling for you," Barry replied.

"The hero and the supervillain? That sound like such a cliché romance novel."

"I think of us more along the lines of Barry and Len."

"You would," he murmured.

All of the months before, the past years, had led to this. The fights, the get-togethers, hanging out, sharing more than just space… it had been a weird kind of courting ritual, interspersed with emotional tension, flirting, and a rising realization that he, Leonard Snart, really wanted more than just quick, carnal pleasure. He liked Barry, liked the whole package, and getting to know him as he had, over the past months, had shown him that this was exactly what he wanted for keeps.

"We're good together, Len. Not just as a team fighting crime."

"We're nothing alike. Incompatible."

Barry smiled, looking young and almost innocent. "Which is why we fit."

"You're an idiot." And it sounded more fond than scolding or mocking. "Incompatible means we don't fit, Scarlet. Nothing about us fits. Your team's going to agree with that assessment, too."

"Who do you think kicked me here?"

That almost had him gape. Years of self-control had that notion come as raised eyebrows.

"I doubt the CCPD and especially your foster father is going to be thrilled to have a supervillain hooking up with his son."

Barry laughed, looking openly amused. "I could pull the Sentinel card on him. It's the truth anyway."

"Not a Guide," he teased. "Just your anchor, shield and conduit. You think you can finally remember that?"

"Yeah, no," he laughed. "I like it, though. And it's… a little more sideways and left of the norm anyway," Barry added cheekily.

Len pulled him into another kiss, enjoying the heat and the fire. "I won't give up doing what I do, Barry. I'm not going into a new line of work."

"Not asking you to." Scarlet grinned. "You once told me you're good at what you do."

"The best," he drawled.

"And it's a talent I've found useful in the past."

He smirked playfully. "I'm not going to join the do-gooders."

"I'm not asking you to do that either, Len."

"I'm also not going to walk the straight and narrow line. I'm a thief," he pointed out with a sarcastic lilt. "The best of the best. Master of my art."

The younger man studied him, the smile on his lips never wavering. "I know, Len."

He frowned a little, still looking at every angle, for every trap that might be in his way. "Then what do you ask of me?"

Barry brushed their lips together, not pushing, not demanding anything. Just a gentle, intimate contact. It did something to Len that he didn't know how to describe. It had tiny cracks appear in his walls.

"Nothing. No more than before. Our old deal… that's all I want. No one dies. Don't kill anyone."

He met the serious green eyes. Barry had power over him, Len realized. It was a power he had wielded for a long, long time, and it had never demanded more than that one promise.

"I can't promise that should someone try to kill you," he finally rasped.

Scarlet blinked. "What…"

"If I had been there, when you were shot by the disruptor, I might not have been able to hold on to that deal, Barry," Len told him, voice hard, cold, but there were emotions leaking through. "I don't kill if I can help it. I won't hurt anyone if it can be done otherwise. But your life is… important."

"Len…"

"Barry," he stated evenly.

The kiss relayed everything Barry didn't say. A lot was said without words and Snart knew he would try to adhere to the deal, but the moment Barry's life was on the line, the deal was clearly off. The Flash could be killed and he wouldn't stand aside and let that happen.

"I can live with that," Barry said softly when they parted.

"Oh? Do-gooder that you are, you would condone me killing someone to save you?"

Barry met the mocking blue eyes, then framed the other man's face and kissed him briefly. "I would do the same if it was you."

Snart blinked, stunned. For the first time in a long time, he was truck speechless.

The speedster's expression was absolutely serious. "I want you. I like how you feel to me, Len. A lot. I want to feel more of that. More of you. I haven't forgotten about the isolation room. The amnesia wasn't permanent. I want to feel that again. You and me together. In a bed"

He stared at him; hard. Alright, that was straight-forward with no doubt left. His thoughts were churning, all those memories rising to the surface, and yes, Len wanted to feel it again, too. Many, many times. To touch so freely, to not pretend, to run his hands over an uninjured, conscious Barry Allen, gather a whole new book of information.

Len refused to balk, to run from this relationship, this partnership, as was his usual reaction. His age-old shields cracked some more and he felt Barry so close, so intimately, and it had nothing to do with the physical presence. How…? How could this be? The meta Sentinel had no bonding capabilities or abilities?

"You're not saying no to it," the speedster murmured with a very private smile.

"It's a supremely bad idea."

"You're not saying no," Barry repeated.

"I can't."

And wasn't that a surrender already? It was the truth. Nothing but the truth. He couldn't say no, because he had never said no before. He had let him get this close, he had given Barry everything the younger man had asked for, had let him into his life, had lowered his guard, had lowered his walls, and now? Now he was there.

"I can't say no," Len repeated, whisper-soft, for the first time without the deadpan or the cold smirks.

For the first time his mind wasn't calculating the odds or forming plans. It was like a surrender and a blessing in one. He wanted this. Just like this. Slow, intimate, no pressure. He wanted it so, so badly.

"Neither can I," Barry told him.

Somehow, in some weird, inexplicable way, they matched.

"I don't do relationships. Or feelings," he told the younger man, voice rough. It was like a last, already failing argument.

Barry's expression didn't falter, his eyes didn't fill with betrayal or hurt. There was only Barry, his speedster, and there were enough emotions in there to last two people.

"With one exception."

"Oh?" It sounded teasing. So very much like Barry.

"Yes."

The smile was brilliant and warm, absolutely happy. The warmth was so much deeper.

"You," Len heard himself say. "Just for you."

Fine tendrils of Speed Force energy crawled everywhere over and around them. Len felt them slip through the cracks without forcing those cracks any wider than they already were. He felt them brush over his very soul, and something inside of him responded. It was reminiscent of his time in the Time Stream, felt the same, was almost eerily familiar. It was like a warm shower, a gentle breeze, warmth and softness. Deceptively tame.

"You," he repeated, voice soft, almost awed.

He was becoming attached. Hell, he was already attached. Barry was his and he wouldn't let go. He couldn't. His speedster. He would truly kill whoever tried to take him.

He felt the licks of lightning, of endless power, and he wanted to pull him even closer, wanted to keep this while another part screamed at him that he couldn't.

He silenced that part.

Kissing was an intimacy Leonard Snart hadn't had in a long time. Sex had been one thing, but kissing another. He had had the first, but the latter never happened. Sex had been a trade, money for physical release. There had never been any emotions involved, only cold, hard currency.

This was different. There were a metric ton of emotions involved and they had been there for a long time now. If he had to really think back to it, probably since he had first seen Scarlet's face and added that to everything that was The Flash. Leonard Snart wasn't a shallow guy who only went for looks. No, he liked the looks, but there was a lot more to that package. Barry Allen was a complicated person whom Len had yet to completely understand.

Barry also wasn't a virgin, but there was a hesitancy, a way he wasn't sure what he really wanted, that was both endearing and tease-worthy.

Len filed it away, as usual, and decided that letting this thing between them develop as naturally as it had already was the best way to go.

"So you can freeze time?" he murmured as they stood together, time crawling ever-so slowly around them.

"I don't freeze time."

"You slow down the world around you."

"I kinda move very fast?" Barry said. "That means in return that everything around me… doesn't."

Snart's eyebrows shot up and he gave the younger man a sardonic smile. "Here I thought you were a book-smart college kid, Scarlet."

It got him a rueful chuckle. "Understanding the Speed Force is a little above college degrees. It's an inter-dimensional source of dark matter that exists outside the known multiverse."

"Big words."

"Hey, I'm really book-smart," Barry laughed.

"When you enter the Speed Force," Len mused, "it's you who is moving faster. Why does it affect me, too?"

"Because I've taken you with me?"

Len slipped a hand underneath the wide sweater, feeling warm skin, feeling softness and the tingle of electricity. It didn't hurt. It actually felt… far from harmful. He started to trace his finger tips over the skin, watching Barry's expression waver.

"So, can I make you drop your concentration?" he murmured, voice soft and low.

"Uhm, actually, it's… that's a no? Not really? You are my anchor, Len. You focus me. Also a reason why you are so easily taken along for the ride."

He grinned. "Good." That was exactly what he wanted to hear. "You'd open yourself for attacks if my touch would shoot your concentration."

Barry leaned forward, kissing him, soft and deep and with meaning.

God, he wanted him! He really wanted him. The desire was something he had never felt like this before.

"Say, Scarlet," Len rasped, shocked by how little it took to get him a little too side-tracked. "If you can slow down the world for you to walk through like some Sunday shopping spree, how come I could still hit you?"

Another rueful smile. "The first few times I was still trying to get the hang of my abilities. Then I discovered that doing this, moving really fast, takes a toll on me."

Len's eyes narrowed and he stopped the caresses, his whole body stiffening. "Then stop it!" he snarled, making it an almost harsh command.

"I'm fine, Len."

"Stop it," he repeated, ice in his voice. "Right now."

"I've gotten better. I've trained," he explained reasonably.

"Scarlet…" came the warning.

The world resumed its normal pace. Barry didn't look any worse for wear. Actually, the smile was just as bright as ever, there were no lines around his eyes, his color was good and he wasn't fighting for air.

"I'm okay, Len," he answered the unspoken question. "I've learned a whole lot since my first time. And there's also you."

"Me," he echoed neutrally.

"You are my conduit, aren't you? It's actually rather easy to take you along. As if you're part of the Speed Force. You're not a burden."

"Sweet talker," he murmured and kissed him again, drawing it out, loving the way all of Barry seemed to lean into the contact, and he still had one hand underneath his speedster's sweater.

Barry made a soft noise of contentment. A sudden gurgle-rumble had him break the kiss with a laugh, ducking his head. Len felt a smile tug at his lips.

"Hungry?" he asked sardonically.

"Uhm, maybe?"

"Your tab is growing, Scarlet."

Barry nodded at the bag of muffins. "I brought something."

Snart gave him a raised eyebrow. "You think that's gonna hold?"

"At least till dinner."

His lips curled into a knowing smile.

"And dinner's on me this time."

"You think you can afford it on your salary?"

"If you throw in a buck or two for beer?"

Len smirked, still holding him close, still enjoying so much body contact that wasn't necessitated because the younger man was injured. There was no rush, no pressure, no need to move.

"That can be arranged."

There was suddenly an insistent ringing and Barry groaned. He dug out his cell phone as Len loosened his embrace, giving him the room to take the call.

"Work," he sighed as he looked at the screen. "Allen," Barry answered. "Yes. Sure, Joe, yes, I'll be there. Where? Got it. Yes, in a minute."

Barry ended the call and closed his eyes, looking annoyed.

"Work," Len echoed with a smirk audible in his voice.

"Yeah. Crime scene. They need me."

"Of course."

"Well, I'm the crime scene tech on call," Barry sighed.

"So you're still here why?" Snart asked pointedly, lips twisting into a sarcastic grin.

Barry brushed their lips together. "Later?" he asked hopefully.

"Later," he promised and the word came easily. It was also the full truth. He wanted a later. He wanted a lot of laters.

Barry's smile was brilliant. Happy, warm and open, and so very much him. When Len blinked, the speedster was already out the door. The bag of muffins sat on the table and Snart dug out a chocolate chip one. It would be a shame to let them go to waste.

A small part of him was still panicking quietly over what had just happened, what he had revealed, what Barry had said. But the much larger part, the stronger part, was trembling with a different kind of emotion.

Affection. A strong, unwavering kind of affection that was a lot closer to an even stronger emotion, one he didn't want to think about just yet.