Telling the Sentinel-Guide pair about what Barry Allen really was, revealing the meta Sentinel aspect, was a little more intense than Barry had hoped, especially since Len's abilities and his connection to the Time Stream were a lot to pile on top of that.
"Meta Sentinel," Mick echoed, eyes holding a gleam that seemed to dig right into Barry's soul. Or at least tried to. Barry didn't blip on any radar, but he was sure the other Sentinel was scanning him. "Can't sense a thing from you. Never gotten a crackle of electricity around you either."
"That's the loop," the speedster told him. "I'm not trying to hide it. It's just naturally shielded already."
Mick studied him, that singular attention almost unnerving, and Barry could only imagine what it would feel for a 'normal' Sentinel. While Mick Rory didn't have five hyper-senses, he was a powerful, intimidating presence, perfectly able to switch from neutrally inactive to violently protective.
"The perfect weapon."
Barry froze. For a moment all he heard was a high-pitched, shrill alarm, then he felt the anchor drag him back, the shield calmly caressing his senses. Len never touched him, but he evened out the spikes, soothing the surging Speed Force.
Mick watched him like a ferocious hawk about to swoop down and claim a prey. There was suddenly a keen understanding in those eyes, the rough features shifting into one of almost alarming sympathy.
Ray, who had been watching with a confused expression, finally made a soft "Oh!" sound.
"He's not going to be a weapon," Len stated coldly.
Mick grinned and it was more like a wolf baring teeth than anything else. "'Course not. You're in the way."
"Damn right I am."
"I get it, Red," Mick growled, looking at the speedster. "Absolutely. Been there, done that, didn't get a crummy t-shirt out of it. Just a few more scars."
Yes, Mick understood about being turned into a weapon, brain-washed, tortured into submission, used against former friends, killing people. Over and over. Several lifetimes.
"I've been a puppet and a tool, under someone's control," the Sentinel told him, voice sounding rougher than usual. "No free will. I know what it takes from you. It would destroy you."
Barry swallowed, meeting those intense eyes, seeing the truth, the memories, in there.
"Didn't have to tell us," Mick stated.
"No, he didn't have to," Snart agreed neutrally. "But that's Scarlet. He trusts you, for some reason." He smirked. "And he likes the whole team spirit thing."
Mick's eyes were on Barry again and Barry met the penetrating gaze openly, not shying away.
"Who else knows?" Ray asked curiously.
"The team, of course. My dad, my foster dad, my sister, The Arrow."
"And now us."
"And now you," he agreed.
"You trust me not to sell you out?" Mick demanded.
"Yes," Barry answered simply and honestly.
Len was watching the other man with sharp eyes, face a mask, but there was a clear warning. A very clear warning.
It got him a rough little chuckle. "You've got guts, Red."
"I have instincts and they tell me I can trust you."
"You wouldn't have said that a few years back."
"No," he agreed, not even trying to paint a nicer picture of Heatwave than he had truly been.
Mick looked at Snart, grinning. "Relax, Lenny. Not gonna happen. I'm quite aware what's at stake. It happened to me and it's not gonna happen to him. They're gonna burn before they get him." He grinned. "So you're some kind of freaky Guide, hm? That's what you didn't tell me the last time?"
Len shrugged.
"You came out of the Time Stream after the explosion tore you apart and Time set you back together again?" Ray asked, brimming with scientific curiosity. "You existed in Time and absorbed it?"
"Yes, Raymond. I have. Looks like Time loves me," Len added with a slightly sarcastic twist to his voice. "Wanted to keep me around."
"Polar opposites," Ray mused. "Time and Speed. And yet you complement each other; complete each other."
"Like Fire and Water?" Len taunted.
The Guide blinked. "Uhm. Now that you say it…" He glanced at Mick, who was chuckling.
"Or a former sci-fi romance novelist and the former CEO of Palmer Technologies," Snart added.
"The broken Sentinel," Mick rumbled. "And the Guide who never shuts up. Ever."
"You're not broken!" Ray snapped, fire in his eyes and a determined line between his eyes. "You went off-line!"
"Broken," the other man reiterated with a shrug. "You fixed me."
Ray opened his mouth, no words coming out. Mick reached for one wrist and squeezed it. Barry saw Ray's shoulders relax, though the fire was still there. It was an old argument, one that would come up again and again, he was sure. He knew he had them with Len.
"Found what I needed. Didn't look for it, didn't want it, but you have a way of getting to people, Haircut."
"Uhm," Ray murmured.
"Back to the big revelations," Mick stared at Barry, "the meta Sentinel and his shield. Freaky."
"I've been called worse," Barry replied, smirking. "A lot worse."
"Why tell us?"
"Because I trust you."
The Pyrokinetic's eyes widened a little, clearly caught by surprise.
"And we're a team."
"Are we."
Ray glared at his Sentinel. Mick just grinned.
"Yes. And we're a good team. Actually, a really great team. We've worked together before and this feels almost seamless. You said Central City is your territory. It's also mine," Barry stated firmly, eyes never leaving Mick's. "It's ours."
"Not much of a team-player."
"You were for the past I don't know how many jumps," Ray told him, scowling.
"Don't like people telling me what to do."
Barry grinned. "There's no captain on this team. Or any kind of commander. It's a team. We each have our specialties, our strengths, but also our weaknesses. I know you view this as a deal, but I'm offering more than that."
"Even if I get the hankering for a job?" Mick taunted.
"Like you'd mess with your own territory now," Len drawled lazily. "Sentinel. Bonded. Strongly, I'd say, with a perfectly fitting Guide."
Ray beamed, not the least bit embarrassed. Mick just scowled, which seemed to be his default expression to fall back upon.
"We're already a team," Ray told them brightly. "We've worked together before, individually or all four of us. And I know Mick had fun kicking bad guy butt. I'd say yes to an official team-up. Legends 2.0," he laughed.
"Ow, Haircut, no way!" Mick protested. "We're not some cheap copy."
"It's already Team Flash," Len deadpanned.
Ray blinked. "Oh." He looked a little bashful. "Right. Sorry. Forgot. Uhm, Barry?"
Barry was laughing, eyes alight, projecting ease and acceptance. "We don't need a team name."
"So I don't get a cool new alter ego?" Ray asked.
"You're the Atom," the speedster reminded him.
"Just you's enough," Mick grunted.
"Well, you're still Heatwave. And Leonard's still Captain Cold."
"Cold," Len drawled. "No rank. Ask Cisco. He's the guy who comes up with the stupid nicknames."
Mick gently squeezed Ray's neck. "Not needed," he told his Guide. "I know who you are. That's enough."
Palmer looked a little stunned, close to flabbergasted, then smiled softly.
"Get a room," Len called sardonically. "Before the rating goes up."
Mick just gave him a dark, warning look, which Len answered with a smirk.
Barry looked at Mick. "I'm sorry for not telling you about being a Sentinel."
"You had good reasons. No one wants to be a weapon. Controlled and manipulated."
"No," he agreed quietly. "I also didn't want to lie to you. You and Ray are allies. Friends. And you're a Sentinel. I know Central City is your territory and I appreciate how much you protect the city and its people. It's what I do, too, and now you know I'm a Sentinel."
Mick shrugged lazily. "Doesn't change a thing. Sentinels can co-exist and do. S'not like I'll kick your scrawny ass out of Central because I can't stand your vibes."
"No vibes." Len smirked.
"You're kind of a Sentinel-Guide pair," Ray stated.
"Nope. Not a Guide," he drawled.
"A variation," Ray agreed, recalling what he had been told.
"You're connected," Mick agreed, a shrewd look in his eyes. "Like a bond."
"Not bonded," Barry argued. "I can't bond to a Guide and Len's not a Guide."
"Makes no difference."
The speedster rolled his eyes. This was their new team addition now. Not just the occasional assist but two men who were as invested in protecting this city as Barry Allen and Team Flash were.
Barry caught Len's eye, saw the silent laughter in there, and he took in the more relaxed stance. It wasn't a façade, it was the truth. Len was relieved to have those two with the team now.
So was Barry.
xXXx
The permanence of Mick Rory and Ray Palmer in The Flash's life, in the life of Central City, didn't just pass by the CCPD. Especially Joe West.
His foster father looked a little pained, but he only asked a few simple questions.
"How bad is this going to be?"
"He's not the same man you knew."
Joe sighed. "Apparently everyone has changed. Miraculously."
Barry shook his head. "No. Not miraculously. Len's actually still the same man. Ray, too. Mick… Joe, he was a Sentinel."
"Was?" the detective asked, brow furrowing.
So Barry told him. He gave him the unabridged version of Mick Rory's life, how he had come on-line because of a trauma through fire, how he had off-lined the same way. And how the Sentinel had come back through yet another trauma: knowing his best friend had sacrificed himself to save Time itself.
Joe sat back and ran a broad hand over his head and face. "Geez, Barry… That's a lot to take in."
"I know."
"And Ray Palmer is his Guide?"
He nodded.
"And they're both now part of the team?"
Barry shrugged, smiling. "Kinda."
"Wow." He huffed a little laugh. "Have you told your brother-in-law?"
"Uhm, last night. Over dinner."
"I should have known," was the mock-resigned complaint.
"Joe, he's not the man you arrested before. And he's done a whole lot of good, saving timelines, people, the world…"
"I know, I know. He was a Legend. Is one, probably." Joe smiled a little at that. "I won't arrest him on sight, that I can promise. He doesn't have an arrest warrant out on him. Actually, he's squeaky clean." He raised a pointed eyebrow.
Barry didn't even blush, nor did he look at all guilty.
"But if I catch him red-handed, I won't turn a blind eye."
"I wouldn't ask you to." Not that Joe would catch either of the two former criminals, Barry mused.
"And on that note, knowing Mick Rory is a Sentinel and he sees this city as his territory, that he fights to have your back and take down threats," Joe added, "I can accept he has to be around."
"But no family dinner?" he teased.
It got him a chuckle. "No family dinner." There was real humor dancing in his foster father's eyes.
Barry felt himself relax a little more. The team was important to him. The other Sentinel and his bonded Guide. No matter Mick Rory's past, and Barry had been on the receiving end of that past, he was more than a mere ally now. He regarded him as a friend. He was part of Team Flash and a friend who had already protected him, saved The Flash's life.
Barry would protect him in turn.
xXXx
Sentinels and Guides didn't have to move in together as a rule. Universal Guides had a work relationship that started and ended with the shifts of their Sentinel partner. Those in counselling jobs had light connections to their patients while working with them. Those with a deeper bond, mostly in military units or specialized jobs, were around each other almost all day.
Raymond Palmer wasn't a Universal anymore, so Len wasn't surprised to hear that Mick and he had moved into one of the more closely guarded safehouses. Mick wasn't stupid or innocent enough to think he had no enemies left after his stint aboard the Waverider, but the house was secured nine ways to Sunday. Ray had added his own tech, turning the whole place into a fortress. There was also the apartment and another place Mick used as a workshop when he wasn't staking a claim on Cisco's lab space to tinker with the heat gun.
Cisco always watched him like a hawk until Mick stared at him with narrowed eyes and a clear warning not to interfere. Then he would either leave or join in.
Len himself still kept all his apartments, workshops, hideouts and safehouses. He also still broke into Barry's loft, despite having a key, because it kept him sharp.
There were some personal things at the loft. Quite a lot of personal things.
Actually, the loft had become something of a home. He felt safe here. It was a safe place.
Waking up with Barry was… amazing. It was something Len had found he liked a lot. He wanted to have the sleepy speedster next to him, even if Barry only needed four to a maximum of five hours of sleep. He still slept in and quite often was hellishly late getting started. If not for his speed, he might already have gotten fired for the tardiness.
Snart kind of missed that sensation of quiet panic after sleepy cuddles when they weren't in the same place. Since they weren't attached by the hip, since Len sometimes did work a job or two even out of twon, and since Barry sometimes pulled a Flash all-nighter and crashed at the Labs, there were stretches of not seeing each other.
It wasn't like a missing limb or part of his soul yearning for its other half. That was pure romance novel fodder. No, it was simply not having Barry around.
"I'm surprised you and Red haven't moved in together," Mick remarked casually as they shared a late night beer down in the empty bowels of S.T.A.R. Labs, feet kicked up on old, slightly twisted chairs. There was no one there but them.
Snart had found his oldest friend down here by accident. Mick had been engrossed in reading a huge tome of a novel, looking like a bad-ass professor with his reading glasses, the leather jacket, the scuffed jeans and the washed-out t-shirt. Mick hadn't so much as twitched at Len's presence, simply offered him a beer, which had been gladly accepted.
Now Len shot him an unreadable look. "Like you and Raymond? Hadn't pecked you as the type to settle down, Mick," he remarked sardonically.
It got him one of those almost philosophical shrugs accompanied by an expression that said the same.
"Sentinel protectiveness?" Len teased.
"Saves on the rent."
Snart chuckled. Like either of them had ever paid rent. "You got yourself a billionaire. Does he know you are loaded, too?"
Mick raised his eyebrows.
Well, Len hadn't expected anything but a full disclosure between the bonded pair. Not that Raymond Palmer's past was a secret. The man really was a billionaire and he had money to burn. That Mick had told his Guide about his own little nest egg would have come after the full bond.
No secrets, no lies.
And Haircut hadn't run screaming.
"So, you and Red?"
He smirked. "We're keeping our options open, just like our relationship."
"Bullshit," came the growl.
Snart raised an eyebrow.
"Don't pull that one, Lenny. I'm not stupid. You love him."
Len froze.
"A lot," Mick added with a nasty smirk. "And my guess is, you're sharing living space but you haven't moved into any place permanently."
"It's dangerous," Len finally muttered.
"For whom?"
"All of us."
The other man snorted. "You really believe that bull? You're living with each other. You just won't give up your safehouses because you're running scared, Snart."
He glared at him, feet thumping to the ground. "I'm not discussing my private life with you, Rory," he snarled.
Mick grinned widely. "Been doing nothing but that."
"Fuck you," he muttered.
"Happy to help." And Mick went back to reading.