I don't own the CW show The Flash or any DC characters found in this story. I only own my OCs.

Central City

March 20, 2014

Leaning forward, Melody braced her hands against her desk, grimacing as a fresh throb of pain shot through her head. "Please tell me that's the last of it." She growled, reaching up to rub her forehead. Shutting the door behind him, Mike threw himself into a lounge chair, stretching his legs over the arm rest. "Affirmative, Captain." He groaned, arching his back until it popped.

"An entire week of this shit." Melody spat, slumping back into her chair, scowling at her office door. "Yeah, well, that's what you get for making this entire operation entirely dependent on you." Mike pointed out, rolling his head back to grin crookedly at her.

Melody narrowed her eyes at him, but conceded the point. "It's the best way to keep the mob families from getting tired of my meddling." She shrugged, kicking her feet up on the desk. "Anyway, onto better topics. Anything new?"

Mike sighed, rolling onto his stomach. "Mels, have you considered-" "He's alive, Mike." Melody cut him off, voice sharp. "It's only been a week, I'm not giving up."

"Seventeen." Mike stated, expression grave. "That's how many people died the night of the Particle Accelerator explosion. You were almost one of them. Countless others were injured, thousands of dollars of property damage, the trauma alone has made the toughest hard asses see a therapist. It's been four months and people are still missing-" "Exactly, still missing-" "Presumed dead!" Mike plowed over her argument, now sitting straight and staring the woman in the eye. "Wells has been paralyzed from the waist down, that private eye you dealt favors with was flattened under falling debris, Detective West's foster son was struck by lightning and is still in a coma, your budding starlet da Costa? Went up in literal flames after her apartment caught fire. The odds are stacked so far against his turning up they're almost laughable. Melody, at some point you might have to accept the fact that Len could be dead-"

"No!" Melody shot to her feet, slamming her hands on her desk. At the same moment a high pitched note sounded and every light bulb in the room blew.

For a moment they just stood there in the silence and the dark before Melody let out a sharp breath, dragging a hand through her hair. Grumbling as it caught in her rings she angrily tore off the blonde wig, tossing it onto the desk. Slumping back in her chair she meticulously picked out the bobby pins that kept her hair in place, flicking them into a drawer.

Giving his own sharp sigh, Mike dragged a chair over to the other end of the desk, turning it around and sitting down, arms propped on the back. He didn't say anything, just watched Melody intently. Fishing out the last pin, Melody ran a hand through her hair, ruffling it a couple times. Purple strands hung over her eyes and she glared at them contemptuously. It was the first thing she had noticed when she had ducked into the bathroom off her hospital room to change into the clothes Mike had prepared for her when she woke up. Despite the four months she had been in that hospital bed, her dye job had yet to fade, or even grow out at the roots. Even worse, she had discovered, leaning forward until her nose almost touched the mirror, her eyes were now the same color as the contacts she had put in before the show.

'Purple hair and gold eyes' she thought bitterly. 'Get your tickets to see the freak show here.'

"He's not dead." She said firmly, finally meeting Mike's eyes through the dark shades that were now uniform for her. "Worse things have happened to Leonard Snart for this one to take him out. Until I have a body to bury I will go about under the belief that he is lying low somewhere outside Central for the excitement to die down. I won't hear any more about probability of survival, is that clear, Michael?"

Mike met her eyes, then looked away, studying his hands. "Yes Melody."

"Good. Now, have you found Scudder or Dillon yet?"

"No."

"Then you had best get on that, please and thank you." The dismissal was clear and Mike reluctantly stood. Pausing at the door, he glanced down at the glass in the carpet. "Do you want me to send Chuck in?" He asked.

Melody waved her hand dismissively. "No, he's busy enough tonight. Table 8 just had a massive spill and there's currently two women puking in the bathroom. Just send in some new bulbs and I'll take care of it."

"Okay." Pulling open the door, he hesitated again. "You really need to get a hold of these new powers if you want to keep them a secret. One outburst like that with Vincent Santini and everyone will know before lunch time. You sure you don't want my help figuring them out?"

"No, I'm doing fine on my own. Don't worry about it, Mike." She ordered when his mouth opened. "I'll figure it out. I always do."

"This isn't like the family gift, Mel. This is, it's dangerous. What you did to that guy yesterday-"

"I'm handling it." Melody repeated through gritted teeth, eyes gleaming in warning. "Yes, it's not like the family gift but it's not entirely different either. It's just taking some getting used to, that's all."

Mike didn't look convinced but he knew better than to push. "If you're sure. I'll leave you alone then. I love you, big sis."

Melody swiveled her chair around to face the wall. "I know you do. I love you too, little brother."

The door swung closed and Melody waited until Mike's footsteps had faded from normal hearing before allowing the tears to fall.

'Len, where are you?' She thought, shoulders heaving as she did her best to stifle the sobs. She'd never dream of crying where anyone could see and so she had to do so from the privacy and loneliness of her office. If word got out that she was still weak from her hospital stint the mob families would eat her alive. Vulnerability was a luxury she couldn't afford right now, not even with her own brother.

Tucking her feet into the corner of her chair, Melody cried until the tears ran dry and she finally felt almost halfway normal. Wiping her cheeks she spun back around and opened her laptop, sending off new emails to her best gossipers, telling them to keep their ears open for any talk on a man matching Len's description.

'Six years we've been in this together.' She recalled, glancing at her back drop, a photo of her, Mike, and the Snart siblings in the rooms upstairs where her and Mike lived. 'Like Hell I'm giving up on you now.'