Alright! I miscalculated. One more chapter after this one...

Len was in perfect health again, his spine no longer featuring five shattered vertebrae and three more fractured ones.

Caitlin told him to take it easy as she finished her detailed and way too long examination. She was quick, but Len's mind was with Barry, eyes on the pale man, watching him sharply. He felt the tremors, knew that his speedster was on his last leg, and they needed to get some private time. To decompress, to balance those meta senses, and to just have the physical closeness his Sentinel was silently craving.

Len just nodded at Caitlin, already off the bed. She looked like she was about to argue, but then her face shifted into an expression of understanding. Len dragged his Sentinel to S.T.A.R. Labs' default guest room. Barry only protested out of habit, but he did fall into bed, wrapped around Snart like an octopus, without any further protests. He was shaking so hard, Len thought it was almost like the blur.

"Scarlet," he murmured into the messy hair.

Barry tightened his hold. "Didn't know," he whispered.

"I need a little more input than two words."

"We didn't know if it was just a freak occurrence the first time or if you would reset just like the first time. It could have been permanent."

Len digested that, keeping up his calm, calming caresses. "The way I was scanned, poked with needles, turned inside out and upside down, I thought everyone was clear on my abilities to reset."

Barry's fingers clenched into his shirt. "It took a while. Almost the whole day."

Oh.

He silently digested that, burying his fingers in the dark strands, dragging blunt nails over Barry's scalp. His speedster was relaxing more and more, all the tension leaking out of his slender form, and Len could almost pinpoint the second he fell asleep.

Snart himself stayed wide awake, monitoring the other man, thinking about what had happened. He still had a lot of questions, but for now Barry's health was more important than asking those questions. He would get the whole story out of his partner soon enough.

Caitlin knocked and poked her head in two hours and ten minutes later, shooting him a quizzical look that was accompanied by a soft smile.

"Sleeping," Len murmured.

She nodded and raised a pointed eyebrow at him.

"Headache's gone. I'm good."

"Your test results are perfect. Let him rest. He needs it."

He didn't need to be told twice.

She closed the door as quietly as she had opened it and left them alone.

Barry hadn't moved a single inch, hadn't so much as twitched. He was deeply asleep, absolutely trusting, and Len pressed a soft kiss against his hair.

The speedster woke another two hours and seventeen minutes later, looking one hundred percent better. Len pushed him into taking a shower. Hair still damp, wearing S.T.A.R. Lab issue sweats, Barry settled down cross-legged on the bed afterwards, looking more awake, more put together. Len held out a sandwich.

"Uhm…"

"Eat." He reached for the bag and deposited it between them.

It was filled to the brim with more subs and also a lot of Cisco's special protein bars.

"Thank you," was the quiet reply, accompanied by a warm, happy smile.

Len wondered if he would ever not feeling so weirdly warm deep inside when that smile was directed at him. Scarlet had an incredible power over him.

Barry demolished the whole bag, including the protein bars, and he was much more lively, his color had improved, and the lines around his eyes had disappeared. He looked relaxed; balanced. The Speed Force was nothing but a quiet hum that barely registered on Len's senses.

"Okay?" he asked calmly.

The speedster nodded. "Sorry about… uhm, turning into a wreck."

"You saw me die, Barry," Len stated evenly; matter-of-fact. "In a very gruesome way. Again. While I'd love to say you should get used to it, I still don't want to make it a habit. After my latest… adventure with timelessness and resetting I think it's safe to say it'll stick. To me."

Barry chuckled. "I guess. It'll stick."

"Ready for some questions?"

He shrugged easily. "Sure. Fire away."

"What happened to Zoom?"

The younger man's face grew harder. "He and the Speed Force… Well, after he attacked you to break me… they had a disagreement."

"A… disagreement?" Len echoed, mystified.

Barry scrubbed a hand over his neck. "I can't be sure because being a speedster doesn't really come with a handbook I've been privy to, but, well, I think Zoom managed to piss off an eternal energy concept or two. I know the Speed Force isn't sentient the way we are, but it's not just energy. There is something, an existence, this concept, as Thawne once called it." His fingers twisted together behind his neck, then fell down again. "I could feel its… displeasure at Zoom's existence the moment he arrived on this Earth. There was this sudden spike, almost like… anger, if I have to give it a human emotion. And when he attacked you, things got absolutely out of control and downright… freaky."

"Freaky," Len repeated, brows rising. "Define freaky in the world of speedsters, Scarlet."

Barry told him about the fight within the Speed Force, how it had reacted so negatively to Zoom's very existence and his claim to be death, darkness and speed itself. And he talked about the Time Wraiths.

"Time… Wraiths," Len echoed levelly. "Quaint."

"Not so much when you see one. I was never a fan of horror movies and those things… absolutely out of the worst of them."

Zoom had known what those shadowy, zombie-like things had been. Things that had homed in on the two men, but had only chased after the black-clad speedster, ignoring The Flash.

"There were a lot. They never touched me, were only after Zoom," Barry said, voice distant, expression likewise. "Whenever Zoom turned to attack, they were there. It was like… like I was being guarded while he was hunted. I moved and they gave me room; he moved and they were on him. They never made a sound."

Snart's mind was quickly picking up on all the important details, but the whole idea of Time Wraiths was… a bit of a shock.

"So he's dead?"

"Yes."

"And the Speed Force killed him?" Len clarified.

Barry shrugged uncomfortably. "I can't be sure. They… grabbed him. And the moment they touched Zoom, he became more like them… Skeletal… almost demonic… and decaying… until they seemed to envelop him. And then he was gone." He drummed his fingers on his thigh. "I could feel the Speed Force, Len. How it… wanted him gone. How satisfied it was when it had caught him… and absorbed him."

"Well, fuck. Vengeful little shit, isn't it?"

It got him a burst of laughter and Barry shook his head.

"With attack dogs," Snart added.

"Really terrifying, Walking Dead attack dogs. Not sure what they're supposed to be, but I really don't want them hunting me." Barry shuddered. "Zoom's dead. Really dead."

"Good." And Len still wondered about the Time Wraiths and their purpose.

Why hadn't they made an appearance up until now? A lot of shit had happened to Barry already and they had never popped up. Why now? Why just for Zoom? Why not for Eobard Thawne? Or maybe they had grabbed him and Scarlet had never seen them?

The gentle caress of the powerful energy around him, the increased humming purr, it all was in complete contradiction to the existence of creatures that hunted and killed offenders. Barry watched him, watched the Speed Force interact with his shield, and he smiled softly. It curled close to Len, like a vicious little kitten, all softness and sharp, serrated teeth and claws.

It had killed some psychotic speedster from another dimension because Zoom had… killed Len? Could an eternal energy concept play favorites? And why Barry and he?

The Speed Force was closer now, enveloping him, rubbing against him, clearly leaving a mark of her speedster on the speedster's shield. Time and Speed. Snart wondered. No one understood these concepts, because human minds were too limited and not at all used to such thinking.

Why Barry? he thought again.

There were other worlds out there, in this multiverse. There were other speedsters. None were Sentinels, as far as he knew. Only Barry.

"Len?"

He met the green eyes, saw a million emotions in there, and he knew he felt the same.

"Scarlet," he echoed, a tiny smile on his lips as he was drawn out of his musings.

Barry leaned in and kissed him. "It adores you," he teased.

Len smirked, kissing back. "It's not a sentient being."

"Not in a way we would see it. No one really knows what Speed or Time really are," Barry told him, voicing his own thoughts. "They are concepts. And this concept has demonic enforcers that protect it and remove whoever breaks the rules."

"Rules of what rule book?"

It got him a shrug. "None I ever read."

"Rules about killing the shield of its favorite speedster, maybe?"

"It doesn't play favors!" he argued.

Len gave him an unimpressed eyebrow raise. "Really. Scarlet, I know you can be a bit dense sometimes…"

"Hey!"

"… but even you must have realized how much this extra-dimensional sentience is invested in you. Us. Everything around us. It does play favorites."

"I don't… I mean, the multiverse has more than one speedster, even more than one Flash!"

"So?"

"I can't be…" He stopped. "Why me?"

"Ask the Speed Force."

Barry glared at him. Snart just smiled; well, it was half a smirk.

The younger man looked uncomfortable, so Len reached out and cupped one smooth cheek. The next kiss was loving and warm.

"You're my favorite speedster, too. I'D kill for you to live, too."

Barry's eyes widened briefly. "Len…"

"We have a deal. I'll always stick to it, unless there is no other choice. Your life is very important to me, Barry Allen. Absolutely important."

The Speed Force's presence increased and both men saw it curl and twist around them, not agitated, but still very active.

So what about the Time Stream? Len wondered as he watched the lightning and energy everywhere. Had there been enforcers or guard dogs, too? Would Len have survived had he been just human?

Barry's hands suddenly slid underneath his clothes, distracting him, derailing his thoughts, and Len got with the program. Decompressing, seeking comfort, needing reassurance… it suddenly went both ways. He needed it as much as his speedster.

The kiss was another expression of that need and he held Barry close, let him bury even closer, and while the energy around them disappeared for the naked eye to see, it was still there. Within The Flash. Len could feel that dense accumulation of speed energy, was familiar with it, and it felt as calm and evened out as usual. None of the sharp spike left.

The Speed Force was really a protective and vengeful little shit, he thought with a cold smile. He could relate, because if anyone tried to take Barry, Leonard Snart would react exactly the same way.

Well, without siccing Time Wraiths on them, though it was an enticing thought. He almost laughed at that.

Barry relaxed more and more, was now a loose-limbed, slightly dozing form in his arms. Len pressed a kiss against the tousled head, earning himself a little huff of amusement.

Time to think about everything else later.

Pun intended.

With the breacher problem gone, life was almost boringly normal. There were a few incidents, but nothing that warranted more than The Flash most of the times.

Mick had taken to writing again. He had written a few novels while on the Waverider, something not many of his fellow team members among the Legends had been aware of, and his old publisher had been ecstatic that Rebecca Silver was back. With quite some juicy novels.

The first publication went like hot cakes.

Barry hadn't known that about his fellow Sentinel. Len had laughed heartily at the speedster's bemused expression.

Mick Rory, romance novel author, was not something that really went together with Mick Rory, former pyromaniac and master criminal, in his head, but he went with it, like he had gone with so many stuff in his life.

Mick Rory, Sentinel of Central City, was something he didn't have to get used to. There was no mistaking that part of him. There was also no mistaking how the man had truly grown into that role, was assured of himself, his abilities, and self-confident facing the team and in the eyes of the public and police. Just to see him wearing a t-shirt, showing those burn scars without shame, anger or even aggression was something he still had to get used to.

Just like Cisco had to get used to the sharp mind that understood mechanics and more than just a little bit of engineering. Cisco loved coming up with new ideas and Mick either agreed or they got into an argument about the viability of certain tech, upgrades or little tweaks to an existing design.

Cisco loved it. He was always looking forward to it and the moment Ray joined in, it was like a miniature nuclear reaction in the making. The ATOM suit was already heading toward its next version. Barry had lost count of the number. It was a lot less clunky and didn't encumber Ray as it used to.

And it turned to water just like everything else either man wore when they used their totems. Cisco was having a field day trying to get to the bottom of it.

xXXx

Barry and Mick understood each other with very few words most of the time, especially in battle situations. Training had gotten quite interesting and something Barry very much looked forward to. Maybe it was a Sentinel thing. He couldn't be sure. He had never been a real Sentinel. The Flash, the forensic tech, the meta Sentinel, but never just the Sentinel.

"I don't give a crap about the whole alpha thing," Mick told him gruffly.

"Alpha thing?" Barry echoed. "You mean, team leader? I'm not…"

Mick snorted, looking very much amused. "Definitely not, though compared to some leaders you're acing it."

"Uh, thanks, I think? But… I'm not the captain or whatever. Harrison's handling the cortex. He and Cisco and Caitlin. I just… well, I do my thing in the field."

"Got a team now. You wanted us. You got us. I'm sure Snart told you I'm not much of a team player."

"He might have mentioned it."

Mick grinned. "Probably more than once. You still asked."

"And you agreed."

"Coercion."

Barry chuckled.

"Haircut's all gung-ho for team stuff."

"So your Guide bullied or coerced you into it?" he teased. "Ray wanted to join the team and you, what? Tagged along?"

Mick glowered a little, but he didn't argue.

Yes, he had agreed to join the team. He and Ray were now an integral part and Barry knew he would never had managed to defeat Zoom without them. That was what he told Mick. The older man shrugged.

"I agreed to the team. My decision. You also asked me, not just Ray." Mick's expression was suddenly more intense. "I'm not the add-on that came with the guy you truly wanted."

Barry studied him, then remembered what Len had told him about how they had joined the Legends. "You never were," he said quietly. "That's not how I work."

The other man grinned. "I know. You're quite something, Red. It's why I like you. And I've got your back."

"Thanks for that," he answered quietly. "It's not something I expected."

Mick scowled. "I said I'd have your back, then I have your back. The past's just that. I went through too much personal shit to let some scuffles stop me. I'm not a good guy and never will be, but I'm also a man of my word. Haven't always been, but that's over. You got me and Ray until you kick us out."

Barry smiled. "And I'm glad I do."

Mick raised his eyebrows, grinning, and held out a beer and Barry took it. They clinked bottles and Barry settled back, enjoying the company.