A/N: This chapter's pretty long, but you've waited a while to get Snart back, so I didn't want to put it off any longer by splitting this section up. Enjoy!


Barry Allen stood in the middle of S.T.A.R. Labs scratching his head and staring at the Legends in front of him. Cisco and Caitlin stood back in the med bay while Iris and Joe sat at the computer by the entrance of the main room. All of them looked equally confused and surprised. "Wow," Barry said. "That…that is one crazy theory. And the craziest part is, I kind of believe it."

"You really think Snart's alive?" Iris asked.

"More like not dead," Ray clarified, "but yeah."

"Only mostly dead," Nate added.

"Which means he's slightly alive," Cisco said, pointing at him with the Twizzler in his hand. "Boom. 'Princess Bride.' Classic."

Joe shook his head in disbelief. "I never thought I'd say this, but I guess we need to save Leonard Snart."

"Of course we do," Barry replied. "We wouldn't be heroes if we didn't." He turned back to the Legends. "And how do we do that, exactly?"

Wally stepped forward to the front of the group and explained, "All you need to do is run with me into the speed force. Instead of focusing on a specific time to run to, we'll just keep going through all of it. We don't know exactly how scattered Snart is, so if we both do it, we'll cover more ground. Er, time, I mean."

Ray continued, "Zari, Cisco, Caitlin, and I will come up with a device you can carry with you that will detect and extract Snart from the timeline as you run."

"Hm…" Caitlin said as she thought, "the biological implications of pulling a person out of the timeline would be difficult, maybe even impossible to predict. How would we even start?"

Ray answered cheerfully, "I don't know, but I'm sure enough scientific minds in a room can figure it out."

John chimed in. "And Nora and I will come up with a spell to stabilize his soul as he's stitched back together, so to speak."

"And then Snart will just…be here?" Barry asked.

Zari shrugged. "That's the goal."

Barry turned to Sara. "You're the leader on this," he said. "Do you really think it will work?"

Sara nodded. "I trust my team, and I trust yours."

"I don't," Mick interjected, "but I want my partner back, so I'll live with it."

Cisco rolled his eyes and took a bite out of his Twizzler. "Okay, Heatwave," he said. "We're all friends here now, remember?"

"Yeah," Iris reminded him. "You even went to our wedding."

"There was free booze," he replied, "and I spent most of my time roasting Nazis."

Charlie took a step toward Cisco. "Heatwave, you said? I suppose that makes you the naming bloke. I've heard a bit about you."

Cisco moved his Twizzler to his other hand and reached out to shake hers. "Cisco Ramon," he said. "And you are…British Vixen?"

"Ha! No," she laughed. "I'm a shapeshifter. I just like this shape. The name's Charlie."

Cisco tilted his head to the side. "You got a last name, or an alias, or…?"

"Nope," she replied. "Just Charlie."

He nodded and narrowed his eyes, analyzing her appearance for possible nickname inspiration. "We'll work on that."

Barry returned the conversation back to its focus. "We'll help you get your teammate back, Legends. Snart may not have started out a hero, but he risked everything to save you guys, and he helped me when I was trying to save Iris from Savitar. Rescuing him is the least we can do."

John cracked his knuckles. "Brilliant," he said. "Better get to work on that spell." He looked around the room. "Don't suppose you've got any dragon blood or unicorn hair lying around, have you?"

"Um…no?" Barry replied, unsure if either of those things actually existed.

"Ah, not a problem, love," John assured. "I'll just pop out and have a look around. You can always find some if you search hard enough." He strolled out the door of the main room and into the hallway.

Nora sighed. "And I," she said, "will make sure he doesn't summon any demons to Central City in the process." She quickly followed him out.

Zari shouted after her, "You'd better not take any blood from Wixtable!"

"Who?" Iris asked.

"My pet dragon," Zari answered. "Well, technically younger me's pet dragon. Nate and I found him when he was still an egg, so he's kind of our baby."

Cisco's eyes widened. "Khaleesi, Mother of Dragons," he said reverently. He turned aside to Caitlin and added, "Okay, but seriously, I want a pet dragon now."

"You're not getting a pet dragon, Cisco," Caitlin said immediately.

"Why not?" he asked.

"Several reasons," she answered, "but the biggest one is you can barely even take care of your house plants."

"First of all, ouch," he said, "second, rude, and third…yeah, that's actually a good point." He took another bite out of his Twizzler, then said to the rest of the group, "So, you want to go down to my lab and start building this baby, or what?" He led Ray, Zari, and Caitlin out the door, explaining as he did, "I should warn you, some of the stuff I'm working on in there is pretty epic, so you'd better get ready to have your minds blown."

"Do I need to remind you that we live on a time traveling spaceship?" Zari asked.

They were far down the hallway before the others could hear Cisco's response. Barry turned to Wally. "We don't know how intense this is going to get," he said, "so we should probably do some extra training to make sure we're up for it."

"Agreed," Wally said. "See you in the speed lab!" He ran past Barry and out of the room, flashing lightning as he went.

Mona stepped forward toward Barry. "So…you're the Flash?" she asked, amazed. "Like, the Flash? The hero of Central City?"

Barry laughed. "Yeah, that's me. I'm the Flash."

"Oh, wow," Mona breathed. "That is so cool. I'm a huge fan, Mr. Allen."

Barry smiled and looked away humbly. "Hey, I'm just a guy trying to help people."

"Tell any more people and that secret identity won't be so secret," Sara teased.

"Hey," Barry replied, "it's not like I disappeared for five years, then as soon as I come home, a vigilante about my size conveniently starts showing up all over town. I could be a lot more obvious." Nate nodded in silent agreement.

Mona kept gushing. "No, you don't understand, I really love the Flash! I've been keeping up on everything, ever since Iris West started her blog…oh my gosh, Iris West-Allen." She looked back and forth between Barry and Iris as the realization hit her. "You blogged about the Flash, and now you're married to the Flash? That's, like, straight out of a romance novel." She darted to the space between them. "Tell me literally everything!"

Iris chuckled uncomfortably. "Um…maybe another time."

"There'd be a lot to tell," Barry said, "and we have a Legend to save. Rain check, okay?" He turned to Iris and Joe. "You guys good? Need anything before I join Wally?"

"Nah, you go ahead," Joe answered. "Could use a coffee from Jitters, though," he muttered to himself.

Mona jumped and raised her hand. "I can get you coffee, Detective West!" she offered.

Everyone in the room turned to look at her, surprised.

"What?" she asked. "We're working with Team Flash, the Team Flash. I want to help with something! Plus, delivering food is kind of my thing."

"She's got a point," Nate agreed.

"Cool!" Mona exclaimed. "I'll be back in a minute!" She sprinted away.

Barry turned to Sara. "If you guys need anything, just come down and let me know." He walked out of the room and into the hallway, a notable contrast to Wally's speedy exit.

Sara turned to Nate. "I'm going to check on some things on the ship," she said. "You stay with them." She gestured toward Mick and Charlie, who were standing together near the med bay. "Try to keep them out of trouble. And the rest of the Legends, for that matter. Just keep everyone out of trouble."

Nate groaned. "Come on, everyone else got a real job." Sara turned around and started to walk out, not acknowledging the question. "Hey!" Nate called after her. "What about you? What are you even checking on?"

"Just stay here, Nate," she said without stopping.

"Why?"

"Because I said so."

She left the room, leaving Nate, Charlie, Mick, Iris, and Joe staring at each other.


"Gideon!" Sara called out as she entered the Waverider, which was parked on top of the S.T.A.R. Labs roof. "When Snart comes through, I have a feeling he's going to need medical attention. I don't know what he'll need exactly, but it'll probably require more future tech than S.T.A.R. Labs has to offer. Make sure the med bay is prepared to accept him immediately."

"Yes, Captain Lance," Gideon replied as Sara walked toward the bridge.

"Also," Sara ordered, "when Ray and the others get their device thing finished, I'm going to want you to run an analysis of risk."

"To Mr. Snart, or to the timeline?"

She hesitated. "Let's say both."

"Captain Lance," Gideon said, "if it is your intention to rescue Mr. Snart at all costs, that is understandable. You two were quite close."

Sara crossed her arms. "I don't remember talking to you about that, Gideon."

"I have sensors everywhere, Captain Lance," Gideon reminded her. "Captain Hunter was not the strongest believer in giving his crew their privacy."

Sara nodded. One thing that had changed on the Waverider under her leadership was the limits of Gideon's omniscience. Gideon still observed nearly everything on the ship, of course. She had to. Her knowledge had saved the team more times than they could count. But Sara had scaled back a bit from Rip's secret DNA collecting and spying on the Legends' dreams. That wasn't her style.

"Well, Gideon," Sara said, "I think you know what I'm going to ask next."

"You wish for me to conduct an additional scan of the timeline?" the disembodied voice guessed.

"Yes," Sara confirmed, "and don't get cheeky about it this time. If the timeline is in bad shape while the speedsters are pulling Snart out, things could go very wrong. Understand?"

"Yes, Captain Lance."

"Good."

Gideon scanned the timeline for what must have been the hundredth time in the past two days. A few minutes later, she announced, "The timeline is free from irregularities, Captain. Perfect for Mr. Snart's arrival."

That last phrase made Sara feel unexpectedly warm inside. Then again, maybe she should have expected it. She was going to see Leonard for the first time in three years. She was excited. She was ecstatic. Her friend was coming home after being dead, or close enough to it, for three years. She was finally going to see him again, after years of believing she never would. But she was also worried. Things are so different now, she thought. The team is different. The mission is different. The world is different. I'm different. What if he's different too? Or what if he's the same, and doesn't like the things that are different?

She tried to dismiss the thought. During the Legends' first mission, she had been trapped in 1958 and lived two whole years before seeing Leonard or any of her teammates again. Then, she'd picked up right where she'd left off. She'd rejoined the team as if she had never left to begin with. And Leonard had still been there for her. It never seemed to bother him that she'd spent two years returning to her old assassin life. He knew she was still Sara. We've done this before, she reasoned. Why would this time be any different?

Ava, she thought, answering her own question. She was still picking up the pieces from her recently ended relationship. She'd be lying if she said she didn't still feel something for Ava. Even now, she was tempted to tell Gideon to call her. It had been her habit to call Ava and tell her whenever she was about to embark on a particularly risky or unconventional mission. Of course, she would usually go ahead and do whatever she wanted regardless of Ava's advice, a fact that may have played a larger role than she wanted to admit in their breakup. But she still found those conversations enjoyable and comforting, and she still missed them. If Leonard wanted to pick up right where they left off at the Oculus…no. She couldn't. Not while Ava was still on her mind.

This is selfish, she chided herself. Leonard is coming back to life and all you can think about is your relationship problems? Forget Ava. Forget the Oculus. Just think about how wonderful it will be to have him back. Worrying about it is only going to make it harder for you to do your job. The team is about to do something unprecedented and they need their captain's support. So get your head straight and focus!

"Thank you, Gideon," she said, snapping herself out of her thoughts. She headed out of the Waverider, hoping to find something to occupy her thoughts elsewhere.


"If I hear the word 'Snart' one more time," Zari said, "it's going to stop sounding like a word." She stood back from the clear dry erase board in Cisco's lab and analyzed her equation, then stepped back toward it and changed the last variable. "Try it now, Cisco."

Cisco nodded and entered the equation into his computer, prompting it to run a mathematical simulation of Zari's algorithm. "It's looking good so far," he said as he watched the numbers scroll. "Almost there…almost…got it!" He flipped the screen around to face Caitlin, Ray, and Zari. "Bam! Perfect simulation. Fiftieth time's the charm, right?"

"Well, I don't think it was actually fifty…" Ray started to correct him.

"Twenty, fifty, a hundred, who cares?" Cisco cut him off. "The point is, if we have the algorithm right, we can start using it to build that hardware."

Nate knocked on the open door three times, then walked in. "Hey, science friends," he said, "how's progress going?"

"Great!" Ray answered, waving him closer. "We've finally found an algorithm that works."

"So now we get to start building this sucker," Cisco finished for him.

Caitlin joined in, "I think we still have some DNA samples from Snart upstairs. We can use those to test out the device's ability to detect Snart's particles in the timeline."

"Snart's particles," Nate repeated thoughtfully. His eyes widened. "Snarticles!" He looked to Zari for approval and got only a disgusted grimace.

Cisco looked up from his computer with an annoyed expression. "How about you leave the nicknaming to the professionals, okay, pal?"

"Right," Nate said, pulling up a chair next to Ray. "Sorry. My bad." He looked around the room, taking in all the strange contraptions and scraps of Cisco's current and former projects. "Hey," he asked, returning his focus to Cisco, "this might be a dumb question, but can't you use your vibes to pull Snart out?"

Cisco squinted at him. "My vibes."

"Yeah."

Cisco looked back down at his computer as he explained, "First of all, pulling a dude out of time itself might be beyond the powers of even a breacher like Vibe. Second…I don't really do that now."

Zari and Ray looked at him, shocked.

"Wait," Ray asked, "you're not Vibe anymore? What happened?"

Caitlin explained, "We made a metahuman cure. Cisco decided to take it."

"You gave up your powers?" Zari asked. "Why would you do that?"

Cisco looked up at her. "We don't all carry our superpowers around on a detachable bracelet, okay, Last Airbender? I wanted to just be Cisco Ramon for a while, and now I am. That's it."

While the other Legends tried to wrap their heads around the idea of Cisco not being Vibe, Ray stood up and handed him a sketch he'd drawn on a piece of graph paper. "Well, Cisco Ramon is the guy who can help us put this together," he said. "It's pretty rough, but I think it's a solid start."

"Awesome," Cisco said, looking the design over. "Could be prettier, but we can work on that later. Now, would it attach to the suit here, or…"

Cisco and Ray discussed the details of the device's design. Caitlin walked across the room to join them. Zari strolled over to Nate's side and took over Ray's chair. "You good?" she asked.

"Good?" Nate replied, laughing a little at her question. "Why wouldn't I be good?"

"Because," she said, keeping her voice just low enough not to distract the intensely focused scientists crowded around Cisco's desk, "you weren't too excited about the whole Snart resurrection thing this morning. Now you seem pretty into it. Did you change your mind, or are you hiding something?"

Nate shrugged. "I'm not hiding anything, Z," he assured her. "I still don't completely understand the whole good Snart, bad Snart thing, but Sara's a good captain and a good friend. If she thinks he's worth bringing back, I trust her. Besides, have you noticed how she's been acting today? I know she's not exactly jumping up and down about it, but this is the happiest I've seen her about anything since…you know…"

"Since she and Ava broke up?" Zari guessed.

"Yeah."

Zari nodded thoughtfully. "It's true. Not to mention Mick. I'm surprised he hasn't started a celebratory bonfire yet. Speaking of which," she eyed her boyfriend suspiciously, "you didn't leave him alone in his former nemesis's headquarters with nothing to keep him busy while in an unusually emotional state, did you?"

"No!" he immediately denied. "He's with Charlie, Joe, and Iris. Mona went to get them coffee. I'm sure they're all fine."

"How sure?"

"One hundred percent." She continued to stare at him. "Ninety percent." Still no change in her reaction. "Eighty-five. Eighty? Okay, yeah, I'll go check"

"Good call," she said, patting him on the back supportively. He hurried back to the main room of S.T.A.R. Labs. Zari walked over to join the circle Ray, Cisco, and Caitlin had formed around Ray's sketch. "All right," she said, "what are we building first?"


Sara wandered the hallway of S.T.A.R. Labs. She'd circled around this floor twice already. There were too many feelings churning inside her right now and she didn't like it. Happy feelings. Excited feelings. Anxious feelings. Far too many feelings. She had to have a clear head if she was going to lead the team and save Snart. She hoped all the walking would help, but so far, it had only made a miniscule difference.

"Hey!" Barry said, now wearing his Flash suit with the hood down, as he walked around the corner from the opposite direction. "Sara! You looking for something?"

"What? No," she said, stopping in her tracks. "Just…" she gestured vaguely to the long hallway, "clearing my head, I guess." He continued walking until he was standing in front of her. "Aren't you supposed to be training with Wally?" she asked.

"Yeah," Barry replied. He held up two dark-colored rectangles that looked like some kind of strange energy bars. "Working out makes us hungry. Had to grab these from Cisco."

"Ah. Makes sense." She nearly turned to go, but the concerned look on Barry's face stopped her. "What?" she asked. "Is something wrong?"

Barry shook his head. "No, but I think there's something you need to talk about."

Sara raised her eyebrows. "Me? What do I need to talk about? Is something up with the plan, or…"

"No, the plan's fine," he said. "At least, it seems like it. We won't really know until we actually go through with it." He placed his hand against the wall of the hallway and leaned against it casually. "Wally told me what happened last night with the Rocket Fuel. Apparently, that's how you guys found out Snart was alive? Indirectly, at least."

Sara chuckled. "Wally's a born Legend. Screwing things up for the better is what we do."

Barry smiled. "He's come a long way, you know. I'm proud of him. Even if he sometimes still thinks getting drunk with a shapeshifter on a flying time machine is a good idea."

"To be fair," Sara pointed out, "it sounded like it was more Charlie's idea than his."

"True." Barry looked away, then back at Sara. "But I wanted to ask about you."

She was surprised. "What about me?"

"Wally told me how you and Mick reacted to Charlie turning into Snart," Barry explained. "Mick I understand. They were partners for years. But I wouldn't have expected that strong of a reaction from you. Then, I remembered the look on your face when we met Leo on Earth-X, and how fast you two clicked, and…I guess I was just wondering, were you and Snart close?"

Sara turned sideways to lean her back against the wall. "You could say that," she answered. "He was my friend. A good friend." She felt her feelings start to churn faster and faster and tried to mentally slow them back down.

"I see," Barry nodded understandingly. "I'm sorry about what happened. I know we're about to undo it, kind of, but I always felt a little responsible. Proud of him for making the right choice, of course, and happy that he did, but still a little responsible. I pushed him to start thinking like a hero, and in the end, that's what got him killed. Or, not killed. Man, this is still weird to talk about."

"You weren't the one who left him to die," Sara muttered. She instantly regretted letting that little glimpse of her emotions out, but it had escaped her mouth too quickly to do anything about it.

Barry raised his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing. It doesn't matter. We're bringing him back. That's what's important."

Barry was not convinced. "Sara, if you wanted to hold all your thoughts and emotions to yourself forever, you picked the wrong superhero to team up with. This isn't Team Arrow and I'm not Oliver. We believe in sharing our feelings and supporting each other here. Joe actually thinks we share too much," he added with a slight laugh.

"Joe might have a point," Sara teased.

"Come on, Sara," Barry said. "Tell me what happened."

"You know what happened."

"Not really. Ray told me that Snart sacrificed himself to save the team. Nothing more detailed than that." He leaned in closer to her. "What happened, Sara? Talk to me."

She could only resist his friendly face for so long. "There was something called the Oculus," Sara explained. "We had to blow it up. It's a long story why. There was a failsafe that had to be held down for the bomb we planted to go off, which meant that someone had to stay behind in the explosion." She paused, then continued, "It was just the three of us. Me, Rory, and Snart. Mick volunteered to stay, but Snart wouldn't let him. He knocked him out and took his place, then told me to get Mick out of there. So…I did." Her voice faltered. There was something else that had happened between Leonard telling her to go and her carrying Mick back to the ship. Something she had never revealed to anyone. Barry noticed the slight change in her voice but said nothing about it. "I mean," she asked rhetorically, "what was I going to do? Let the explosion take out all three of us? Mick wasn't getting back to the ship on his own. And Snart…he just wanted to save Mick. It was literally the last thing he ever asked of me. It's not like I could say no." She could feel herself getting more emotional and hated it, but the words were coming out faster than she knew how to stop them. "You know," she continued, "he rarely ever asked anything of me. Ever. People say he was this villain who only cared about himself, but he wasn't. He did care. He was so…so…oh, this is ridiculous." Sara finally put the brakes on her train of thought. She straightened up and looked at Barry. "Turns out he survived all along, so it doesn't matter. Now you know my secret. You happy, Flash?"

Barry knew there was something Sara wasn't saying, but he also knew she had reached her limit of emotional sharing, as least for a while. He reluctantly decided to give her some space. "I don't know if happy's the right word," he answered, "but thanks for telling me what happened. It does explain a few things." He paused, then added, "Don't worry, Sara. We'll bring him back. I promise."

"Good," she said. "Then I think I'll see how the inventors are doing. See you in a minute, Barry." She walked briskly away. Barry easily could have chased her down and asked her more questions, and did seriously consider the option, but ultimately decided against it. He returned to the speed lab.


Later that evening, the Legends and Team Flash gathered around the Waverider's unusually crowded bridge. Two circular devices were plugged into Gideon's system, one in Cisco's hands and one in Ray's. Gideon ran multiple tests, taking her time with each one.

"How much longer?" Mick demanded, pounding his fist impatiently against the wall. "Do Haircut's whatchamacallits work or not, Gideon?"

"We're definitely not calling them 'Haircut's whatchamacallits'," Cisco muttered under his breath.

"Almost finished, Mr. Rory," Gideon answered. "I would appreciate a bit of patience."

"Patience!" Mick paced across the floor. "I'll give you patience when my partner is standing in front of me again. Do they work or not?"

Charlie stepped in his way. "Easy there, mate," she said calmly, trying to soothe him. "You heard the bot. Just sit down a minute, all right?"

Mick glared at her menacingly. When she didn't flinch, he gave up and took a seat in the nearest chair. "I need a beer," he growled.

"I got it, Mr. Rory!" Mona exclaimed. She dashed off to the kitchen.

"I think she's still working off the excitement of meeting the Flash," Sara said to the suited-up superhero beside her. "I'm going to have to deal with a hyper, obsessive teammate now. Thanks a lot, Barry."

Barry smiled. "I'm flattered," he said, "but it'll wear off."

"Um…was she this excited when she met me?" Wally asked, looking to the Legends for answers. "Because I don't remember her acting like that. Did I just miss it?"

Zari and Nate shared a look. "Yeah, totally," Zari said, trying to sound convincing. "She was just…embarrassed."

"Absolutely," Nate said, backing her up. "Equal amounts of excitement all around, buddy."

Wally grinned, completely buying it. "Awesome."

"Analysis completed," Gideon announced as Mona returned and placed a beer in Mick's hand. "According to my diagnostics, the device should be successful in retrieving Mr. Snart from the timeline."

"Yes!" Cisco exclaimed, high-fiving Ray.

"Anything else we need to know, Gideon?" Sara asked.

"I have run an analysis of risk to Mr. Snart's life and the timeline," the A.I. replied. "Both resulted in acceptably low levels of risk. However, due to the unusual nature of this procedure, I should warn you that the margin of error of my calculations regarding the timeline is higher than ideal."

"English!" Mick grunted.

"She's saying that her calculations say it should be safe for both Snart and the timeline," Caitlin translated, "but because no one has done anything like this to the timeline before, there is no data to compare it to, which means there's a slight chance she could be wrong simply due to not knowing."

"Precisely, Dr. Snow," Gideon agreed.

"I thought Gideon knew everything," Charlie remarked skeptically.

"I know many things, Miss Charlie," Gideon replied. "I know that I have ninety percent confidence that this plan to save Mr. Snart will not endanger the timeline. However, the remaining ten percent cannot be predicted by any human or artificial intelligence without data that does not exist. The only source of this sort of information about time itself would have been the Time Masters, but without access to their data, the highest certainty I can provide is ninety percent."

Mona turned to Sara. "Ninety percent sounds pretty good," she said.

"I'll take those odds," Mick nodded.

"An ideal percentage would be ninety-five or higher," Ray admitted, "but under the circumstances, I agree."

Barry also turned toward the leader of the Legends. "It's your call, Captain. Are we doing this?"

Sara looked down at the screen in front of her. A little green dot glowed next to each component of the device, declaring that it was functional. She was so close to saving Snart. Ninety percent was a lot, and the timeline had taken worse hits before. She looked up and faced her team. "We're doing this," she said.


Barry and Wally stood in the speed lab near the entrance to the pipeline, suits on. Cisco fastened one device to each of their chests over their lightning bolt logos. Then, he joined Zari and Ray at the observation desk, which Zari had just finished recalibrating to track the new devices. "Speedsters ready," Zari said into her comms.

Iris, Charlie, and Joe took their seats at the computers in the main room. They tapped into the system so that Wally's and Barry's vitals were visible, plus an extra open section for Snart's when he came through. To the side was a bar measuring dark matter and temporal energy activity. At the moment, all were at normal levels. Iris sat in front of Barry's chart. Joe took his place in front of Wally's. Charlie scooted over to the dark matter and temporal energy charts. "Trackers ready," Iris said.

Up on the Waverider, Nate took his position in the bridge, facing a map of the timeline. They all trusted Gideon's ninety percent certainty, but it seemed like a good idea to have someone watching the timeline just in case. "Timeline ready," he said.

In the ship's med bay, Caitlin tried hard to contain her curiosity of all the futuristic medical equipment surrounding her. Mona stood beside her as her designated assistant. She flipped a couple of switches, powering up the last piece of technology she had a feeling they would need. "Med bay ready," she said.

Nora, Sara, and Mick stood in the same large, open room as Iris, Joe, and Charlie. "Just a warning," Nora said with a look toward the tracker team, "once John gets here, it might get a little creepy. If it freaks you out, just keep your eyes on the screens and don't look up."

"That's not very comforting," Joe said.

Nora ignored his comment and turned back to Sara and Mick. "John and I need to form a connection with Snart's soul. You two were, I mean are, his best friends. You're our best chance at getting through to him."

"How do we do that?" Mick asked. He was uncharacteristically solemn. The reality of Snart's return had removed most of his usual cynicism and gruffness.

"I'll use my power to bring Sara in with us," Nora explained. "John will use his for you, Mick. Don't worry about doing any magic. The two of us will do that. Just concentrate on Snart. Okay?"

Sara took a deep breath, then let it out. She could barely believe this was actually happening. "Okay," she said.

Just then, John Constantine walked into the room. "Sorry for the wait," he apologized. "Nearly forgot to add the crushed phoenix feathers." He turned toward Joe and Iris. "You do not want to get me started on phoenixes. At all."

"John!" Nora said, clapping her hands to get his attention.

"Ah! Right, love. Here we go." He pulled a silver bowl out of one of his coat pockets and a small pouch out of the other. He set the bowl in the middle of the floor, then took a handful of powder out of the pouch. He poured the rest of the pouch's contents into the bowl, then took out a lighter and set it on fire. Mick moved to step closer, but Sara blocked him with her arm. John handed off the empty pouch to Nora then cupped both his hands around the remaining handful of powder, whispered an incantation three times, then blew it into the air. He and Nora nodded at each other, then stepped in toward the small fire. Sara and Mick took their places on either side so that they were each between the two magicians.

"Magic ready," Nora said. She closed her eyes and reminded her teammates, "Remember, don't think about anything else that's happening. Just close your eyes and focus on Snart."

In the speed lab, Barry and Wally crouched down into ready position. At the observation desk, Cisco announced into his microphone, "Operation Save Snart is a go. Start running in five…four…three…two…one!"

Barry and Wally took off, bolting into the pipeline at top speed. While they built up momentum, John and Nora began chanting. Sara and Mick shut their eyes and found themselves in a blank white space. John and Nora were still with them, but the space was otherwise completely empty.

"Where are we?" Sara asked.

"Yeah, and where's my partner?" Mick added.

"We're between time and space," Nora answered. "Just stay calm and focus. Try to feel Snart's presence."

Back in S.T.A.R. Labs, the lights in the main room went dark, although the computers continued to function normally. Iris stared at the four Legends, apparently in a trance surrounding John's small fire. John and Nora continued to chant their magic words softly and Iris thought she could hear echoes of it coming from all sides of the room. "Dad?" she said uneasily. "Are you seeing this?"

Joe didn't look up from his screen. "I'm trying not to."

The speedsters kept running and finally spotted the portal to the speed force. They jumped in at the same time, keeping up their speed as they ran through it. Memories of the past and projections of the future surrounded them on all sides. But they weren't here to find a specific time. They were here to find a person. They ignored the visions they passed and concentrated on Snart.

At the observation desk, lights began to glow and flash. "It's working!" Ray exclaimed.

"Vitals, how are we looking?" Cisco asked into his comms.

"Good," Iris replied, "but we haven't registered Snart's yet." Suddenly, the empty chart flickered on. "Never mind," she said, quickly swiveling closer to it. "Snart just registered. His numbers are barely there, but they're growing." The numbers in front of her increased faster and faster. "Holy crap, they're really growing!"

Zari looked down at the charts in front of her. "Looks like we're eighty percent there. It shouldn't take too long for the speedsters to extract the remaining twenty. Caitlin, Mona, get ready."

"Roger that," Caitlin said into her comms, still in position in the Waverider's med bay.

Nora, John, Sara, and Mick stood still in the empty space. Something flickered in the center of their circle. It was only a few specks, too small and faint to create a full image, and it was gone in a minute. It appeared again, for slightly longer, then vanished again. "Snart!" Mick shouted. "Where did he go?"

"Easy, love," Constantine warned him. "His spirit's getting stronger, but we want to ease him back into reality. The best thing you can do for him is stand back and concentrate."

Mick hated concentrating. But he didn't hate Snart, so he did as Constantine said.

Sara shut her eyes and tried to focus on Leonard. Not knowing exactly how to feel someone's soul's presence, she tried to recall her memories of him. She'd pushed them to the back of her mind for a long time, but now it was time to let them surface. She remembered the bar fight in 1975, their first day on the team. The Soviet gulag in 1986 when she nearly shot Professor Stein. The engine room when they nearly froze to death. Mick's mutiny against Rip that led to Leonard marooning him far away. The night in Nanda Parbat when he reappeared for the first time in two years of her life, minus a hand, to tell them the identity of Chronos. Card games. Conversations they'd had about Mick. Conversations they'd had about each other. Me and you.

Me and you. The thought swirled around in her head over and over. Me and you. Me and you.

Something larger started to materialize in the space between them. Something that looked a lot less like random specks and a lot more like Leonard Snart.

The charts at the observation desk started to beep faster and faster. "Ninety-eight percent!" Ray declared.

"Whoo!" Cisco cheered. "We're almost there. Bring him home, Barry!"

"And Wally," Zari added.

"That was implied," Cisco said.

"Oi, timeline watcher," Charlie asked Nate through the comms system, "any problems on your end?"

Nate shook his head, still staring at the map in front of him. "None that I can see."

"Brilliant," she replied as she checked her own screen. "We've got a minor rise in temporal energy, but it's still well within safe levels."

Sara could feel something growing stronger near her. She didn't know how to tell if it was Snart, but she didn't know what else it could be. It felt like it was pulling on her, as if trying to grab onto her. She could feel fear. Fear of slipping away. Fear of not making it through. Her thoughts changed from speaking to herself to speaking to him. Don't let go, she thought. Hold on. Just hold on. You're the strongest and bravest of us all, Leonard. You can do this. Come back to me.

A blast of light flashed through the empty space, throwing the four of them back. They awoke on the floor of S.T.A.R. Labs, their trance broken. Mick gasped for air, then scrambled to his feet. "Snart!" he called out. He ran to Joe, Iris, and Charlie. "Where is he? Did he make it?"

"Just wait a second," Iris told him. She spoke into her comms, "Barry, are you out? Did you find him?"

The numbers on the observation desk's monitors reached one hundred. Barry and Wally catapulted out of the speed force and back into the pipeline. They gradually slowed down their pace until they could stop and catch their breath. "I'm here, Iris," Barry said.

"And Snart?" she asked. John, Nora, Sara, Mick, Charlie, and Joe crowded around her, eagerly awaiting his response. The team members on each of the other ends of the comms system fell silent, also waiting.

In the pipeline, Wally waved at Barry from where he'd stopped, about five feet away. "Barry, look!" he cried.

Barry hurried over and saw, lying on the ground before Wally, Leonard Snart. He was unconscious and the clothes he was wearing were torn and covered in burn marks, but it was him. Barry knelt down, took his pulse, and smiled. Snart was alive. "We got him!" Barry announced. "He made it!"

"Oh yeah, baby!" Cisco exclaimed, pulling Ray and Zari into a group hug. "That's what I'm talking about!"

Iris and Joe each let out a sigh of relief. "Wow," Joe said. "That really worked."

"They did it," Charlie said with a gleeful laugh. "They bloody did it."

Sara and Mick turned to face each other, neither of them finding the right words to say to the other. "I…I can't believe it," Sara finally said. Mick simply nodded. He felt the same way.

"We'll have him up to the med bay in a second," Barry's voice said through the speaker. "Everyone, just hang tight."

He and Wally carried Snart between the two of them and zoomed out of S.T.A.R. Labs and into the Waverider, dropping him off in the operating chair beside Caitlin.

"Oh my gosh," Mona gasped, cupping her hands over her mouth as she stared at him.

Caitlin snapped into action. "Mona, we need to stay on task now. Hand me those gloves. Gideon," she looked vaguely upward, not entirely sure where to direct her question, "I need you to run all the tests you've got, stat." She leaned in closer and examined his face, then the rest of him. "A few first degree burns on his arms, possibly some minor second degree," she said, mostly to herself although Mona could hear her. "Also some bruising. Nothing life threatening by appearance. Breathing seems shallow, but steady. Stethoscope, Mona?"

While the two of them examined Snart, the rest of the Legends and Team Flash made their way quickly up onto the Waverider. As they approached the entrance to the med bay, Caitlin stood in the doorway, blocking them. "He's stable," she informed them. "Gideon's working on the last of her tests as we speak. He's got some outer damage, but nothing medical supplies from the future can't fix."

"So…he's okay?" Ray asked.

Caitlin smiled. "Yep. He's okay."

Mick tried to peer over Caitlin's shoulder. "Is he awake?" he asked.

Caitlin shook her head. "Still unconscious, and I put him on a sedative to keep him that way. His body just went through the impossible. He needs to recharge."

Sara felt her heartbeat quicken at the thought of being so close to Leonard again. "Can we see him?" she asked.

Caitlin gestured to the crowd in front of her. "Well, not all of you. It's not that big of a room. He needs space to breathe, after all."

Barry waved his hand to get her attention. "Sara and Mick should see him," he suggested. "Just them. We can wait."

Sara looked at him with surprise. He smiled at her with an understanding look and gestured toward the door of the med bay.

Caitlin found that idea acceptable. "Fine," she said. "Sara and Mick can come in. The rest of you need to wait your turn. Okay?"

Mick and Sara walked silently into the med bay while the others retreated. Mona waved at them. "We did it, guys," she said with a grin. "You got your friend back."

The two older Legends didn't respond. They couldn't believe their eyes. Leonard Snart was lying right there in front of them, three years after they thought they'd never see him again. Mick was frozen as if in a daze. He didn't know what to do. Sara gave Mick's hand a gentle squeeze of reassurance, not taking her eyes off Leonard for a second. It was hitting her now just how much she'd missed seeing that face. She let go of Mick's hand and slowly walked around to the other side of the chair. She pulled over the stool Caitlin had been sitting on and sat on it, scooting as close as she could to Leonard's side. Mick grabbed a chair from the other side of the room and did the same on the opposite side of him. Sara felt a tear escape her eye and wiped it away, hoping Mick and Mona wouldn't see it first.

"Hi, Leonard," she whispered, saying his first name aloud for the first time in far too long. "Welcome home."

Mick looked at her and smiled, then turned his gaze back to Snart. "Yeah," he said. "Good to have you back, partner."

Meanwhile, Barry, Iris, Joe, Cisco, and Wally joined the rest of the Legends in the parlor. "We did it, mates!" Charlie exclaimed, pulling a bottle of scotch out of one of Sara's cabinets. "Who wants to celebrate?"

"Don't jinx it, Charlie," Zari warned her. "He's still not awake yet. Wait until he's walking around again. Then you can throw a party."

"I'll hold you to that, Z," Charlie replied with a mischievous wink.

Joe sank down into one of the few unoccupied arm chairs and sighed. "Just when I think our world can't get any crazier," he said, "you guys show up using magic to bring a guy back from the dead."

"And technology," Ray added. "Don't forget that."

"Magic and tech," Cisco chuckled. "Pretty cool when they work together, right?"

A small smile spread across Nora's face. "I'd say so," she said with a look toward Ray.

Barry put his arm around Iris. "That was amazing," he said to the group. "We really did the impossible today. We should all be proud of ourselves."

"Yeah," Nate agreed. "We all worked together and got Snart out of the timeline. That's pretty impressive stuff. And we didn't even screw up the timeline to do it, so that's extra points right there."

Suddenly, the floor shook beneath them, knocking them off their balance.

"Was that an earthquake?" Iris asked.

It shook again, this time more violently. The windows facing out from the bridge went from showing a rooftop view of Central City to only darkness. The ground shook a third time.

"Bollocks!" John shouted, grabbing onto the wall to keep his balance.

Nate turned to look at John. "Did…did I just jinx it?"

"What do you think, you bloody moron?" John asked. The ship shook again, and this time the team could hear strange sounds coming from the darkness outside the ship. "Brace yourselves, Flash and friends," John announced, "I think that margin of error is about to come back to bite us."