Earth 4 Part III

Hero Snart/Criminal Lance

xXx

The Canary stayed for a week and then one morning they all came in to find her and everything she'd had with her gone. Leonard pretended it didn't bother him, but her absence from his everyday life was felt rather drastically. He pushed it aside though. He had work to do. Classes to teach, papers to grade, a city to protect. He couldn't worry about her, he just had to have faith that she was alright.

"I think we should do it." Joe said as Leonard entered the main lab.

"Do what?" Leonard asked and as one they all turned to look at him. That was never a good sign. They all hesitated to answer him until Wells sighed, shaking his head.

"Joe thinks we should run The Canary's blood, and quite frankly I agree." he explained. "We have no idea if she's really turned over a new leaf or if she was just playing us by turning on Falcone. We should know who she is, be ready for her if she ever comes back and isn't on our side."

"We're trying to get her to trust us, to join our team. What does it say to her that we want her to trust us, but we don't trust her." Barry argued.

"It says we're being cautious. You don't know her. None of us know her. She could be a sociopath for all we know, stringing us all along for the fun of it. A backup plan when things go wrong." Joe explained. "Barry, I want to believe that she's on our side that we can trust her, but we need to prepare for what happens if we can't."

Barry sighed, turning to Leonard. "What do you think?" he asked.

"You can't ask him, he's too biased." Wells interrupted.

"Your all working under the assumption that she didn't take everything with her." Leonard replied.

Realization seemed to dawn on them one by one and Caitlin turned on her heels, disappearing into the adjoining cold storage room. She came back out moments later.

"Everything is gone. Blood samples, bloody bandages, rags, swabs, everything. She even took the surgical waste."

"Talk about thorough." Cisco muttered.

xXx

Six months later

The day had been long and torturous and Leonard wanted nothing more than to climb into bed and sleep for the rest of the weekend. Between grading the last of the finals and dealing with the students who slept through said finals, it was a day to forget. Unfortunately, his sister had other ideas. According to her he didn't get out enough, and saving the city didn't count. Also, apparently, he was moping. She claimed it was over The Canary, but he liked to think he had enough common sense not to fall for a woman whose face he'd never seen. He knew he didn't, but he liked to think he did.

So here he was, nursing a drink at the bar while his sister paraded around the dance floor. At least she managed to convince the rest of Team Flash to tag along. It would make him feel less guilty when he eventually ditched her when she wasn't paying attention.

"You need to lighten up." Barry called over the music.

Leonard rolled his eyes. "And you need to get drunk, but we both know that's not going to happen."

Barry sighed. "Your not going to derail me this time."

"Wanna bet?"

"Nope. Listen, I know this whole thing is weird."

"Well it's not exactly normal."

"No, it's not, but neither are we. We're not normal, so it would make sense that the situations we find ourselves in in our personal and professional lives won't be normal either."

Leonard sighed. "So what do you suggest then?"

"I suggest that you forget about Canary and go talk to the cute blonde whose been eyeing you down the bar for the last twenty minutes."

Leonard whipped around catching sight of the woman around the corner of the bar, she looked away when he looked at her. Barry clapped him on the shoulder and laughed. "Go get her, tiger." he said ambling off to find the others. Leonard turned to watch him walk away, slack jawed. He couldn't possibly be serious.

When Barry was gone, Leonard turned back to the bar, catching sight of the blonde. She was smirking at him now and not for the first time he questioned Barry's situational awareness. How could he have missed this. Simple actually, because Barry wasn't looking.

"Cold." her voice sounded next to his ear and he watched as she slid onto the stool next to him. "I wasn't sure you would recognize me. I shouldn't have doubted you."

"Canary." he replied simply. "Didn't expect to see you here tonight."

"I wasn't really planning on showing up tonight. I was in the area though and I just thought I'd drop in." she explained.

"How are you feeling?"

"Good as new." she smiled.

Maybe declaring he hadn't seen her face was a bit of an exaggeration. She was after all, only wearing a domino mask. On top of that, she hadn't been wearing the wig around the lab while she was recovering either, which let him get used to her natural hair color. With her bright blue eyes and pouty lips, there was no doubt in his mind when he first glanced at her, who she was.

"You're mad that I left aren't you?" she asked, pulling him from his thoughts. She wasn't smiling anymore, and the beer she had been nursing was pushed aside.

"Mad isn't really the word for it." he explained. "Mad would imply that I thought you did something wrong. But I honestly can't fault you for not wanting to stick around. The team can be a little overwhelming." he replied. "Plus, you seem like the type who likes to do things on her own."

Canary looked around, her eyes landing on the dance floor. There was a longing there, like she was thinking about a different time, a better time. "Do you want to get out of here?" she asked him.

"Since I walked in." he replied, sliding his beer bottle away and dropping a tip on the bar top. She followed suit, weaving behind him through the crowds of people, before finally breaking free outside. Once on the sidewalk, Leonard pulled out his phone and shot off a quick text before putting it away again. "So, where to?" he asked.

Canary shrugged. "I didn't really have anywhere specific in mind."

Leonard looked around, orienting himself, before gesturing off to the left. "This way."

They walked for a while before Canary spoke up. "I left because I had to, not because I wanted to."

"Why did you have to?" he questioned.

"Because I destroy everything I touch." she explained. "I should have gone with the name Siren instead of Canary. Luring people in to their dooms." she muttered the last part, but he heard it all the same.

"So why come back then? If your so dangerous to be around?"

"Because I'm also selfish." she sighed. "I've been alone for so long, it was nice to be a part of something again, even if I was just barely in it."

Leonard sighed. "Maybe it's time to stop running. Maybe it's time to face your demons, to finally put them behind you where they won't haunt you anymore. Where they won't slow you down."

"I wish it were that easy."

"It's never easy. Demons are persistent, they'll always be there, they'll always try to hold you back, but if you work at it, fight it, you can keep them at bay."

"You sound like you have a bit of experience with that?"

"A bit." he replied. "Enough that I can tell you that if I can do it, you can do it."

Canary hummed, but said nothing else. Together they wound their way around the city and at some point Leonard realized they were nearing Star Labs. When they stopped outside the building he turned to her.

"Can I interest you in a cup of coffee?" he asked. She simply nodded, following him in.

"This place is kinda cool." Canary said as he handed her a cup of coffee a little while later. They were in mission control, lounging in a couple of rolling office chairs.

"You think so?"

"Yeah, I always liked sci-fi stuff growing up. This reminds me of that."

Leonard huffed a laugh. "Dr. Wells does seem to like the futuristic stuff."

Canary smiled. "So, did they decide to run my DNA?" she asked.

"There was some debate, but in the end it didn't really matter, did it?"

"I figured I'd remove the temptation." she explained. "I had a feeling you'd all be divided over it."

"You were right. I don't suppose you intend to tell anyone who you really are?"

Before she could answer a gust of wind blew passed followed by the sounds of running footsteps in the distance.

"There you are, why aren't you answering…" Barry stopped short, staring wide eyed at the woman from the club. "What the hell, Snart?"

Canary snorted into her coffee at the scathing look Leonard shot Barry.

"What's going on here?" Joe questioned alerting them to the fact that the rest of the team had made it.

Canary and Leonard shared a look. "You all remember the Canary, right?" Leonard replied.

There was a pause as they all processed and the Canary used it to speak up. "It's Sara, actually. Sara Lance."