"Right this way, Agent Green," a guard said as he led Gary through the metahuman wing of Iron Heights. Gary walked behind him, a briefcase in his hand, feeling more than a bit intimidated by his surroundings. "I can't imagine what Washington wants to question him about. He's been in here for a couple years now after the Flash brought him in."
"He's not involved in anything," Gary said, trying very hard not to give away too much about his work at the Time Bureau, or the existence of time travel. "There's just a connection I want to ask him about. Nothing else to it." As they reached the final door in their path, Gary stopped the guard just before entering. "This is top secret business, so if you wouldn't mind stepping out once we start talking…?"
"Of course," the guard replied. He pushed open the door. "Here he is, Agent Green."
Gary stepped into the room and saw a tall man in a prisoner's uniform. He was seated at a table with an empty chair on the opposite side. Interestingly, Gary noticed that the usual one-way reflective window in interrogation rooms was missing. He looked the man over for a moment, then, hoping to sound at least a little more confident than he felt, said, "Sam Scudder?"
Scudder glared back at him. "Yeah. What about it?"
Gary smiled and relaxed a little. "Okay, great. Just the man I want to see." He turned to the guard. "Give us a minute." The guard stepped out of the room and shut the door behind him. Gary walked over to the table and sat down across from Scudder. "Agent Gary Green," he said, extending his hand in greeting. "They call you the Mirror Master, right?" Scudder just scowled at him. Gary pulled his hand back and continued, "I just have a couple questions to ask you, and then I'll leave you alone."
"Whatever it is," Scudder growled, "I didn't do it. I haven't left this place in two years."
"Oh, I'm not here to accuse you of anything," Gary assured him.
Scudder frowned and looked at him confusedly. "Then what do you want?"
Gary pulled a folder out of his briefcase and opened it on the table. "I saw in some of our files," he said as he sifted through the papers in front of him, "that you were once involved with someone named…Leonard Snart." He looked up directly at Scudder's face as he said Snart's name.
Scudder grimaced. "Snart?" he said, as if the word tasted bitter in his mouth.
Gary grinned. "Ah, so you do know him."
"Yeah, I did," Scudder said. "But he's been dead for years. Longer than I've been in here."
"I see," Gary said, making a mental note that Snart's reappearance was still not well-known. "It says here that you were very adamant about finding him during the events leading to your arrest." He folded his hands on the table and leaned forward. "Care to elaborate?"
"Why?" Scudder asked. "What does it get me? Are you letting me out?"
"No," Gary replied. "I'm afraid I can't do that."
"Then I don't see the point of me telling you about Snart," Scudder told him. "I also don't see the point of talking about him now. He's long gone, and everyone knows it."
"Everyone?" Gary repeated, arching his eyebrows questioningly.
"Yeah, everyone. SCPD, the criminal networks of the city, all of them. Unless…" Scudder's eyes widened suddenly. He looked sharply at Gary. "…unless they're wrong."
"Uh…no, I'm sure they know what they're talking about," Gary said quickly, not wanting to reveal too much about Snart's return. Aside from the difficulty of explaining it, Scudder didn't seem like someone who would react positively to that news. Gary decided to play it safe. "I'm investigating some things that are, let's say…related to Snart. Things in the past. I came here to speak with people who interacted with him – well, actually I stopped by Jitters first because I've always wanted to go, and also the Central City Museum because it's kind of iconic – but now I'm looking for people who interacted with him, and according to my research, you definitely did. All I want to know is a general picture. A character summary, if you will."
Scudder squinted at him skeptically. "You are the weirdest interrogator I've ever had."
"I get that a lot," Gary said with an innocent shrug.
"Tell you what," Scudder offered. "You want to know about Snart? I'll tell you about Snart. But not until you do something for me. I know you can't get me out, but there's something I bet you can do."
"What?" Gary asked.
"I've got a girlfriend in here," Scudder explained. "Rosa Dillon. She's in the metahuman wing, too, on the women's side, but they think it's too dangerous to let us near each other too often. Can't really blame them. We make a good team," he added with a smirk that disappeared after a second. "There are power dampeners all over this place, and just in case they fail, they've removed all highly reflective surfaces from the areas I go into. Bottom line, we're not nearly as much of a threat in here as we were out there. If someone from Washington gives the warden a suggestion, he won't refuse. Get me more time with Rosa, then we'll talk."
Gary sighed, relieved. "Whew, I was worried you were going to ask for something a lot worse." He grinned at Scudder. "I'll put in a request. You have my word. And, honestly, I really would like you to see your girlfriend more. It's sweet. I just love love, don't you?"
Scudder rolled his eyes at Gary's enthusiasm. "Uh…yeah."
Gary clicked a button on his time courier. It began audio recording. "Recording interview with Sam Scudder," Gary stated to his device before turning to Scudder again. "So…Snart?"
Scudder slouched back in his seat. "I met him back in 2013. We were in the same business. He was in the market for a new partner. I guess he'd fallen out with his old one."
"And by business, you mean…?"
"Stealing," Scudder answered. "We pulled a couple low-level jobs together. I brought Rosa into the team, and we pulled a couple more. Snart always wanted to be the one to plan every move any of us ever made. It was all right at first, but after a while, he seemed to get the impression that he was our boss. That was when we pulled one big heist together. It was him, me, Rosa, and a handful of criminal contacts Snart knew. They were just extra hands and got a small cut in exchange. It was really the three of us doing most of the work. It paid off and we walked away with plenty of money. But Snart was paranoid. He thought if we spent any of it right away, the cops would be on our tail. He told us to lay low. Well, he wasn't our boss, and we were getting pretty fed up with him acting like he was, so we didn't exactly do that."
"When was this?" Gary asked. "Just for the record."
"December 2013," Scudder replied. His scowl returned as he continued, "And do you want to know what happened next? You want to know how Snart decided to repay us for all our help?"
"Um…yes?"
"On December 11, I was hanging out with Rosa in an old warehouse," Scudder said. "We were having a great time, minding our own business. I hadn't heard from Snart in over a week. Like I said, he was trying to lay low. Then, out of nowhere, he shows up and starts telling us that he knows we've been spending the money we got from the heist. It was true, but it wasn't any of his business. We didn't spend anything that wasn't from our cut, and there wouldn't have been any money to spend in the first place if we hadn't done our share of the work. So I told him we were sick of him trying to control everything and wanted out. You know what he did then?"
Gary was now very invested in the story. He leaned forward in his seat. "What did he do?"
"That traitor tried to kill me." He hit his fist against the table in frustration, then took a breath and continued more calmly, "He pulled a gun on me and had some of the guys with him grab me and Rosa. I fought them off, but eventually, he had me pinned down. He was going to shoot."
"And then what happened?" Gary asked, eyes wide.
Scudder raised an eyebrow at Gary's response, then shrugged it off. "Then the particle accelerator happened. Snart noticed when it went off and took off running with his men. Rosa and I didn't get away. She went flying and I got thrown into a mirror. I think you know what happened next."
"Wow," Gary said. "So Snart is like your supervillain origin story. That's fascinating!"
"No," Scudder argued. "He isn't, because I'm not the villain in the story. I've done some bad stuff, and I don't deny it. But he's the one who turned on a friend just because he couldn't control me. He's a traitor and a scoundrel, and if I ever find out that he's secretly alive somewhere, I'll kill him again and make sure he never comes back." He watched Gary carefully as he said his final sentence to discern any hint of a reaction. "But you said he's still dead, didn't you, Agent Green?"
Gary forced himself to stare straight forward at Scudder. "Yes," he lied. "This is merely for research purposes. You don't have to worry about Snart."
Scudder looked away for a moment, apparently satisfied with Gary's answer. "Good."
Gary pressed a button on his time courier to stop the recording. He closed the folder and stood up briskly. "Thank you for your time, Sam. You've been very helpful. I'll put in a word with the warden about Rosa before I leave."
He exited the interrogation room and nodded to the guard standing just far enough away not to hear the conversation. As he walked down the narrow corridors toward the warden's office, Gary mulled over the findings of his talk with Scudder. I thought Ava was overreacting at first, he admitted to himself, but maybe she's right to worry. Of course, one story might not really define who he is, and people can change. But if Scudder's description is accurate and Snart really is the same person as back then, I can only imagine how dangerous he might be on the Waverider…
"Is this your card?" Snart asked, flipping over a king of spades from the middle of the card deck in his hands as he leaned back against the table in the library. Nannerl was seated across from him in one of the room's many armchairs.
She gasped. "It is!" She picked it up and examined it while Leonard smirked proudly. "How did you do that?" she demanded. "Was that magic?"
"No," he replied. "It was skill." He picked up the card and shuffled it back into the deck. "Do you want to give it a shot?"
Nannerl shook her head. "I don't know how."
"I'll teach you."
Nannerl smiled as she considered the idea. "Is it hard?"
"Not very. I learned it when I was around your age. It just takes practice."
She held out her hands, reaching for the card deck. "Teach me," she said. "I want to show Wolfgang. I want to see the look on his face when I guess his card," she added with a smirk.
Leonard handed her the deck and sat down on the floor in front of her. "I bet it'll blow his mind. Now, here's how you start…"
Just outside the library door, Nate stood quietly watching the scene. He heard footsteps and looked away to see Charlie dragging Zari over. "Oh, there you are, Z," Nate said, acknowledging her.
"What part of 'I'm busy' do you two not understand?" Zari asked.
"You're going to want to see this," Nate assured her. He nodded toward the library. "Look at Snart."
Zari watched for a few seconds as Leonard explained the details of his card trick. "Huh," she said casually. "I guess the bank robber makes a good babysitter. Who knew?"
"Doesn't it go against, like…everything about him?" Nate asked her. "I mean, I usually feel a low to moderate level of fear around Snart, but this is so weird, it might actually be scarier."
"I wouldn't call it scary," Charlie spoke up. "But it is unexpected."
Zari thought about it. "I guess, but it kind of makes sense. Doesn't he have a little sister or something?"
"Oh, that's right," Charlie said, remembering. "He said he took care of her when she was little, didn't he? He seemed pretty close with her from the way he was talking. That does make this a lot more believable."
Nate looked confusedly at the two of them. "Okay, Gideon mentioned the sister, but how do you know that much about their relationship? Did he talk to you about it?"
"No," Charlie explained. "Mona had us watch some old security footage…"
"Charlie," Zari warned, hoping to get her to stop talking before she gave away too much.
"…because she wanted to prove that Snart and the captain are into each other."
Zari sighed. "So much for keeping it on the down low."
"He was going to find out eventually, mate," Charlie pointed out.
Nate now looked even more confused. "Snart and Sara? I mean, I know they're friends but…no way. That's impossible."
"That's what I said," Zari told him. "But honestly, I kind of get it now."
"Isn't he gay, though?" Nate asked. "I mean, Leo was gay, and Sara's doppelganger on Earth-X was also bi, so I just assumed…"
"Earth-X was a universe where the Nazis won World War Two and evil Oliver Queen was married to evil Kara Zor-El," Zari said. "One guy having a different sexual orientation from his doppelganger isn't the most unbelievable difference relative to all that."
"That is very true," Nate conceded. Would Sara really be interested in a guy who worked with Damien Darhk and Malcom Merlyn, though? he wondered. Sure, she's friends with him. And she's friends with Nora, who worked even more closely with Damien Darhk. But romantic interest goes beyond friendship. That seems like a stretch, even under the circumstances. He decided to redirect the conversation before he could dwell too much on the Legion of Doom. "Okay, but you've got to admit this is weird. I've never seen him act like this. It's kind of freaking me out."
As the three of them watched, Nannerl made her first attempt at the card trick. "Is this your card?" she asked in her tiny, accented voice as she flipped over a card from the middle of the deck.
Leonard chuckled. "Almost, kid."
Nannerl frowned, then looked at the card she was holding up. "What? But I…"
Leonard pointed at the card sitting under it. "Try that one."
She pulled it out and flipped it over. "Was it this one?" she asked, showing it to him.
"That's the one," he replied.
Nannerl groaned and slumped against the cushions of her chair. "I was so close!"
"You'll get there. You almost had it. If you give it another shot, you'll probably get it right."
Nannerl sat up, a look of determination on her face. "I want to try again. Let me do it again."
"Sure," Leonard said, picking up the deck and shuffling it again before handing it back to her. "You've got this, kid," he encouraged her gently. "Just go slow and think it through."
"You hear that?" Nate asked, just quietly enough for Snart not to hear him. "I have never heard him talk that way to anybody before. He's always all snarly and…supervillain-y."
"Wow, so not everyone acts exactly the same all the time?" Zari deadpanned. "Shocker." She dropped her sarcasm and continued, "Okay, I'll admit that it's a little weird to see. I wouldn't have expected this from him either. But it shouldn't freak you out this much. If anything, you should just be glad that someone on this ship is this good with kids while we've got one of the OG child stars onboard. Now, if you'll excuse me," she said as she turned around, "I've got updates to finish and I wouldn't want to keep Gideon waiting." She walked away in the direction of the engine room.
Sara, Mick, Nora, and Ray wove their way between cars in the Keystone Mall parking lot, searching for any sign of a rift. "It can't be too far from here," Sara assured them after a significant period of unsuccessful looking. "There's no way Nannerl traveled super far on foot to get into the mall."
"Where else is left, then?" Mick asked. "All I see out here are cars, and not animatronic ones either."
"I think you mean 'anachronistic,' Mick," Ray corrected him.
"That's what I said," Mick grunted.
Nora looked around, slowly taking in her surroundings. "There are a few buildings down the road," she said, pointing at the near distance on the other side of the busy street feeding into the parking lot. "It looks like some kind of school. She could have been dropped there by the rift, then crossed the street and walked a few minutes to get to the mall."
"Good eye, Nora," Sara said. "If she wound up near a school in the afternoon, she might have seen other kids walk toward the mall and followed them in. We should check it out."
As the four of them made their way out of the parking lot, Nora moved closer to Ray's side. "So…Ray?"
"What, babe?" he asked with a sweet smile.
"You know how you said Vandal Savage had a really creepy thing for your ex? Like, world domination level of creepy?"
Ray raised an eyebrow, unsure of where this was going. "Yeah?"
"Well, Snart and I got to talking…and you definitely didn't tell me everything about Kendra."
Mick and Sara snickered as they heard her. Ray froze, flustered. "What did Snart tell you?" he asked slowly.
"That you were engaged, you got lost in the past together for two years, you got crazy jealous when her soulmate got reincarnated in the future, you had a lucky water vase…"
Mick and Sara snickered again. Ray sighed. "Of course he told you about the lucky water vase."
"…and she was a reincarnated Egyptian priestess. That part was actually pretty interesting. She sounded kind of cool from the way Snart described her. Although the fact that you only made a move after another teammate expressed interest in her is a bit concerning."
"Okay, how did Snart even know that part?" Ray asked with an accusing look toward Sara and Mick.
"Don't blame us," Sara replied, an amused smirk on her face. "You know he notices everything."
Ray turned to Nora and the two of them stopped walking while Mick and Sara continued toward the street. "Look," he told her, "I was a little bit different back then. I mean, I was still me, but I was going through some stuff. I was still struggling with what happened to my first fiancée. Plus, the whole world thought I was dead for way too long just because I got stuck at a shrunken size, so that was an existential crisis of its own. Not to mention…"
"Ray, it's okay," Nora said with a warm smile. "I'm the last person who should judge anyone for their past. I just don't want to be left out of the loop about stuff. Just be totally transparent from here on out, even about the past."
"Even the lucky water vase?"
"Especially the lucky water vase." She smirked, then jokingly nudged his arm. "I'm kidding, dork! I don't care about the water vase." She crossed her arms, still smirking. "I do care about the whole soulmate thing, though. In what universe did you think that would end well for you?"
Ray facepalmed. "I can't believe this," he muttered.
"Hey, you're the one who left me alone with Snart," Nora pointed out. "If there's one thing I've learned since he came back, it's how much he enjoys roasting you."
"I can't believe he had an actual conversation with you, though," Ray replied. "I've been trying to bond with him all day and got nowhere. How did you do it? What's your secret?"
Nora shrugged. "I don't know. We just found stuff in common and started talking about it. It wasn't that hard."
"Then why can't I do that?" Ray asked. "I already tried Star Wars and Lord of the Rings."
"Try something else."
"Like what?"
"I don't know. You've been around him longer. I'm sure you can think of something." Nora paused, then looked him in the eyes as she got an idea. "You know, when we were talking, there was one thing I said about you that actually impressed him."
"Really?" Ray asked, shocked. "What was it?"
"I told him that you broke me out of prison with the time stone," she explained. "That surprised him. It might have even earned you a little respect. Of course, he did immediately go back roasting you after that, but still, it's something."
Ray tilted his head to the side, considering her curiously. "But how does that help me talk to Snart? I can't exactly break you out of prison again."
"No," Nora said, "but you can try to get on his level. You did something he would do when he wasn't expecting that from you, and it caught his attention. Just think like Snart."
"But…I don't think like Snart."
"Try to. Use that super genius brain of yours and try to speak his language."
At the edge of the street, Mick turned around and waved his arms over his head. "Hey!" he called out to Nora and Ray, who were now very far behind. "You two coming or what?"
Nora patted Ray on the back encouragingly. "I'm sure you'll figure it out." She walked past him to catch up with Mick and Sara.
Ray stood back a moment. "Speak his language?" he repeated, trying to wrap his head around the idea.
"Haircut!" Mick's voice shouted.
"Coming!" Ray exclaimed, hurrying after the rest of the group.
Nannerl carefully flipped over a card from the middle of her deck. "Is…this your card?" she asked, then held her breath anxiously as she waited for the answer.
Leonard smirked proudly as he sat on the floor in front of her. "That's it, kid."
She let out her breath and raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Really? I did it?"
"You did it."
She grinned. "Let's do it again!"
"Nice to see you're having fun," Leonard said, taking the cards and preparing to shuffle them again.
"I can't wait to show my brother," Nannerl said. "He will love it."
"I'm sure he will," Leonard said as he moved the cards in his hands. "You know, if you practice enough before you show your brother, you'll be able to do it really fast. Think about how he'd react to that."
"Practice does make perfect," Nannerl agreed, taking the deck. "That's what our father always says."
"Yeah?"
"Yes, and I'm supposed to practice my pieces for a concert tonight," Nannerl continued. "He'd be disappointed if he saw I was playing with cards instead. Pick one." She fanned the deck out and let Leonard select one.
"Well, it's not every day something like this happens," Leonard reminded her as he studied his card. "If he's a good father, he'll just be happy you're safe." He handed the card back to her and she worked it back into the deck.
"I'm sure he will be," Nannerl said. "Father is strict at times, but he loves us both very much. But I like practicing. I like to play music, and I like to do it well. I can't do that if I don't practice." She moved the cards in her hands carefully, following Leonard's instructions. "Wolfgang only started playing because he saw me practicing so much and wanted to join in."
"Is that so?"
"It is. But he's nearly as good as I am now." She flipped over a card. "Is this yours?"
"That's it. You're a fast learner."
"Thank you." Nannerl looked away wistfully. "I don't often get to perform in palaces for nobles like this." Her small brow furrowed with concern. "Are you sure I won't miss the concert? I have been in this place for a very long time, and I am certain that my brother is getting worried. I do not want him to worry, and if he throws a fit and won't play, our father will be very cross."
"Don't worry about any of that right now," Leonard said reassuringly. "I said I'd get you back to your brother soon, and I will. We just need to wait until the rest of the team gets back." He watched her face carefully and did not see her concerned expression change. He decided to switch tactics and find a new distraction. "Tell me about your concert," he said. "It's you and your brother, right?"
"Yes," she said, seeming to relax a little bit. "We are playing two pieces together, and then two solos each. I am quite excited, but I would be very ashamed if I made a mistake in front of so many important people. They're all so elegant."
"Elegant, huh?"
"Yes, and I have a lovely gown just for the occasion. My mother had it made. It matches Wolfgang's suit. And I have jewelry, too. It's gold, and it sparkles and shimmers. I adore it." She noticed a strange look on Leonard's face. "Is something wrong?"
"No, no." He quickly turned his eyes away from her. "Just thinking."
Nannerl didn't seem entirely convinced. "About what?"
"Nothing. You just…you kind of remind me of somebody."
"Who?"
"Nobody. Forget I said anything." He continued to keep his gaze fixed on the floor for a moment, then looked her in the eyes with an idea in his head. "You ever had ice cream, kid?"
"Once," she said with a nod.
"What if I told you there was a room on this ship that could make you ice cream?" he asked. "Not just ice cream, either. Any kind of food you could ever want. What would you say?"
Nannerl stared at him in confusion. "I would say that is impossible."
"Not here, it isn't." He stood up. "Want me to show you?"
She hesitated, then looked warily at the doorway. Finally, she hopped off the chair and joined him at his side. "I am a bit hungry," she admitted, still a bit hesitant about the seemingly impossible thing he was offering her.
"Then, let's fix that." He started walking out of the room. She followed just one step behind him. "Trust me, kid, you're going to love this…"
