He had him. He almost had him! Special Agent Bartholomew Allen almost wanted to tear his own hair out in reflecting from the events that had happened during the day as he sat in his FBI office, trying to figure out how Leonard Snart had slipped though their hands undetected again.

It seemed so stupid that one man could cause such a reaction of frustration, but, Leonard Snart had been the undivided, attention seeking, pain in the backside of the bank fraud department of the FBI for several years now. The man was an enigma, an annoying one and that's what drew Allen to his case and to him, professionally and personally.

Born in the 70's in a small town called 'Central City', Leonard Micheal Snart was a troubled kid, father was abusive, mother was an alcoholic and his little sister was also abused. Eventually, one day, Leonard just packed it all in after he found out that his mother had been having an affair behind their back while his father was sent to jail for theft and money laundering. Unable to take it, he abandoned his sister and his mother and decided to live on the lam with what money he had, part of it being sent to an account his parents had made for Lisa when she was 18. If there was a thing he cared about in the world, it was her.

It was pretty cut and dry at first, but eventually, as all people do, Leonard ran out of money.

However, Leonard was smart. Bartholomew knew this. That's how the FBI started tracking him in the first place. Leonard decided that he needed a better way out of his money situation. So, in a bid to make himself some more money to continue his lifestyle, Leonard Snart had to go. For now. Somehow, by sheer luck, a thrift store he was passing by was selling a pilot's uniform. It was perfect. He used the last of the money he had buying it and getting the other supplies needed for the con to make his move.

That move cost the U.S. Government a hefty 2.8 million dollars as Leon Cold, a pilot flying for Pan Am and born in Montrichard, France, just like Leonard's mother before him, forged the checks to ensure he would be paid for a job he never even done before. It also alerted his department that something was up.

It was not the first, not the last time that Leonard Cold had impersonated someone however, given his background. In interviews with Leonard's mother, sister and people, including his best friend Micheal Rory, he found that Leonard had a long history of impersonation, starting from high school where he impersonated a French substitute teacher in his class before dropping out the next year, not even earning his GED.

Back in the present, once Leonard got wind of the fraud department looking in on him, he had to switch up his tactics. It was the first time that Bartholomew met Snart that would stick into his brain for years to come, as Leonard managed to pull a quick one of him then escape.

They had managed to intercept a tip that Snart was at a hotel in Athens, Ohio. When they barged into the room however, Bartholomew was taken aback by the stunning blue eyes and sculpted cheekbones of the man inside, who calmly put his hands up and said (in a voice that rolled down Bartholomew's shoulders) that he as well, was also one of them.

Bartholomew had no reason to question him, or what looked like another man being arrested and taken into custody by individuals looking like the local police outside the window. So he had let him get away, which, of course, he realized a second later, cursing at himself and those stupid blue eyes before flooring it and giving chase.

Snart, however, was long gone. Bartholomew honestly didn't know how to deal with that in the weeks that passed from the incident, the whole thing going around in his head like otters in a pond. He didn't think they would find Snart again till after the New Year at this rate.

What he wasn't expecting was his phone to ring on Christmas while he was filling out paperwork (the joys of being the youngest agent in his field and department) and to be answered with his "Hello?" with a surly laugh.

"Well, hello Agent Allen. Didn't expect to hear your voice so late." Bartholomew, frowning, looked at the phone on his desk in confusion.

"Sorry, who is this?"

"Oh come now Agent Allen…" The voice sounded like ice, smooth and calm, words practically rolling off the tongue that possessed them.

"You don't remember me? We met at the hotel." Then it all came flooding forward. "Snart." Bartholomew grit his teeth. "Leonard Snart."

"You're faster than I thought, hotshot." The older man laughed, sounding quite triumphant.

"I don't what the hell you think you are playing at-"

"Look, Hotshot, I get that you are mad about me duping you…"

"I am more than mad, but if you try to apologize, I swear to god-"

"Aw, Hotshot." Leonard almost sounded disappointed then, sour. "Why can't you just let me have my fun?"

"Because-" Bartholomew almost bit his tongue clean off, blood boiling. "Your 'fun' as you put it, is illegal and reckless."

There was a snort on the end of the line before Leonard's voice came back.

"Of course you would say that. I thought you were a fraud investigator Hotshot, not the fun police."

"Snart, you are going to be caught. You know it. We both do." Bartholomew was holding the handset so tight in his grip.

"No matter what you do, where you go, I'm going to be the one to capture you, Snart. You can count me on that."

"Oooh." His voice was vicious, grinning, like it was a challenge.

"Fine, Hotshot, you do that. I can't promise you I'll be a team player though."

That's when Bartholomew realized something and couldn't stop a laugh coming out. "Oh, now I get it."

"Get what, Allen?" Snart seemed to be genuinely curious, which made Bartholomew laugh harder than before.

"Leonard, you are calling me on Christmas Eve of all times, because I just realized, you have no one else to call, but me."

Bartholomew wheezed, hearing the voice go silent on the end.

It was dead quiet for several minutes and if it wasn't for the upset, angry breathing on the end of the line, Bartholomew would have assumed he had hung up.

"Anyways, Merry Christmas Snart." Bartholomew grinned. "I'll be seeing you soon."

He dropped the phone back into it's cradle on his desk with a smirk on his face and went back to the paperwork, chuckling to himself.

"Middle Aged Fraudster Taken Down By Young Agent, good story line. Wonder if Iris would like it…"