When Malcolm Merlyn returned to Starling City after training with the League of Assassins, he was different. Or at the very least he'd planned to be. Over the course of 4 years he came to realize that his own son would never understand the choices he would have to make. That they would likely always be estranged. After all Tommy Merlyn was his mother's child at heart.

There was one day in particular when Malcolm realized this. Small, seemingly insignificant. It was a rare night. A memory forever scented with licorice and alcohol snagged from the Queen wine cellar. 14-year-old Tommy had only one request for his birthday. To this day Malcolm still can't quit recall what it was. Instead he remembers the silent backseat of a car. The way the rain dripped down the window his son lent his head against. The reflection of drop after drop rolling down Tommy's face, similar to the words of admonishment that gradually decreased their fall from Malcolm's lips. If Malcolm had to pinpoint a moment when he realized the chasm between his son and himself had become too great to cross. He'd paint a picture of his son ascending the stairs of the Merlyn mansion while he watched until he disappeared into the dim hallway. He'd see himself in his office that night a glass in his hand and the beginnings of his plans for the Glades in front of him.

20 years and 17 days after that night, After Rebecca's death Malcolm had all of his things moved into a room on the opposite wing from the one he'd shared with his wife. He left her things there along with a box containing paperwork to become foster parents. They'd be far outdated and mostly unusable but an idea was forming. And when Malcolm Merlyn had a plan, he always followed through, by any means necessary.

He loved his wife but it was not the love he held for Freya Nova.

With Rebecca, it had been quick, immediate. He latched on to her immediately. She was beautiful, sure, glorious in all her perfection. But he preferred the puzzle. He latched on to her because she was smart and funny in a way that cut into him. Idly, he thinks he liked her because she was mean in all her sharp wit. He liked that she could outsmart him, outthink him, if she only wanted to. He liked her cruelty in all it's harshness. But, more than that, he liked what he suspected, what he knew, lay beneath it.

He was never really good at distinguishing friendship from love. Deep platonic affection from raw want and need. They seemed to meld into one another until it was just a massive ball of energy and awe. So, in the end, it wasn't that surprising that he thought he was in love with her. It wasn't that surprising that he mistook fascination and odd connection and attraction for love. It wasn't that surprising. In the end.

He was married to her because she was pregnant but never regretted the acquittal of his son.

With Freya, though, it was different. It was slow and agonizing and all consuming. He thought it would be easier this time, but his heart feels perpetually broken and he doesn't know how to fix it, how to change it. And he doesn't even know if he wants to. He does, he does.

Freya was charming, her sarcasm buried beneath silk and irony. She was strong, and smart, and kind, underneath all of it. She is a pillar that Malcolm wants to cling to. She is a warmth that he wants to drown in.

FLASHBACK

Malcolm Merlyn was standing by his locker, when she walked in. She being Freya Nova, one of the most popular girls in Central City High. What Malcolm thought was amazing was that Freya didn't act like she was popular. She hung out with almost everyone. Malcolm had a huge crush on her. He let out a dreamy yet sad sigh just as his friend Henry Allen approached him.

"Why don't you just ask her out already?" Henry asked.

''Because my parents want a proper girl like Rebecca and not a troublemake like Freya"Malcolm said with a slight groan, as Henry laughed. Malcolm turned to look at his friend.

"What the hell is so funny?" Malcolm asked with a growl.

"Oh nothing. Just that I am 100 percent that you're never listen to your parents and the most crucial moment you decide to become a good man. Everyone in the school was aware of Malcolm Merlyn's Chrysler-Builidng-sized crush on Freya Nova''Henry said, while Malcolm's eyes went wide. Malcolm's mouth was hanging open as he stared at his friend.

"How do you know that?" He asked as he regained his composer, well most of it at least.

''I'm not 's a way you look at her everytime you find yourelves together that I cant's never understand but I think I get it now ,it's love and have you forgotten that I share half my classes with Freya." Henry said with a smirk. "Now go ask her out!" Henry said as he pushed Malcolm towards Freya.

"Henry! Don't! man!" Malcolm growled to his friend, but it was to late Malcolm was now in front of the girl.

''"Hey Mal!" Freya said with a grin.

"Freya Hey!" He said nervously. "Uh Freya, can I ask you something?"

"Of course you can." She said.

"Do you...uh...do you want to go out with me?" He said nervously. She smiled.

"I would love to, Mal." She said while grabbing Malcolm's hand. She then grabbed a pen and wrote her number on his hand. "Call me." She then walked away to her next class. He let out a love sick sigh. But then she made him walked with her so she could talk to him. And he followed like a love struck puppy.

END FLASHBACK

Freya is a kick to his gut.

But after the death of his wife and Freya ahd been in Iraq and Aganistan for 5 years something happend to her.

She became cold with everyone ,even him but never with Tommy. The boy worshiped the older woman as if she was a godness and with the absence of his wife they have gained a closer relationship. She acted like in a motherly way towards him. More times than not, the boy would barged into her room without a knock or hello and would sat down on her bed or at her desk and did his homework, asking her to explained a few things for him every now and again.

The man walked into his office when suddenly he saw his friend.

Freya sat in one of the chair of his office and only her she could look like a queen in such a chair. She was sitting and has her leg-crossing like Sharon Stone's famous scene in Basic Instinct. Malcolm's heart began to beat fiercely in his chest as he stood before his heart's desire—afraid to admit his feelings to the beautiful soldier .

He didn't fear rejection (well actually, he did fear that), but the loss of Freya' friendship and respect; he never wanted to be without those special gifts. He would rather continue on, bearing his true feelings in silence forever than to lose her in so cruel a manner. But he had crossed a point of no return; if Freya asked him who this someone was, he would answer her truthfully for he could never lie to her.

''I was planning on adopting Barry''

She told Malcolm, he was surprised but wanted her to continue. ''He's witnessed things that he shouldn't have. I'm also sorry to say this but I've noticed that Barry needs a female figure in his life and something else that a bashing cop and bicth for a sister and Oliver will help him. 'The woman explained. Malcolm nodded. He knew she was right.

''Tomorrow night Barry ,Oliver and Tommy with his girlfriend will have dinner here and I want you with us''said Malcolm before Freay walked away from him.

If there was one thing that Freya was good at, it was fighting.

She was a Captain . She craved bloodlust and the thrill of battle like air. It was her crack, far better than sex with men.

''Fall in love ,have kids ,get marry''

Love

Freya doesn't know how to love, never did. She can't express how it feels when her chest flutters and her heart aches for someone, can't tell them how much she truly appreciates what they do and how they do it. She doesn't know how to say those three words that are so important, so life changing, and yet stuck on her tongue like they're gum under a shoe. The last time they were uttered on dying lips with a gasping breath, accompanied by an orchestra of beeping machines and wrecking sobs. The last time she'd seen the only parent who ever loved her.

She wanted to love, but her skin smelt like war and her muscles ached from fighting and running.

She always found ways around saying it, even to Barry. He'd be off to school with a quiet, "love you, aunt F" and she'd give a soft kiss on his head and say back, "be safe, Barry." And she was never in a relationship long enough for those words to become a factor until Malcolm.

It wasn't some great explanation, no sudden reveal or sweet admittance. Before Rebecca , it was Freya fooling around in the kitchen in Merlyn's Mansion and Malcolm growling at her, swatting his hands with a spoon all the while saying, "Look, I love you a fucking lot, but get the hell out of my kitchen."

Freya had been too shocked and did just that, but Malcolm hadn't brought it up and even years later rarely said those words. They didn't need too, they knew.

She always had a thing for strong men. They weren't afraid to stand up to her, goad her on to a fight that could satisfy that primal part of her. That was her darker part, his inner demon and monster that came only on pain and anger.

The problem was that most men could never keep her attention for long.

A miniature devil version of herself appeared on her shoulder.

'What about Malcolm?,' mini-devil self swooned.

A miniature angelic version of herself popped into existence and hit mini-devil self on the head with a fan.

'Don't cross the line. He's Rebecca's husband. And your friend!' Mini-Freya screamed.

Freya cleared her throat, inwardly wincing and banishing Mini-Angel Freya and Mini-Devil Freya off of her shoulder,

Freya Nova and Rebecca Black had taken an instantaneous dislike to one another. Rebecca was uswd to people liking her immediately. She had always been the popular girl, and around the precinct she was treated like a princess since her father was a CEO. Freya thought Rebecca was nosy ,demanding and a total diva.

Freya may not be a soldier anymore, but she hadn't lost the training, or her instincts, it was the third time he saw the man. The first time, Freya spotted him watching across the street from the Jitters. Then there was the night Freya left in a huff after finding out about Joe being an homophobe asshole

''It's impolite to stare." She stated with a tease in her voice.

One thing Leonard Snart loved, besides his sister and an elaborate heist, was a mystery. The opportunity to put together the clues and reach the correct answer before everyone else would put a sparkle in his icy eyes faster than almost anything else. He also had a driving need to know everything about everyone in his life. He hated surprises (unless he planned them). He hated secrets (unless they were his). Mick had given up, a long time ago, trying to make sense of Len's weird bouts of obsession. That's why, when Len suddenly began dragging him around town to stalk Freya Nova, he didn't ask questions. He just drove where Len told him to, and read a book between trips.

"A law firm?" Len mumbled, interrupting his reading. "Why is woman meeting someone at a law firm?"

Mick glanced up and looked across the street. Sure enough, the woman was standing near the door, speaking to an elderly man. They were looking at something in the kid's hand and there was a lot of nodding and hand waving going on.

"You're bordering on obsessed," Mick grumbled.

"She's breaking pattern," Len said with a frown, lifting his binoculars to his eyes again. "I want to know why."

Mick rolled his eyes and went back to his book. Sometimes he thought going straight was too much strain on Len's patience. In truth, Len was just pouting because he had no idea what Freay Nova is.

Snart really liked this one. She was strong and had spirit, that much he gathered instantly. Not many women could stare him down with such defiance; This lady was driving him crazy but Snaer could not called it love. Leonard Snart doesn't believe in love either. The first he heard of the concept was in his storybooks. But he read them to drown out the sound of shattering glass and his mother's cries. And then he thought that maybe he could have believed in love when Lila first walked into his 11th grade classroom with her long cocoa colored waves and that smile that made his chest tighten and his breath catch in his throat.

But then she had invited him to a party, and drank too much rum and spent the whole night sitting in Kol's lap, palming him through his jeans, and Snart had to make up an excuse to leave so no one could see the tears welling in his eyes.

He thought maybe he had been lying to himself, that the reason he had so much trouble with love was because he was in denial about his own attraction, and he was twenty-four when Nathan burst into his life with dimples and bright green eyes and poetry and grandiose declarations. It seemed like a fairytale he had been too afraid to believe in. But then three years later he got that phone call, the one recommending that he be tested for HIV, because a partner of his had been diagnosed. And Snart had only ever been with one person before, and that person had sworn to him, up and down that Snart had been his one and only too.

After that he thought maybe love did exist, but just not for him.

'Leonard Snart," the woman breathed, pushing him against the wall and cuffing his hands behind his back, "you are under arrest."

Snart laughed lightly and tilted his head back to look at her as best as he could. "You know, woman, I was always hoping that we could play cop and prisoner, but I have to admit, this wasn't how I envisioned it."

Freya rolled her eyes to mask how much he was actually affected by those words.

"I think you and I are gonna get along great," Snart smirked.

"I doubt it, considering how you treated my boy," Freya said coolly and Snart winced.

"I'm a thief but I made a deal with him that I will not kill no one or hurt someone. Even him," Snart promised.

"Hurt him again and know that if you lay a finger of him ,I will find you , and I will skinnnn you alive," Freya smirked and Snart felt a shiver go down his spine.

Freya pulls back to look into his eyes, and Snart's heart skips a beat. Something presses against his heart, against his chest, making it hard for him to breathe. For a moment, they're both just standing there, taking each other in, not really sure what to say.

"Don't do that." Freya says, and sits up out of her grasp.

"Do what?" Snart asks gently.

"Look at me like that, like you're thinking about kissing me."

A hard smile pulls at his lips. "I'm that obvious?

''You wanna steal a kiss from me ,Lenny?' Freya grabbed hus wrist, shoved him back instead of forward as he expected, rotated on her left foot dragging his across her hip and onto the floor. He was cuffed before he could roll over, he kicked out and she caught his foot flipping his back to his belly then using her foot to keep his in place.

''You better be one hell of a thief''

"Uh oh Snart. I think you just found your match." Mick said.

"Shit, I think I just fell in love." He said with a full-blown smile on my face. He would has Freya Nova if it is the last thing he does.

Malcolm or Snart?