The sun was just peeking over the horizon by the time Len woke up. He went through his typical morning routine, brewing a pot of extra strong coffee before stepping into the shower. Len was not the type to take long showers, usually reserving only about ten minutes of his day for the morning ritual. By the time he had dried himself off and gotten dressed the timer on the coffee maker dinged, signaling the completion of his favorite vice.
He was nearly finished with his first cup by the time he made it downstairs to check on the houseguest. Len found Evelyn curled up on the couch where he had left her, her right hand dangling awkwardly from the railing. She took small breaths as she slept, blissfully ignorant to his presence.
"Evelyn, time to wake up." He jabbed her shoulder with a finger and stepped back, enjoying the emergence of a confused scowl upon her face. Evelyn's eyes slowly opened, still foggy with sleep. She grunted as he came into view, shaking her head as if she couldn't believe that she was still there. The couch groaned as she sat up and locked onto Len with the first glare of the day.
"Don't give me that look, Evelyn." Len leaned on the edge of the railing, watching her with a look of cool bemusement. "Brought you breakfast, hope you like toast." He gestured to the small plate of bread on the makeshift table that he had set in front of her. "Hurry up and eat, Mick has volunteered to escort you to the ladies room and he won't like to having to wait."
Evelyn narrowed her eyes at Len before reaching for the food. Satisfied that she was taken care of, Len headed back up to the second story. Last night's haul needed to be sold and that meant Len would have to spend the morning seeking out a reputable fence. Nearly an hour passed before he looked up from his contact sheet to find Mick shuffling into the room.
"That lady of yours, she's a feisty one." Mick shot Len a wry smile before sitting at the table across from him. "Tried to give me a nasty left hook after she came out of the bathroom."
Len narrowed his eyes in irritation. He leaned back in his chair and stared at Mick questioningly.
"What did you do?" He asked, quite sure his partner had less patience than he did.
Mick shrugged his shoulders as if being attacked by unruly hostages was a normal occurrence.
"Dodged it. I got no interest in hurting your woman." Mick flashed a cheeky smile toward Len. He rolled his eyes and shook his head before focusing on his contact sheet once again.
"Evelyn! Great news," Evelyn lifted her head at the sound of Len's voice, watching him carefully as he made his way down the stairs. "We've got ourselves a buyer. Can't leave you here, so it looks like you're going on a little field trip with us." He drawled, examining Evelyn through narrowed eyes.
"I'm not going anywhere with you, Cold." Evelyn shot a glare his way before ignoring him, staring pointedly away. Len let out a sigh and plopped down on the couch next to her. She sent him an irritated look and pressed herself into the edge of the sofa.
"Why can't we be friends, Evelyn?" Len leaned his head against couch and turned it toward her. "Things would be so much easier if we could just get along." He drew out the last word, sending Evelyn a lazy smirk.
"The only way you'll make me go is if you promise to release me after you're done." Evelyn shook her wrist, making the cuffs clang against the metal bar behind them. Len raised his brows before hopping off the couch.
"Sounds like a deal, Evelyn." He caught her wrist and unlocked the cuffs, noticing the red mark they had left upon her skin. His brows furrowed as he stored the handcuffs into his pocket, hoping he wouldn't have to use them again. Evelyn rubbed her wrist gently before giving Len a questioning look. He quirked his head and gestured to her attire.
"Can't have you looking like that, don't want people to think I'm a poor host, do I?"
Evelyn crossed her arms over her chest and glowered at him.
"One; you are a terrible host and two; I didn't exactly bring any spare clothes to this sleepover from hell." Evelyn stood up from the couch, favoring her uninjured foot as she stretched her sore limbs. Len's smirk slipped as he remembered digging the glass out of her foot the night before. She turned to look at him after she finished stretching, catching his look.
"Lucky for you, my sister happens to keep a stash of clothes upstairs. Probably not your style but it'll have to do." Len gave her a wry smile before quickly sweeping her off her feet. She yelped and grabbed at his neck, desperate not to fall. Len fought the urge to laugh as he made his way toward the stairs. "Sorry, don't have an elevator here."
"You can't just pick me up!" Evelyn held onto his neck like a vice grip, unwittingly submitting to his grasp. Len rolled his eyes and smirked as they reached the top of the stairs.
"Please, I don't have time to wait for you to hobble around." He nudged the door to his sister's makeshift bedroom open, taking care to look for any weapons that his hostage might get her hands on. Once he deemed it safe he gently put Evelyn on her feet. She staggered away from him quickly, gritting her teeth in pain but not making a sound. Len popped open a dresser drawer, satisfied to find a hefty pile of Lisa's clothes inside. He turned to Evelyn who had been leaning against the furthest wall. She narrowed her eyes at him coldly, waiting for him to leave.
"Don't make me regret this." Len strode past her, but not before fixing her with a hard look. He felt Evelyn's eyes follow him as he passed through the door way, allowing her the privacy she deserved. A few minutes later Evelyn opened the door, dressed in the simplest clothes she could find in Lisa's wardrobe. The jeans and shirt were definitely tighter on Evelyn than on his sister. His gaze lingered more than it should have and Evelyn took notice, huffing at him indignantly.
"Are we going? Or are you just going to stare at me?" Evelyn tapped her foot impatiently, anxious to leave the Rogue's hideout. Len fixed her with a small smirk before leading her out of the factory.
"This is it." Mick pointed to an old metal foundry at the end of the block. Len slowly pulled around to the back, watching for anything out of the ordinary. He was keenly aware that being robbed was not out of the question when meeting with a fence. Once satisfied that they were not being cased Len killed the engine and hopped out. Mick quickly followed suit.
Len opened Evelyn's door but stood in the way of her exit. He leaned down to address her, face only inches from her own. He watched as her brows furrowed at his proximity, a small crease emerging on her forehead. He almost found it cute. Almost.
"I don't need to remind you that your freedom is on the line, Evelyn." Len quirked his head slightly as he reached down to grab Evelyn's hand. "But if you fuck this up I won't hesitate-" He raised her hand to rest it upon the hilt of his cold gun, smirking as he heard a small gasp "-to use this." His voice was barely a whisper, breath grazing over her ear. He lingered there for a few seconds before releasing her hand and standing straight. "Got it?" He narrowed his eyes at her questioningly, a finger running over the outside of the cold gun. Evelyn nodded quietly, a small frown fixed upon her face.
"Keep an eye on her, Mick." He helped Evelyn out of the back of the car before handing her over to Mick. Evelyn scowled as Mick gripped her upper arm and roughly led her toward the back door of the building. Len entered first, quickly surveying the cluttered storage room that the door led to. He kept his hand upon the cold gun, readying himself for attack. Footsteps echoed throughout the room as a man popped out from behind a shelf.
"Pretty thing you got there." Len flicked his eyes over their chosen fence, a wiry haired man with a slimy smile. He frowned as he caught the man's gaze. He placed himself between Evelyn and the fence, blocking the man's view.
"She's not why we're here." Len lifted the small briefcase containing their stolen goods. "Let's get down to business." The wiry haired man nodded quickly, glasses flashing in the florescent light of the room. Len carefully set out the pieces of jewelry and watched as the fence examined each one.
"Beautiful, absolutely beautiful." The man shook his head, the slimy smile widening as he lifted a pearl necklace to examine.
"How much will you give us?" Len leaned against an old box, anxious to get back to their hideout. He picked at his jacket, seemingly bored by the fence's actions.
"Give you an even hundred grand. It's going to be hard to move these." Len cut a look over toward Mick who shook his head.
"Not enough, try again." Len folded his arms and turned toward the fence, a scowl upon his face. The fence turned to face them, shoulders raised defensively.
"Look Snart, game changed when you took the hostage. These pieces are too hot to move right now. It's expensive to sit on stock."
Len's stare hardened as he considered the man before him, struggling not to reach for his cold gun. A prickle of irritation spread through his chest.
"Don't have time for this." He said softly, unfolding his arms. He stepped forward and grabbed the briefcase, preparing to gather the jewels and move onto the next fence. A hand shot out and grabbed his wrist as he reached for the jewelry. "What-" Len slowly moved his head to the left, shooting an icy glare toward the fence "-do you think you're doing?"
The fence's expression was unreadable as he released Len's wrist. His glasses flashed as he took a few steps back, hands raised for protection as Len raised his cold gun.
"I cannot allow you to leave with the product, Snart." The fence quickly hid behind a stack of wooden crates. Len snorted derisively and shook his head, approaching the hiding spot slowly before a loud crash rang out from behind him.
"SNART! We got company." Mick pushed Evelyn behind a metal table before raising his heat gun to point at the group of men that had crashed through the door. Guns drawn the men approached the rogues, stopping within a few feet of where they stood.
"Now, now. No need to fight." Len shot a sharp glance toward Mick, warning him not to fire. "Let's talk this through." They stood back to back, protecting their blind spots. He kept a keen eye on Evelyn, last thing they needed was their hostage caught in the crossfire.
"We're taking the jewels!" The leader of the group gestured for one of the men to start gathering the goods as Len watched, gritting his teeth. His finger twitched over his guns trigger, itching to freeze the man picking up his hard earned take.
"Not gonna happen." Len raised the cold gun and felt Mick do the same on the other side of him. Safeties clicked off the guns surrounding them, an icy silence settling over the room. The leader of the group kept his gun trained on Snart.
"How's this gonna end?" Len drawled as he kept his finger steady at the trigger. He narrowed his eyes at the man before him, daring him to make a move. He didn't have to wait long before a shot rang out, missing the rogues and echoing off the metal sheeting lining the walls. All hell broke loose as Len and Mick battled the group of heavily armed men.
The room became full of smoke as Mick's heat gun set fire to the wooden crates surrounding them. Len placed an arm over his mouth, trying not to breath the noxious fumes as he fought his way toward the last spot the jewelry had been. As he froze the last man standing between him and the table he found the case gone.
"Shit!" He kicked at the table in frustration. All their work would have been for nothing if he couldn't find the case.
"Get off of me!" Evelyn's voice tore through the din of gunfire. Len swiveled at the sound of her shout, freezing the men that stood between him and the gunman dragging Evelyn out the door. The case of jewelry hung loosely from his other hand, just what Snart had been looking for.
Snart charged through the door, in hot pursuit of the would be thief. The man whipped around as he heard Snart behind him.
"Back off, Snart! Or I'll kill your lady!" The man grasped Evelyn by the shirt, gun pressed to her ribs. Len narrowed his eyes, fixing the man with a cold stare. He lowered his cold gun, eyes focused upon the case hanging precariously from his right hand. "Put your gun on the ground!" The man's voice was strained, Len could make out a large chunk of arm that had been burned in the firefight.
Len put the cold gun on the ground and lifted his hands to show he was unarmed. The gunman pushed Evelyn forward, causing her to stumble to the ground. She raised her eyes to Len's, a small look of contempt as she was no doubt considering it was his fault that she was here. She struggled to her feet slowly, letting out a small groan of pain as she stood.
"Pick up the cold gun and bring it here. Try anything and I will shoot you." The gunman waved his gun behind her, keeping his eyes trained on Evelyn carefully. Evelyn picked up Len's weapon, careful not to touch the trigger. She locked eyes with Len as she raised the cold gun, expression unreadable. Len's brows furrowed as she turned around to give the thug his weapon.
"Good girl." He reached for the cold gun slowly, a sly smile on his face. Len watched as Evelyn seemed to hesitate before he heard the familiar whirl of the cold gun. She caught the thug by surprise, gun useless as Evelyn froze his arm and the majority of his midsection. Len couldn't believe his luck.
"What-what the f-fuck?! I'll k-kill you, b-b-bitch!" The man struggled to breath as he fell the the ground, succumbing to the numbness. Len wasted no time, running to retrieve the briefcase that had been forgotten in the altercation. The steel case felt weighty in his hands, reassuring him that it held the jewels. He turned to survey his hostage, Evelyn stood a few feet away, cold gun hanging from her hand. Her arm was across her face, covering her eyes. Without eye protection the cold guns glare could cause immense pain and was no doubt the reason she was cradling her face.
Len stepped toward her carefully, wary of the weapon in her hands. She stiffened as she heard him near, hand clenching of the gun. Evelyn removed her arm from her face and surveyed Len with teary, bloodshot eyes. She raised the weapon as he took another step.
"Don't." Evelyn shifted her weight to her uninjured foot, glaring at Len coldly. "Don't come any closer."
Len raised his eyebrows at her curiously. He stopped walking and considered his gun in her hands.
"Risky move, Evelyn. Can't say I blame you." He narrowed his eyes at her slowly, challenging her seriousness. "But do you really want me as your enemy? You take that gun and you will be." Her glare intensified, a small scowl pulling at her lips.
"Fuck off, Cold. I'm leaving, I'm sick of being your hostage." She began to step backwards, limping slowly toward the van behind her. "I won't hesitate." She blinked furiously, tears of pain falling from her eyes. Len watched as she climbed into the van and gave him a final look of contempt before wiping her eyes and starting the engine. Len watched as the van peeled away, taking his cold gun with it. He stood staring after the van until he could no longer see it, a cold fury brewing in his chest.
A/N: I am so sorry about the wait for this chapter. I feel terrible. Life has gotten hectic lately. Anyway, thank you to everyone who followed, favorited and left a review! You guys are wonderful!