Hello, another chapter...
Thanks so much for the comments!
*Happy Dance*
It was now two weeks since he'd gotten shot. He moved around a lot easier now, even with his crutches.
And he moved around as much as he could. He would like to keep as much as his muscle mass as possible, and it kept him from getting incredibly restless…
"Hi there tough guy…" Ray greeted him with a smile.
"Hey yourself…" Len answered and re-adjusted his crutches.
"How are you feeling?"
"Good, good…"
"You're walking a lot…"
"Yeah… Can't let my muscles just die away completely…"
Ray grinned, "Yeah, I remember when I broke my leg… I was shocked when my five weeks were up and they cut off the cast."
"Yeah, I've done it a few times myself… Same ugly image every time…"
"So… where are you headed?"
"Kitchen, get some coffee…"
"Mind if I join?"
"Nah… If you join you can carry my mug over to the table… Maybe there'll be some coffee left in it when it reaches the table…" Leonard said dryly.
"I'll carry it for you…"
"Thanks…"
LOTLOTLOT
Sara was already sitting by the table when Len and Ray walked in. Len quickly joined Sara, as Ray poured two cups of coffee for them.
"Hey sexy…" he whispered as lowered himself across from Sara.
"Hello handsome…" Sara whispered back.
He winked at her. Part of him wanted all this to be out in the open as soon as possible, another part of him liked the thrill of hiding their relationship.
He heard the coffeepot being set back, and abandoned the flirting game.
Ray walked over and sat the coffee mug down in front of Leonard. "Here you go…"
"Thanks man!"
Leonard winced and his hand shot down to steady his cast as Ray sat down on the dining coach beside him. His face twisted in pain as he curled in on himself…
"God, man! I'm sorry! Was it something I did?" Ray was on the verge of panicking.
He shook his head, still clutching his cast as if his life depended on it. His hands were shaking and he couldn't seem to draw his breath properly. The pain almost blocked out everything else, Sara and Ray sounded far off.
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to… I hope I didn't make it worse!"
Len shook his head again.
"No, you. just. Jostled. My. leg… It'll calm. Down. In. a sec…" Len bit out.
"I'm sorry!"
"Shut up! I heard that the first time!"
"I am so sorry!" Ray repeated again
"I'm fine!" he took a few seconds before he altered it, "I'm good… Just… Next time… Be more careful please…?"
"I will."
Leonard let go of his cast with his right hand and held it out in front of Ray, ready to shake hands.
"Thanks…"
LOTLOTLOT
"You know what?" Ray asked about half an hour later, they had chatted about everything they could come up with.
"No…" Len said, as Sara shook her head.
"For a crook, you're pretty alright!" Ray offered, "You're very different from what I expected. In a good way… You're a good man."
Len stared down at the tabletop, the comment hit him out of nowhere… It felt like a weird mix of a blow to the gut and a pat on the shoulder. He didn't know what to feel…
Better than expected, he could deal with. Being a crook, alright… Or was it ex-crook now? He still had to decide…
But if it was one thing he had never been... It sure was a good man…
Nobody had ever accused him of being that before, and for good reasons…
"No… I ain't…" Leonard drew his breath slowly, "That's the last thing I am on this earth… I'm not a good man…"
"You do realize that by now, YOU have saved all of our asses on a number of times?" Ray asked, "YOU!"
"I'm trouble… Always have been, always will be…"
"Who says a good man can't come with his share of trouble?" Sara asked with her soft voice. "And to be fair, I think you have the legend's record of saving the rest of us… Look, we've been doing this for almost a year, I think… And you have saved my life almost 20 times… I should be disappointed in myself for needing to be rescued that many times…"
"I think I've only saved someone four times. In total…"Ray chimed in.
"I've got about 15 total…" Sara added, "No bad man saves someone so many times… And I promise you that in fifty years, you will be the one our grandkids talk the most of… Because you did the most, even if you were the underdog…"
Len couldn't keep back his smirk. He wasn't sure if it had been a glitch, or a figure of speak… But he liked the idea of it… Our grandkids…
Crap… Was he going soft?
"We all know that kids like superpowers…" Snart deflected with his trademark calm voice, "Or crazy gadgets… My money are on fireball, hawk-lady or the shrinking robot here… OR you… Because you are one of the most badass women I have ever met…"
LOTLOTLOT
Ray glanced back and forth between his two team members. Snart's last comment still hung in the air between the three of them. And the look he was giving Sara spoke a ton. The smile Sara gave him back said even more…
Did they…? Were they…?
A thing?
"SHIT! DAMN!" Leonard gasped for air beside him, "OW!"
Sara sat wide-eyed on the opposite side of the table. She looked like she was frozen in place.
"Sorry…"
Len nodded, held up one finger as he waited for his ability to form sentences to come back to him. When he looked back up his eyes were rimmed with unshed tears.
"Sorry," Sara's voice was filled with guilt, "I'm so stupid…"
Leonard shook his head, "No… You're not… But for the next time, keep the foot-flirting to my left leg only…"
"I'm sor…"
"Please don't say sorry one more time… It's becoming a bit dreadful…"
"You two…?" Ray was about to air his suspicion, which evidently had been proved seconds earlier, but he wanted to hear them admit to it.
"Us what?" Snart asked, same calm and calculated voice as always.
"Are you two…? Dating?"
"Well… Looks like we have a second place winner on who would notice it first…"
"You are?"
Leonard nodded, a genuine smile spread across his face as he reached out and held Sara's hand.
"Congratulations!"
"Thanks!"
"Are you keeping it secret? Or have you just started and just haven't told the rest yet?"
"Oh, we're playing a game on how long it takes you guys to notice…" Sara started.
"So far it's Mick and you who have gotten it…" Leonard added with a smile.
"For how long?"
"About two weeks… You could call it a sliding start, but at least some good came out of this incident…" Len answered and gestured to his leg.
"Should I keep it secret?"
"It would be fun if you did… But you can talk to Mick about it, he already knows…"
Ray nodded.
"Am I intruding on a date?"
Both Sara and Leonard shook their heads. "No… Not at all…"
Okay... I feel like this chapter got a bit messy...
But what the heck...
(I wonder if any of you will feel how awkward I felt while writing it...)
Anyway... Hope you enjoy it, and thank you all so much for the comments!