Earth 5 Part III

Genius Snart/FBI Lance

xXx

Martin Stein was a blessed man in his own opinion. A loving, supportive wife, a brilliant daughter, a genius stepson and big hearted stepdaughter. What more could one man ask for?

Grandchildren. That's what more one man could ask for.

Lily had given him his first, a grandson he adored more than anything. He was doated on by his aunt and uncle and grandparents, spoiled rotten. But his other children, and yes they were his children no matter what Lewis Snart said to get under his skin, didn't appear to be an closer to contributing in the grandchild department. Lisa with her brilliant mind for the law and unerring sense of justice had left the practice of law before she had even begun, spurred on by Lewis' escape from prison shortly before she was set to take the bar exam. Instead she found herself at the FBI, despite the family's concerns, where, by all accounts she was doing quite well for herself. Unfortunately, long hours at the office and in the field left little time for meaningful relationships outside of the family.

And then there was Leonard, the most brilliant mathematician he had ever met. At sixteen, the young man had solved problems most in the field were still struggling to grasp. It was obvious, very early on that he was meant to do great things. Martin had met Leonard while he was sneaking around the Cal-Sci campus, secretly sitting in on classes. When Martin realized what he was doing and why, he hadn't hesitated to take him under his wing. Leonard didn't want to talk about home, or the fresh bruises or burn scars. All he wanted to do was study math. He couldn't go to school, everyone just assumed he was like his father and gave up on him before he could prove them wrong. He didn't want anything special he just wanted to be able to protect his sister, feed her, cloth her, all the things a parent was supposed to do, and Martin watched in awe of him as he did exactly that.

When Lewis finally went to prison Martin wasted no time. Clarissa pulled strings with a few of her contacts in Child services and before they knew it their family had grown by two. Lisa and Lily took to each other quickly, but it took a little time for Leonard to realize he wasn't just a guest in their home, it was his home too. Before he knew it, he was enrolling Leonard in special classes at the University, getting him a tutor to catch up on all his other subjects and helping both Leonard and Lisa learn what it meant to be a child who didn't have to worry about whether or not they would eat that night or if they would have to fight for their lives.

Martin and Clarissa built a warm and happy home for their children and despite everything they had been through, Leonard and Lisa grew into fine adults. He just wished Lisa wasn't so obsessed with work and Leonard wasn't so shy in anything that didn't involve math.

"Who could that be at this time of night?" Clarissa asked, pulling Martin from his thoughts. He was supposed to be grading midterms, but he'd found himself drifting off in reminicenes as he watched Lisa fold her Laundry (Apparently the machines in her apartment complex keep eating expensive things). He turned to watch Clarissa get up and answer the door. "Hello, can I help you?" he heard her greet whoever was on the other side.

"Hi, I'm sorry to bother you so late. My name is Sara I work with Lisa at the FBI." he and Lisa heard the reply and Lisa stood.

"Oh of course, please, come in." Clarissa ushered her in.

"Sara? Is everything alright? Do we have a case?"

"Not exactly." Sara replied. "Is your brother here?"

"Leonard is in the garage working on one of his equations." Martin spoke up. "I don't think we've been properly introduced."

"Oh I'm sorry." Lisa spoke up. "Mom, dad this is SSA Lance, she's my S.O. Sara this is my dad Professor Martin Stein and my mom Doctor Clarissa Stein."

"It's a pleasure to meet both of you." Sara replied.

"Likewise." Martin replied. "Come on back, I'll show you the way."

"I can show her dad." Lisa argued but he waved her off.

"That's alright, I need to get up anyway. I've been dozing off when I should grading papers." he chuckled, leading Sara back through the adjacent dining room. Sara smiled but Martin could see it was a bit forced.

Martin led her back through the kitchen and out through a side door into the garage where there were dozens of chalkboards on wheels and nailed up on the walls. Each one was full of equations and on the far side Leonard stood hunched over one, trying to make the last lines of numbers and symbols fit before he had to switch boards.

"Leonard, you have a guest." Martin called out, but he didn't react. Martin sighed. "He must have his headphones in. I swear, the house could be on fire and he would never know it with those things."

Sara chuckled as she slipped passed him. Martin watched as she walked up to Leonard and tapped him on the shoulder. Leonard was visibly startled, whirling around to face her. His eyes were wide when he realized it was her and not Lisa or Clarissa and Martin tried not to laugh as he yanked his earbuds out.

"Agent Lance...Sara... what are you doing here?" he stuttered out, flustered. There was a slight tint of pink on his cheeks.

"I need your help? Is this a bad time?" Sara asked, gesturing to the chalkboards.

"Oh this, no, I've been working on this for years, it can wait a little while more."

"Funny, he was determined to finish it when he got home from work this evening. He even skipped dinner." Martin thought to himself, the wheels began turning in his head as he smiled and left them alone.

"So what can I do for you?" he asked.

Sara handed him the file she had been carrying with her. "An acquaintance of mine was arrested tonight. The LAPD say she killed someone. I just… she asked for my help and I just want to make sure they aren't railroading her because its a neat, convenient solution."

Leonard nodded, opening the file. "Lance?" he scowled at the name. "Dinah Laurel Lance? Sara, this is your sister? What happened?"

"Police say they found her lying unconscious in a pool of blood, they believed her to be intoxicated. She was in the apartment of a man she claims she was on a date with and she doesn't remember much else. They found her date on the bed and… well, it wasn't pretty."

"Do you think she did this? Is she capable of it?"

"Depends on what the tox report says when it comes back. Look, can you just look at what the police have found and tell me if there's anyway she didn't do this?" Leonard simply nodded. "Thank you, I owe you one."

xXx

Leonard found Sara at her desk the next morning.

"Hey," he greeted her, drawing her attention. He rolled over a chair from the empty desk behind her. "So I did what you asked." he continued.

"And?"

"And, it looks like she did it." he told her delicately. "But…"

"But what?" she asked when he failed to find the words.

"You know how I'm always saying you can never have too much data?" Sara nodded. "Well, I lied, you can. And this is the perfect example." he told her.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, that when it comes to evidence there's a certain margin of error, as I'm sure you're aware. Well here, there is no margin. Everything fits exactly where it needs to fit to make a picture, just like a jigsaw puzzle. Even if the crime lab finds no forensics there's enough circumstantial evidence to sway public opinion against her and convince a grand jury to indict."

"So your saying she's being framed?" Sara questioned.

"It certainly looks that way." he replied.

Sara sighed, the tension leaving her shoulders as she sat back in her chair. "Alright, just gotta figure out how to prove it."

"I don't mean to pry, but, can I ask what's going on?"

"You read the file." she replied confused.

"No, I mean with…"

Sara hesitated. "I can't." she finally said. "Thank you for your help Leonard. I really appreciate it." she continued, standing.

"Of course, any time, but what are you going to do now?" he asked, standing as well.

"I'm going to try to convince John to let me tag along with the LAPD to see what else pops up."

"And if that doesn't work?"

"I have a lot of time saved up. Everyone's always getting on me about taking time off. No time like the present." she explained.

"Something tells me this isn't what they had in mind."

She smiled at him, but it was half hearted at best and walked away. He watched after her until she entered John's office.

"Hey Lenny, is everything okay?" Lisa asked as she walked up.

"I don't know."

xXx

"I'm not trying to step on your toes." Sara defended as she followed Detective Joe West through his bullpen. "You can't tell me you wouldn't want to be on the inside if this were your sister."

Joe sighed turning to face her. "Is that why you sent your analyst ahead? So it would seem less invasive. Figured out I can't say no to this kid?"

Sara looked up at him a little wide eyed. "I'm sorry what? What analyst?"

Joe scowled. "You have no idea what I'm talking about do you?"

"I really don't, detective."

He sighed, gesturing for her to follow him. He led her through the bullpen, stopping at a closed door and pushing it open to reveal a conference room. A conference room currently occupied by one Professor Leonard Snart. He was alternating between writing on a white board and looking through case files.

"Leonard?" she questioned drawing his attention. "What are you doing here?"

"Perfect timing." he told her, capping his marker and gesturing for both of them to come in. "Something was bothering me about the case so I reread the file and I think I can prove she didn't do this."

Joe and Sara shared a look. Joe sighed again. "Alright, go ahead."

"Okay, it's actually pretty simple mathematically." Sara gave him a look. "But... I'll try to explain it the best I can. So basically what I would be doing is the same thing I did for the goldmen case. Plugging in past behaviors, taking into account a criminal record and putting value on different aspects of her life to determine if she is even capable of this."

"And that'll hold up in court?" Joe asked.

"We used it to catch a serial killer last month." Sara explained. "But, correct me if I'm wrong didn't you run that equation on an entire list of suspects?"

"Yes, which is why I was hoping Detective West may have a list of people in the victim's life. Business partners, coworkers, ex-girlfriends, disgruntled neighbors. Anyone he would have come into contact with for an extended period of time."

Joe looked between them. "A serial killer, huh?" Sara nodded. "Alright, I'll get you the list, we'll start pulling files."

"Thank you, detective." Sara told him as he headed for the door.

"Yeah well, I'm not looking for the easy answer, agent, I'm looking for the right one. And in the meantime, holding got your request to meet with Laurel, they'll be ready for you in an hour."

With that he walked out, leaving Sara and Leonard alone. Sara turned back to Leonard to find he'd already gotten back to work.

"So how do you know Detective West?" Sara asked, walking over to look at his files. Leonard looked away from his equation.

"He, uh, he arrested me a few times." he looked away bashfully.

"Arrested you? Professor Snart, are you secretly a bad boy?"

He sighed, blushing. "Just petty stuff. Shoplifting, trespassing. He always managed to convince the plaintiff not to press charges. I think he hoped I'd turn my life around eventually. I never did figure out why he always stuck up for me. Now I just assume he could see something was wrong but he couldn't do anything about it at the time."

Sara didn't reply. Leonard was getting visibly uncomfortable talking about this and she wasn't going to insist he continue. "So you really think she didn't do this?" Leonard looked relieved at the change of subject, then;

"Do you? Why are you so sure the tox report will change your mind?"

Sara sighed. "Laurel is an addict. Prescription drugs, alcohol. She's been sober for years and there's always been a part of me that thought she'd never back slide, but the more I think about it the more I realize I have no idea who she is anymore. I haven't seen or spoken to her in years."

"Can I ask why?"

Sara shrugged. "I don't know. We used to be so close. Then we weren't anymore. She took the death of our friend really hard, we didn't grieve the same… just a bunch of things all piled on top of each other until we could barely stand to be in the same room."

"She called you now though, didn't she?" he asked. And he was right. She had dropped her name when they first brought her in. Sara, however had not spoken to her since then, only the police and their father back home, she had no way of knowing whether Laurel had invoked her name out of desperation or a legitimate hope that she could actually help. "Nothing like a murder to bring family back together." Leonard continued interrupting her thoughts. Sara snorted.

"No, I guess not."

xXx

Laurel was almost exactly as Sara remembered. Her eyes were a little more weary and her hair seemed a lighter blonde, but there she was, her best friend in the whole world, sitting on the other side of a steel table, hands cuffed to the ring at the center. It kind of broke her heart to see how surprised Laurel looked to see her walk through the door.

"Hey." she said.

"Hey." Laurel replied. There was an awkward sort of pause as they struggled to find anything else to say and Sara took the opportunity to sit across from her. "You came." Laurel eventually said.

"Of course, your my sister." Sara said. "I've got one of my best guys working on this. He thinks he can prove your innocent."

There was a spark of hopefulness that Laurel tamped down before it could bloom. "Really?" she asked.

Sara nodded. "He's confident that the evidence against you is too perfect. Like it was planted to frame you, which is why I have to ask you if you can think of anyone who would want to hurt you like this?"

"No." Laurel shook her head. "I mean, don't get me wrong I'm not a saint, but I don't think I've ever driven anyone to murder?"

"What about someone from your time as a DA? Any one you convicted who could still be holding a grudge?"

"A few gang bangers, some drug dealers. I prosecuted a few killers too, but they were all convicted for killing people in their lives, no psychopaths in the making. At least I don't think so."

"What about…" Sara paused. "What about families of victims. A few of your convictions were overturned when your substance abuse came to light."

Laurel seemed to deflate. "I'm sure there are plenty of those."

There was silence between them again, this time mournful.

"Have you talked to mom or dad?" Laurel's voice was so small, almost like a child. It was hard for Sara to equate the woman before her with the bold, brave girl who had been her hero growing up. The woman who faced down life's challenges, lived life fully and openly and loved with everything she had.

"I talked to dad. He promised to get a hold of mom. Uncle Malcolm was with Dad when I called, he's ready to send his lawyer to represent you as soon as you give him the word."

Laurel huffed a humorless laugh. "Only guilty people need lawyers right? Isn't that what we used to tell people when we wanted to scare them into talking?"

"Yeah, but you know as well as I do that it's just a bullshit lie. So if you want him here all you have to do is say the word and I'll call Malcolm back."

"I'll think about it."

"Okay, in the meantime, I'm going to need you to make a list."

"Of what?"

"Of all the people who would be angry at you. People you prosecuted, the families of victims and the convicted, anyone you met after you left Star City. Whoever you can think of, even if it doesn't seem likely. Also the motive they might have for doing it. We have a way of weeding out the suspects."

"How's that?" she asked, taking the pen and pad of paper Sara handed her.

"The guy I told you I had working on this, he's a mathematician. He's helped us close a bunch of high profile cases in the last year and a half. His equations even took down a drug ring in the inner city."

"And he did all that with math?" Laurel questioned.

Sara nodded. "Numbers don't lie."

xXx

"Excuse me?" a male voice pulled Leonard from his thoughts as he sat staring at the whiteboard in the conference room. He turned to find a broad shouldered older man standing in the doorway. He wore a custom tailored suit which was immaculate. "I'm looking for Sara Lance." he continued.

"She went down to holding to meet with her sister." he replied. "She should be back soon though. They put a time limit on her meeting." he continued.

"I assume your working with her." the man continued stepping into the room.

Leonard nodded. "Yes. I'm sorry, who are you?" he asked.

"My apologies, I'm Malcolm, Malcolm Merlyn. I'm Sara's godfather. I accompanied my attorney down here to represent Laurel."

"I see, well, like I said she should be back soon."

"Good. Do you don't mind me waiting here?" he asked, gesturing to the empty seating around the conference table. Leonard simply shook his head and got back to work. "You know I don't think I caught your name." Malcolm spoke up a little while later.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Leonard replied turning to face the older man. "I'm Leonard Snart. I'm a math professor at Cal-Sci."

"A math professor? They have math professors solving crimes now?" Malcolm questioned.

"I'm pretty sure I'm the only one at this point."

"And how exactly is math going to help Laurel?"

"Well, at the moment, I'm using it to place values on motives. I'm running a list of suspects through an equation I wrote, whittling down the likelihood that each person committed the crime based on various factors including motive and criminal history."

"And that works? Breaking people's actions down to numbers and equations?" he asked.

"Well, it's only the first step. It's just a way of making a long list more manageable so law enforcement doesn't waste resources looking into people who have nothing to do with the investigation and no insights to share."

"Okay Leonard, I've got more…" Sara's voice cut off as she stepped through the door and caught sight of the new occupant. "Uncle Malcolm, what are you doing here?" she looked surprised but smiled nonetheless, dropping the pad of paper she had been carrying on the table and walking around to meet him. He stood to pull her into a hug.

"Well it occured to me that if Laurel decides to accept representation it would be best if the attorney was already in the city so she wouldn't have to wait. I just flew down with him to keep an eye on everything for your parents." Malcolm explained. He gestured to Leonard. "Your mathematician was just explaining his methods."

Leonard had reached for the pad she set aside, sliding it toward him while they talked and looking it over. With their attention on him he looked up. "Those are the names Laurel gave me, I have Lisa pulling files on them."

"Great, I'll start plugging them in." he told her and turned back to his work. Sara looked between the two men suspicious, but said nothing.

xXx

Joe stepped into the conference room to find Sara at the far end of the table making notes and Leonard at the whiteboard staring at his own handwriting. He'd passed Malcolm Merlyn on the way in, Laurel having decided she was ready for a lawyer after all.

"Hey, one of your agents sent something over I think you should see." he said by way of greeting. He slid a stack of files to her.

"This can't be right." Sara said after flipping through the files.

"What is it?" Leonard asked.

"Four of the people on Laurel's list are dead." Joe explained. "All of them look like suicides."

Leonard moved up behind Sara to read over her shoulder. "Wait, I just read a file with all of these names in it." he went digging through the pile of folders until he found what he was looking for. "The people vs Jordan Clems."

"That sounds familiar." Sara replied accepting the file when he handed it to her. "Oh yeah, Laurel was upset about this one. Thought the kid got a raw deal because of his defense attorney."

"What happened?"

"This kid was coerced into a robbing a liquor store in Star City and one of his partners killed the clerk. The arresting officers and Laurel could all tell he hadn't been as complicit as the others but he had been convicted on a few B and E's through childhood and into adulthood so by California law she had to try him as an accomplice. Unless, of course, he accepted a plea deal. She offered him one but his defense attorney convinced him that he could get him off, that they could win the case despite all the evidence. Under the three strikes law he was sentenced to life in prison, he killed himself within the first month."

"He killed himself and four of the five people tied to the case, the two arresting officers, the defense attorney, and the judge are dead, their deaths looking like suicides?" Joe stated. "What are the chances?"

"One point four million to one." Leonard replied.

Sara shook her head. "But why change the motive with Laurel? And for that matter why would the family still blame her after everything she tried to do for him."

"What do you mean?" Joe asked.

"Laurel went behind her bosses back and talked to his family. She told them she thought his defense attorney was too interested in making a name for himself than actually defending Jordan. She tried to convince them to talk him into accepting the deal. When her boss found out she was suspended for two weeks. She almost lost her job."

"Maybe they think that because they couldn't convince him to take the deal, she should have thrown the case." Joe suggested.

"Or maybe they didn't agree with her. Thought she was railroading him." Leonard added.

"What do we know about the victim? Laurel said she had met him a few times before. They went to the same coffee shop. He asked her out for the first time a few days ago."

Joe flipped open the file. "Michael Connors, thirty-six, software developer for Wayne Enterprises LA division. No family listed, no emergency contact on his rental agreement."

Before anyone could answer a knock sounded at the door and they looked up to find a uniformed officer there. "Forensics report sir."

"Thanks."

They waited for Joe to read it and in the meantime, Leonard went back to his equations while Sara pulled over the laptop she borrowed from Joe. "The blood she was lying in was a type match to Connors."

"No surprise there." Sara muttered.

"No, but this is a surprise. No spatter or blood trail." he continued. "It's like someone dumped a bucket of blood on the floor, laid her in it and then killed Connors. Or vice versa. According the the Coroner, there's more blood in the room then there is in a body Conners size."

"So someone would have had to draw and store it?" Leonard questioned with a grimace. "How do you manage that, unless Connors was in on it and didn't know he was actually going to die."

"That makes sense. So we'd be looking for a partner." Joe replied.

"Or," Sara spoke up. "He did all of this by himself."

Sara flipped the computer around so they could see the screen. A photo of Jordan Clems being led out of the courtroom was there. Behind him a row of family members and right in the middle, a young man who looked shockingly like a much younger Michael Connors. "His real name is Michael Clems. He's Jordan's younger brother."

xXx

"I always knew that case would come back to haunt me one day." Laurel said as she walked with Sara along the front of the precinct. At the end of the road sat a black town car, Malcolm leaning against the side.

"So where are you heading to now?" Sara asked.

"Home." Laurel replied. "I'm going back to Star City. I think it's about time I started living instead of moving from one day to the next."

"Good, everyone's missed you."

Laurel smiled. "From what I hear, everyone misses you too. You should come with me."

Sara shook her head. "I can't, I have my job and a life here. But, I do have some vacation days saved up, maybe I could plan a little trip up there."

Laurel smiled and pulled Sara into a hug. "Thank you baby sister. For always being there for me."

"That's what sisters are for, Laur."

The two girls finished the walk to the car, meeting Malcolm there.

"You know when you come up to visit you should bring your Mathematician." Laurel told her.

Sara looked confused. "Who, Leonard? Why would I bring him?"

"Aren't you two dating?" Malcolm questioned confused.

Sara shook her head. "No, we just work together from time to time. His sister is the team newbie."

Malcolm and Laurel shared a look. "He's quite the friend then. Putting everything else aside to help you."

"He's just a good person."

Laurel rolled her eyes. "Your hopeless baby sister."

xXx

Sara found Leonard coming out of the precinct, fiddling with his phone.

"Hey." she greeted, drawing his attention.

"Hey, how's your sister?"

"Good, she's going back to Star City with Malcolm. Going to take some time to figure things out."

"That's good. I'm glad everything worked out." he replied.

"Yeah. Listen…" she hesitated. "I don't think I can thank you enough for what you did for Laurel. I really owe you one, Leonard."

Leonard shrugged and looked away, suddenly feeling self conscious.

"Yes, well, just doing the right thing. You'd do the same for me I'm sure." he shifted a little awkwardly.

Before she could reply, a blue hybrid car pulled up to the curb, the passenger window rolling down. "Ready to go?" Martin Stein called out. "Oh, Agent Lance, wonderful to see you again."

Leonard looked like he was in physical pain and Sara bit back a smile.

"Likewise Professor."

"Please, call me Martin." he told her.

Leonard took a deep steadying breath. "Alright, well, we should be going." he interrupted ignoring the twinkle of mischief in his father's eye.

"Thanks again, Leonard." she said as he climbed in the passenger seat.

"Anytime."

With that, Martin pulled onto the road. Silence sat between them, a sort of tension that Leonard knew could snap at any moment.

"She seems nice." Martin eventually spoke up.

"Dad." he warned.

"What, it was just an observation." Martin paused. "Is she married?"

"Dad!"