We are nearing the end of this story. I hope that you have all had fun with it. And this chapter is a bit smaller than the others as we wind things down. But we do still have a bit more to cover, so I hope that you enjoy this.

Leonard aimed his Cold Gun down the narrow hallway, no room for even the speedster to dodge. The Flash— no, Barry. Even in the suit, he was Barry. He was trying to talk them down, trying to keep everyone alive. He wasn't stupid. He was young and far too optimistic for his own good, but Barry wasn't stupid. It took Leonard a while to figure Barry out, but he finally did. He would risk his life for anyone not for the thrill, but because something in the hero truly believed that there was something good and worth saving in anyone. That naivety and blind hope was crushed out of Leonard and his sister long ago, but he could respect the speedster for somehow keeping it without getting killed in the process.

Honestly, Leonard didn't want to kill him. Against all odds, he liked having the Flash around. And Barry seemed to include his enemies as people who he wanted to save. Even after they stabbed him the back, he tried to help. No matter what Leonard said or did, Barry kept coming back to save him because Lisa asked. He refused to give up until both Leonard and Lisa were safe. Even if that meant staying in close proximity to a dangerous criminal, one without the respect and restraint not to kill him.

The only reason why Leonard was aiming at the Flash was because of that man. Lewis. The man already tried to shoot Barry once, trying to kill the young man once he served his purpose for no other reason than Lewis didn't need him anymore. Leonard didn't want to see him die again. He hated seeing his father do it the first time, the young man pretending to collapse from a gunshot in a far too convincing manner.

That was why he hesitated even as Lewis ordered him to fire. He didn't want Barry dead. But he couldn't let that piece of scum father kill Lisa either. He couldn't let that man detonate that bomb he buried in her head. Leonard couldn't lose her.

But before he had to decide between killing the speedster and losing his little sister, the Flash said the words that Leonard wanted to hear more than anything else. Lisa was safe. She was safe. Lewis only managed a brief look of horrified realization before his son turned the Cold Gun.

And with a lifetime of pain, fear, fury, and hatred towards the man, Leonard fired straight at his father's shriveled heart.

…But it wasn't Lewis.

Leonard dropped his Cold Gun with a clatter, eyes wide as he stared at the thick icicle sprouting from Mick's chest. His partner made a pained choked sound as he collapsed to his knees.

He should catch Mick. He should reach out before he hit the ground. He should help. He wanted to do something. But Leonard couldn't move. He could only stare at the look of confusion and betrayed shock on Mick's face.

Then that expression faded as his eyes seemed to grow blank and empty. Leonard tried to force his body to move, to do anything, but it was like he was paralyzed. Leonard felt like he was suffocating as Mick collapsed lifelessly on the ground.

Dead. His partner was dead.

This was wrong. It wasn't possible. And yet, it was.

Mick was dead. He killed Mick. He killed his partner.

Everything had spiraled out of control. Leonard couldn't seem to breathe, but his heart pounded heavily in his chest. And there was a tight pressure that seemed to squeeze the life out of him. It hurt. And his body still wouldn't obey.

He murdered Mick.

He couldn't tear his eyes away from the still figure. Leonard just kept staring at the lifeless body, the icicle speared straight through his partner's chest. The ice he put there.

Mick, someone who trusted him with his life, was dead.

He did this. He killed Mick.

Barry was right. He murdered the closest person he had to a brother.

Startling slightly, Leonard snapped awake. Breathing hard and trying to shake off the remnants of the dream still clouding his thoughts, he quickly took stock of his surroundings.

Everyone was camped out in the library for the impromptu movie night, Ray's enthusiasm for the idea impossible to quench. They'd gathered a few chairs from around the Waverider while improvising further with pillows, cushions, and blankets. Due to recently vacating medbay, Leonard and Mick claimed two of the comfy chairs while Stein took the third one so he didn't end up completely stiff and half-crippled in the morning. Everyone else ended up sprawled around the room with popcorn and drinks as they watched a mixture of movies randomly selected by suggestions, votes, bargaining, and flat-out threats of violence both for and against certain choices.

But by now, the actual movie watching had more or less stopped. Sleep had claimed them, one by one. The lights were dimmed and the volume turned down enough not to disturb everyone currently engaging in the mass slumber party. And furthermore, the credits were rolling on the most recent film.

Mick snored in his chair, a blue blanket wrapped around him. He was the first person that Leonard spotted as he glanced over everything. With that small reassurance, he took in the rest of the group.

Barry and Iris were practically curled around each other while Cisco hugged a bowl of popcorn to his chest. Heywood leaned against a wall while Amaya slept against his chest. Ray was sprawled across a couple cushions like an oversized ragdoll. Jax ended up cocooned in blankets. He'd somehow shifted his location at some point so that he was sleeping a bit closer to the chair containing the professor than where he started the evening.

Leonard wasn't certain where Rip ended up. He probably had enough sense to crawl off to a real bed. He wasn't exactly big on team bonding exercises or however Ray managed to talk Rip into joining the marathon in the first place.

And leaning against his chair, cards scattered across both of them, was Sara.

No threats. No one hurt. He was safe. Everyone was safe. Everything was under control.

It was only a dream.

Or possibly buried memories combined with a dream. He might not consciously remember doing it, but Leonard knew that he did it. Maybe that knowledge was dragging up fragments of memories in the form of dreams.

Or it could be the work of his imagination.

Either way, it didn't matter. Mick was alive and safe. Thinking about what almost happened or what happened to another version of his partner would only drive him mad.

Mick wasn't dead. None of them were dead. And Leonard wouldn't kill him.

He wouldn't kill them.

Cold logic helped push away the last hints of the dream. Everything was fine. And it wasn't like staying awake and dwelling on his dream would do any good. He could already feel the urge to drift back to sleep.

He just needed something to keep his mind from wandering towards less pleasant scenarios.

"Gideon," Leonard said quietly. "Start up 'The Fox and the Hound.'"

The screen flickered as the credits for one film were replaced by the start of the animated Disney movie. Leonard settled back and closed his eyes, hearing the familiar sounds.

Lisa loved the movie when she was younger, though the bear scene bothered her as a little girl. He couldn't count the number of times that she watched it with Leonard in the room. Practically any chance she could take. Whenever Lewis wasn't home or was at least ignoring them, Lisa would want to watch it. Even when Leonard didn't actually watch the screen, he would listen to the film in the background. It was something familiar and comforting. It was one of the few good memories of home.

Leonard didn't actually listen to the film as Gideon played it. He just let the sounds wash over him, the utter familiarity of it calming. Memories of Lisa coloring on the floor while movie played lulled him back to sleep.

Central City: July 7th, 2017

Judging the passage of time in a place outside of time was difficult, but they stayed parked in the Vanishing Point for almost a week. It was at least long enough that their criminals mostly stopped whatever awkwardness there was between them due to the "mutual near-sacrifices for each other" thing. After Rory regained the ability to stay on his feet for the length of a conversation without grabbing a wall for support, the two of them started stalking the rest of the Waverider. Nate was surprised and mildly amused to learn exactly how many card games that Snart, Rory, and Sara apparently played together.

He was less surprised that the snarky comments onboard had practically doubled.

But about a day later, Gideon stated that the two men were relatively fit for time travel. Or at least, it wouldn't damage their recovery or cause them harm. She simply warned that the side effects might hit them a bit harder this time due to recent events.

They left the other timeship parked in the Vanishing Point. It was safer to leave it somewhere outside of time with no people than it was leaving it outside a secret assassin lair, which was apparently what they did last time. Rory even took the opportunity to order the A.I. to lock out controls for anyone who wasn't a Legend or one of the few heroes that he trusted piloting a timeship (Cisco pleaded for ten minutes to be added to Rory's list of acceptable people). Other than leaving someone to guard the second timeship, it was the best they could do.

But there were far more people on the Waverider than there were chairs on the bridge. They couldn't strap everyone in properly. But even if it wasn't exactly the safest way to travel through time, it wouldn't necessarily kill anyone if they weren't properly secured. Barry, Iris, and Cisco ended up getting proper seats since they had the least experience and resistance to the effects of time travel. And even if they were mostly recovered, Snart and Rory were also guaranteed seats. Once again, the entire team voted unanimously on it before the criminals were informed. Rip, Ray, and Jax ended up just bracing themselves as much as possible.

The arrival was far smoother with whatever Stein, Cisco, and Ray did with Rory's equation. Apparently picking the right moment to travel to caused less turbulence or whatever. But it still left the new trio fighting off some symptoms and their criminals looking a bit light-headed and pale. They didn't certainly didn't look ready to immediately jump to their feet as they landed the timeship.

Well, Cisco tried. Unfortunately, his symptoms apparently included vertigo and he landed face-first on the floor.

"Why is time travel so painful?" he mumbled, his face still squashed into the ground.

"Try it after spending a few days in medbay," said Snart, eyes squeezed tight as he swayed slightly in his seat. The chair restraint still across his chest at least kept the man in place. "Turns out it's extra fun."

Rory didn't add anything. He simply groaned briefly as he clutched his head, blinking rapidly like he was trying to clear his vision. Or possibly avoid passing out.

"Sorry. It shouldn't last too long," Sara reassured, climbing out of the pilot's seat. Stepping over to their back-from-the-presumed-dead teammate, she said, "Just give it a few minutes."

"Until then, someone should head out and see if the rest of Team Flash has made it here," said Cisco as Barry pried him off the floor. "I told them when to meet us."

"Yeah, Dad probably isn't happy with me right now," Iris said.

Giving her a quick nod, Jax said, "No problem. We can go greet the welcoming party for you."

Of course, not everyone on the bridge immediately charged off like an invading army. Nate ended up heading towards the cargo bay with Jax, Amaya, Ray, and Rip as Gideon lowered the ramp. No one turned out to be waiting outside, but it shouldn't take them too long. And it wasn't the end of the world to wait a minute or two.

Ray made a comment about possibly stopping for Big Belly Burgers since they were in the right time period, which immediately led to him quickly explaining to Amaya about the wonders of fast food in general and their burgers specifically. Even after her time with the team, there were certain aspects of 2017 that she hadn't been exposed to. Their last visit involved fighting aliens, which didn't leave much time for sight-seeing. It might not be the ideal date idea, but Nate silently filed away the idea of taking Amaya to try some Big Belly Burgers later.

The sound of an approaching motorcycle prompted everyone's heads to snap up. A figure in a leather jacket, one that seemed to be an unusual shade of golden brown, raced towards the Waverider. He couldn't recognize the person on the bike due to the helmet, but it had to be someone in the hero business. Who else would drive straight towards the timeship without hesitation? Especially after the recent alien invasion.

The motorcycle swerved to a stop a short distance away as Nate and the others walked the rest of the way down the ramp. With a swift and smooth motion, the rider dismounted so the motorcycle ended up between the group and the brunette young woman who swept the helmet off her head.

Nate didn't recognize her, though the brief glimpse of sharp coldness in her expression seemed familiar. He didn't have a chance to notice more than that fleeting impression before she pulled out a strange-shaped gun and aimed it straight towards them.

Instinct kicked in. Nate's skin shifted to steel as he shoved the closest teammate, Amaya, behind him and threw his other arm up in an attempt to block the shot from his face.

Instead of the familiar ricochet of a bullet (and how did that become familiar so quickly?), a thick and hardening glob practically swallowed his arm. In the three seconds of her pulling the trigger, gold metallic encased Nate from fingertips to just past his left elbow. And unlike his steel skin, the substance from her gun didn't want to bend and move like flesh.

He couldn't move his fingers. They were trapped in a hard covering of strange metal. And if it had hit his face like she attempted, he would be suffocating.

Shouts of surprise from his teammates were quickly replaced by them preparing to retaliate against the surprise attack. The woman didn't seem to care that they were moving to the offensive, using her bike as cover as she shifted her gun to a new target with deadly intent.

"Lisa!" shouted Cisco, racing feet slamming down the ramp and the young man shoving past Nate desperately. "Wait, stop!"

Look! Another cliffhanger! Sorry for the shorter chapter. But this was still the best way to break things up. And the next chapter is also the final one. So for everyone who has been reading this story, we are near the end. Thanks for supporting me so far and I hope that the ending will be what you're hoping for.