A/N: Spoiler alert for the ending of Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck in this chapter. It just felt really fitting, especially given Leonard's rule about plans going wrong that was brought up last chapter, so I couldn't help referencing it. Enjoy!


Sara twirled a knife in her hand, then threw it across the cargo bay. It landed on the circular target propped up against the wall, a perfect bullseye. Behind her, Mick concentrated on the punching bag in front of him, landing his fists against it one after the other. Normally, Mick preferred to work out alone in his room, but recently, he and Sara had started training together in the cargo bay. It had been her idea, and he had been very reluctant to join in at the time. However, he eventually realized that Sara could be a tolerable workout partner. That, and the cargo bay had much more space than his room.

Sara smiled triumphantly and pulled the knife out of the target, as well as the five others that had been only slightly off center. "Want to give me a turn with that bag, Rory?" she asked.

He landed one more punch, sending the bag swinging. "All yours," he grunted, moving a few feet away to pick up his weights.

Sara took his place and began punching, landing her fists rhythmically. Right, left, right, left. "By the way," she said as she caught her breath between punches, "how are you doing after last night?"

Mick didn't look up, too focused on his weights. "What?"

Sara punched one more time, then stopped the bag mid-swing, holding it still. "When Charlie was Snart," she reminded him. "I just wanted to make sure you're okay."

"Okay?" he turned to look at her with a scowl. "Why wouldn't I be okay?"

She continued, stretching her arms as she spoke, "Because he was your best friend, and that's the first time you've seen him since…"

"Since the Legion," Mick finished for her.

She looked down, remembering Leonard standing side by side with Damien Darhk in 1916. The man who had been one of her closest friends working with the man who had killed her sister. Time had healed some of the pain of that image, but it still hurt, which was why she avoided thinking about it. "I mean, technically," she said, redirecting the conversation, "you saw Leo before, but that was different."

"It wasn't Snart," Mick said. "It was Leo. And last night, it was Charlie. I'm not an idiot, Lance. Snart is gone."

"Yeah," Sara said, turning her back to him to face the punching bag again, trying to hide the sadness in her voice, "he is." She made two fists and began punching again in silence. Right, left, right, left, right…


"Leonard Snart was born at Central City Hospital in 1972 to Lewis and Laura Snart," Gideon said, displaying an image of a birth certificate. "Other relatives include a younger sister, Lisa Snart." The screen changed to reveal an image of a newspaper front page featuring a photo of Leonard Snart in a blue parka, standing menacingly on a Central City street opposite the Flash. "From 2014 to 2016, Mr. Snart was a frequent adversary of the Flash, taking the alias 'Captain Cold.'"

"Captain Cold?" Zari repeated.

"Cisco's idea," Wally explained.

"Not a bad name," Charlie remarked, still laying sideways in her chair. "I really do need to meet this Cisco bloke."

"So," Nate said, pacing across the library floor, "Snart was a bad guy, then."

Gideon continued, "After being recruited by Captain Rip Hunter, Mr. Snart joined the Legends aboard the Waverider alongside his longtime criminal partner, Mick Rory, alias 'Heatwave.'"

"Another Cisco Ramon original," Wally commented with a look toward Charlie. She nodded approvingly.

Constantine interrupted, "As much as we all love hearing Snart's Wikipedia entry, I don't think this is going to answer our questions."

Mona turned to him. "What do mean?"

"I mean," he explained, "birthdates and newspaper clippings only tell so much of a story, love. If you want to know what happened to make him turn heroic and be all buddy-buddy with the captain, you've got to get deeper than that."

"Constantine's right," Zari agreed. "Gideon, did Rip have you collect video footage of the original Legends team during their mission against Savage?"

"Yes, Miss Tomaz."

"Then dig up some footage of Leonard Snart on the Waverider," she instructed "Not battle scenes, not long expositional crap, just day-to-day stuff. Especially footage of him interacting with Sara."

Nate looked at her, confused. "What are you doing, Z?"

"Getting to know the real Leonard Snart," she answered. "The one Captain Lance was friends with. We know why Mick cared about him. Now we need to find out why she did. You got that, Gideon?"

"Of course, Miss Tomaz."

The small screen flickered, then revealed a video of one of the Waverider's hallways. Sara, about four years younger, was walking one direction. A man the team now recognized as Leonard Snart rounded the corner from the other side. The team was a little surprised to see that he'd switched his blue parka for a thinner, darker jacket. "Been looking for you," he drawled as they met in the middle of the space.

"Why?" Sara asked, crossing her arms.

Snart held up a box of playing cards. "Rip says we won't be back in the timeline for a while. Thought we could pass the time."

Sara looked at the box. "Don't you already have a partner?"

"Mick's not a fan of cards." He paused, then added with a smirk, "He knows I beat him every time."

Sara stepped toward him. "Is that a challenge, Leonard?" she asked playfully.

"Depends," he answered, turning the box in his hand, "do you accept?"

"I've never been afraid of a little competition," she replied. She turned to leave and said over her shoulder as she did, "Cargo bay, five minutes. And no cheating, crook!" she called out as she left the screen.

"Never have to, assassin!" he retorted, his eyes still following her direction as she walked away.

The screen flickered again and began to play a different clip. The setting was the parlor, and it was almost empty, except for Leonard Snart, who was reclining in a chair with his feet propped up on the captain's desk. The screen in front of him was showing some kind of underwater footage, although it was hard for the Legends watching to identify exactly what.

"Mr. Snart," Rip Hunter said, addressing him tiredly as he entered the parlor, "is it possible for you to entertain yourself elsewhere?"

"This is the best screen on this boat," Leonard answered without making any effort to move.

Rip looked at the screen intently. "What on earth are you watching?"

"Shark Week," he answered, still not looking away.

Rip sighed exasperatedly. "You're on a time ship, and the best way you can think to spend your time is watching bloody Shark Week?" No response. "Fine," the captain said, "can you at least remove your boots from my desk?"

"No."

Rip groaned, clearly annoyed but unwilling to put up much more of a fight. He pulled a map out and began studying it on top of his desk, trying his best to ignore Leonard.

Sara hopped up the steps into the parlor. "I brought sustenance," she announced, holding up a bowl of popcorn.

Leonard instantly spun around to face her, taking his feet off the desk in the process. "Gideon better have put extra butter on that," he said.

"Oh, I made sure she did," Sara assured him.

"Really?" Rip asked, staring at Sara in disbelief. "You're joining him, Miss Lance?"

Sara shrugged and pulled up a chair next to Leonard. "Why not? Between this team and the League, I've been in a lot of strange situations. You never know when obscure shark knowledge is going to be useful."

"That's correct," Leonard agreed, reaching for a handful of popcorn.

Rip attempted to continue working, but the sights and sounds of the television mixed with Sara and Leonard's popcorn eating proved too distracting. "Very well," he conceded defeat. "I will finish this work in my quarters. You two can watch your sharks in peace." He rolled up the map and marched out of the parlor.

"Good luck with that," Leonard said sarcastically, although Rip was already out of earshot by then.

"You know," Sara said, turning to look at him, "you don't need to be like that with Rip. I know he can be a pain, but he's just trying to do what's right."

"He's trying to defeat Savage," Leonard replied. "I want that guy dead as much as anyone on this ship, but Rip's got his priorities screwed up. One of these days, he's going to go too far."

Sara looked back at the screen but continued to address her friend. "You don't know that. He's just doing whatever he has to do to protect his family. If someone came after my family, I'd do the same thing."

Leonard glanced down thoughtfully, as if what she'd said struck a chord. "Yeah," he said softly, turning his attention back to Shark Week, "me too, I guess."

Sara smiled. "Wow, the infamous Captain Cold has a heart," she teased. "Who knew?"

Leonard threw her a sideways glance. "Don't go around telling people," he said. "I've got a reputation to uphold."

Sara rolled her eyes and picked up a piece of popcorn. "Catch, crook," she told him, tossing it up in the air. He leaned over and caught it in his mouth. "Nice," she said.

"Your turn, assassin," he said, picking up another piece and tossing it her direction. She caught it easily, then returned her focus to the screen. After a moment, she became aware of Leonard's eyes still on her. "What?" she asked, glancing at him.

Leonard quickly looked away. "Nothing." He leaned back in his chair. "Quiet, it's getting to the good part."

The screen flickered again and revealed footage of the Waverider kitchen. Inside were Leonard, Sara, and Mick, who was carrying three bottles of beer. He handed one to each of his teammates. "If there's one thing that gulag taught me," he said, "it's how to miss this sorry old bucket of bolts." He lifted his bottle up and pointed it toward the other two Legends. "And you idiots."

"That," Sara said, "is the sweetest thing I've ever heard you say."

"Enjoy it, Blondie," Mick replied gruffly. "You'll never hear it again."

Leonard leaned down to Sara's eye level, a mischievous look in his eyes. "He's saying he likes you," he told her.

"No, I'm not." Mick sounded almost insulted at the idea.

"Good to have you back, buddy," Leonard said, not acknowledging his friend's denial.

Sara raised her beer. "To Killer, Klepto, and Pyro," she said, "back together again. Cheers, guys."

The other two members of the trio tapped their bottles against hers, then each took a sip of their drink. Mick downed all of his beer in a couple more gulps, muttered something about his room, and stomped out, leaving Leonard and Sara alone.

"He does like you," Leonard repeated in his usual drawl. "No faster way to earn Mick's respect than beating up people twice your size."

Sara put down her drink and turned to face him. "Hey, about earlier, I don't think I ever thanked you for…"

"Don't," he cut her off.

She was surprised but continued speaking. "No, Leonard, I really should…"

"I didn't do anything," he replied, cutting her off again. "You're the one who didn't pull the trigger. Never give someone else credit for your own accomplishments, Sara."

She stepped back and stared at him, studying him as if he was a massive, walking mystery. "You don't understand. I would've killed him."

"But you didn't," he said, "because you're better than that, and you know it. All I did was remind you. Nothing else."

She placed her hand gently on his shoulder. "Well," she said, "thank you for reminding me."

He closed his eyes, then opened them as he smiled back at her. "You're welcome."

The video ended and the screen transitioned to the next one. Leonard and Sara were sitting on the floor of the cargo bay playing cards. Ray stormed in, looking about as angry as he was capable of looking.

"Where is it, Snart?" he demanded.

"Care to be more specific?" Leonard asked, not looking up from his cards.

"My wallet," Ray huffed. "I know you stole it. Where is it?"

"Raymond, Raymond, Raymond," Leonard sighed, "you still don't trust me, do you? And after everything we've been through…"

Ray frowned. "Just tell me where it is, Snart. If you give it back, I won't tell the captain."

Leonard finally looked up from his cards. "Oh, you're going to tell Rip," he said, amused. "Now I'm really scared."

Ray turned to leave, giving up on the conversation. "I'll find it, Snart. And when I do…"

"I'll be right here," Leonard said, unconcerned.

As soon as Ray was out of the frame, Sara looked up from her cards. "So, what did you do with it?"

Leonard reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, brown wallet, holding it up next to his face with a proud smirk. "Relax," he said, returning it to his pocket. "I didn't take anything out. I'm going to plant it in the lab later. He'll think he just misplaced it."

"He's not stupid, Leonard."

"Debatable."

Her brow furrowed. "Why did you even steal it if you're just going to plant it on him again?"

"It's been over a month since I last stole something," he replied. "Wouldn't want to get out of practice. Also," he laid down his cards face-up, "gin."

"Not again," she groaned, laying down her losing hand.

He scooped up the remaining cards and began to shuffle them back into a deck. "That makes two in a row," he bragged. "Not bad. Rematch?"

Sara leaned back against the wall. "I'll rematch you," she told him, "after you give Ray back his wallet."

He arched an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

"Yep." She tilted her head toward the direction Ray had gone. "I'm not playing another game until Ray has his wallet back."

"Why?"

"Because I said so."

"You've got to be kidding me."

"I'm not. Go deal with it, crook."

Leonard thumbed through the card deck as he mulled it over. "Fine," he surrendered, finally standing up. "But when I get back, you are going to lose so badly for this." He walked out of the cargo bay in search of Ray.

"We'll see about that," Sara said as he left.

That clip ended and another one began. This one started in another corridor of the ship, outside Sara's room. Leonard walked past her door. As he passed by, it opened and Sara stepped out, stopping him in his tracks.

"What?" he asked.

"You didn't kill him," she stated matter-of-factly.

He frowned, crossing his arms. "Interesting assumption."

"I know the look of a person who's just killed," she elaborated, "and you don't have it. I've played cards with you a million times, Leonard. Your poker face is good, but not 'I just killed my best friend' good."

"Maybe it's better than you think," he growled.

Sara shook her head, still not believing him. "You just told me how much he meant to you. Do you really expect me to believe you'd turn around and kill him?"

"You ever read Of Mice and Men?" he asked.

"Don't change the subject."

"I'm not." He paused, then explained, "A man commits a crime, causing a mob to come after him. His best friend finds him first and kills him himself before something worse can happen."

"So what?" Sara looked at him quizzically. "Are you saying the Legends are a mob?"

"Not at all. Even if they were, he would have deserved it. He was a danger to the team."

"Then what are you saying?"

"I'm saying I took care of him before something worse could happen."

Sara studied his face carefully. "And where is he now?"

"Sara…"

"Where is he?" she repeated her question.

He didn't answer, but instead turned to leave. She reached out and touched his arm. He stopped in his tracks and turned to face her again.

"Leonard," she asked sternly, "where is Mick?"

His eyes darted down toward her left arm. There was a small, white bandage covering part of what looked like a burn. His eyes slowly moved up to meet hers again. "Somewhere he can't hurt anyone," he told her. He turned around and walked away, faster this time, before she could stop him again.

The video ended and another one began. This time, Sara and Leonard were in the fabrication room, dressed identically to their outfits in the old photo the newer Legends had been studying. "You know," Sara said as she adjusted her hat, "you should really put something on those bruises. They look pretty bad."

"I've had worse," Leonard said, pulling his black hat lower over his face.

Sara looked around the room as if searching for somebody. "You sure you're okay with him joining us?" she asked.

Leonard leaned over against the wall. "Why shouldn't I be?" he asked.

"Because he did that to your face," she said, pointing to the bruises peeking out from under his hat, "among other things."

"Like I said," Leonard replied, "I've had worse." He looked away, thinking, then added, "Mick is my partner. Sometimes, he's an idiot, but even then, he's still my partner. Besides, if he'd wanted to kill me, he had his chance and he didn't take it." He smirked and tipped his hat toward her. "Of course, I appreciate your concern. Always looking out for the rest of us. What a typical hero."

Sara smirked. "Only as much as you."

He grimaced. "That's ridiculous."

"Is it?" she asked. "Forgiving Mick, stopping me from killing Stein, not shooting Jax when he was a brainwashed monster. I think the rest of us heroes are starting to rub off on you."

"Take that back," he growled.

She walked out of the frame, joking as she did, "You're just like one of those…what do you call them? Idiot do-gooders?"

He straightened his hat, still looking in her direction. "Sounds like you've got about as much dumb optimism as the Flash," he said just loudly enough for her to hear him as she walked away. "And here I thought you were smarter than him. Guess I was wrong about that."

"Don't be so sure!" she called back.

Gideon began playing another video. This time, it took place in the bridge. Before anything could happen on the screen, the Legends were interrupted by the sound of Ray Palmer's voice coming from the doorway. "Was there a library party I wasn't invited to?" he asked.

Gideon paused the footage. The Legends looked to see him and Nora standing at the entrance to the library.

Ray stepped inside and peered at the screen, recognizing Leonard and Sara immediately. "What is going on here?" he asked. The Legends exchanged uneasy glances. "Guys," he continued gravely, "what are you doing? Why are you watching this?" He then noted Snart's belongings scattered across the table. "Why is all this here?"

Nate spoke up first. "We uh…we wanted to know more about Snart. After, you know, what happened last night with Charlie."

"Not my fault," Charlie insisted, glancing at Ray through her sunglasses. "How was I supposed to know who he was?"

"Are you guys crazy?" Ray asked, careful to keep his voice low. "Do you want Sara and Mick walking in here and seeing this? That's the last thing they need right now."

"Relax, Ray," Wally said calmly. "They're in the cargo bay doing their thing. It's just us."

"Just us?" he repeated incredulously. "Just the entire team other than Sara and Mick?"

Constantine nodded. "Yeah, just the people who wanted answers. And now, we've got them. Problem solved and all that. Nothing more to worry about."

Ray scratched his head. "You wanted answers?" he asked. "But…to what questions?"

Mona piped up, "Nate said Snart was a villain, so we wanted to see why Captain Lance and Mr. Rory cared about him so much."

"Mostly Captain Lance," Zari clarified. "Mick being friends with a villain isn't that shocking. Obviously, Sara wasn't going to tell us, so here we are. But, for the record," she added, jerking a thumb at Nate, "it was all his idea."

"Hey!" Nate exclaimed, taking a step away from her accusatory thumb.

Ray studied the screen again, then his teammates' faces. "You guys were really that curious about Snart, huh?" he asked.

"Yeah," Nate admitted, "Zari's right. It was my idea. I remembered fighting him in the Legion of Doom, but when Captain Lance reacted like that last night, I wanted to know how that could be the same person. And you know what?" he glanced back at the screen as he continued, "I still don't understand how that's the same guy who tried to kill us all."

Nora finally stepped into the room to join the group. "I can't believe this," she muttered to herself. Then, she turned her eyes toward Nate. "Hi," she said, waving her fingers, "hello, former villain here. If I could change, why couldn't…whoever this is?" She gestured vaguely toward the screen, still exhibiting the paused footage.

"She's right," Zari said, throwing her boyfriend a charged look.

Nate stared at Nora for a moment, thinking. "This is different," he finally explained, speaking slowly. "He killed, or was at least complicit in killing, Amaya, Ray, and Mick. In a deleted timeline, but still. It was definitely him."

"And I'm pretty sure I tried to kill all of you at least once," Nora retorted. "Your point?"

Zari stepped between them. "Guys," she interrupted their brief argument, "let it go. Whoever Snart used to be, he was clearly the captain's friend, and from what we've seen," she nodded toward the screen, "not a bad one. Mystery solved."

"Not quite," Charlie argued, spinning herself around in the chair so she was finally sitting up.

"What do you mean 'not quite'?" Zari asked her.

Charlie adjusted her sunglasses, then answered, "Last I heard, this bloke died a hero, whatever that means." She looked pointedly toward Ray. "And what, exactly, does that mean? How did he go out, mate?"

Ray's face clouded. He looked down at the blue parka on the table silently. Then, he raised his eyes to meet the rest of the team's. "There was this thing called the Oculus," he explained sadly. "The Time Masters, Rip's old bosses, were using it to control time, essentially manipulating everyone's lives. We had to blow it up. Everything was going according to plan until we had to set off the bomb." He paused, then continued, "The Oculus had a fail-safe. Someone had to hold it down in order for the bomb to go off. It was supposed to be me, but Mick took my place. Then, Snart took his. And that was it. He sacrificed himself so the rest of us could live and defeat Savage. Now he's gone."

A weighted silence fell on the room. The newer Legends let Ray's description of Snart's death sink it. They had only just gotten to know who he was. It seemed wrong to feel anything for someone they'd never truly met, but there was still a strange sadness hanging in the air.

Charlie broke the silence first. "Well," she said, hoping to lighten the mood with a little positivity, "I'd say an epic explosion to save free will is one of the better ways to go."

Nate hung his head. "I'm sorry, man," he said, glancing at his best friend. "This was a bad idea."

"No," Ray reassured him. "No, it's okay. You wanted to know. Now you know."

Wally's brow furrowed as he puzzled over what Ray had said. "You're saying Snart blew up the thing that was controlling all of time itself," he summarized. "And he died in the explosion."

"Yeah," Ray replied. "At the Vanishing Point. It's this place that exists outside of time. The explosion basically destroyed everything there. It's all ruins now."

"So," Wally said slowly, processing, "there was nothing left from the explosion. I mean, nothing of Snart. Just ruins."

Ray shrugged sadly. "Just ruins," he confirmed. "The explosion was humongous. It burned up whatever body would've been left."

Mona sighed. "Poor Captain Lance and Mr. Rory," she said. "The three of them seemed so close. They must really miss him."

Zari clasped her hands together. "Well, this has taken a depressing turn," she observed. "We should probably put all of Snart's stuff back before Mick and…"

While the other Legends listened to Zari, Wally tuned her out, focusing on his own thoughts. Something didn't feel right. His memory reached back to his earliest days at S.T.A.R. Labs with Barry, Iris, Cisco, Caitlin, and Harry. It was hard to keep track. He'd seen a lot of explosions, and he'd seen a lot of people get hurt or even die in them. But something about this felt off. He just couldn't put his finger on what…until he did. "Hey, guys?" he asked softly.

Zari stopped talking and everyone immediately turned to stare at him.

"Whoa," he said, honestly surprised to be the center of attention so suddenly, "that actually worked." He rubbed his hands together nervously. "Guys, I have an idea. I know it sounds insane, but just hear me out."

"What is it, Wally?" Nora asked.

Wally shifted his weight uncomfortably, know exactly how crazy he was about to sound. "It's just…I think…this is going to sound really ridiculous..."

"Spit it out, speedster," Charlie urged.

Wally looked around at each of the faces in the room. "What if Snart…isn't dead?"