Here's another chapter for you guys!

Thanks for all the comments! It means a lot to me and my muse! (80 friggin' comments! Wow! Guys, this is... I can't believe it!)

Hope you enjoy!

Len hobbled around the ship. He was trying to build up some muscle in his leg again, and he was currently using just one crutch for support when he was inside.

He was walking in circles around the control-room. Along the wall… He didn't stop when Jax entered the room.

Jax was the only other person left on the ship, the others were out working.

"You're keeping busy…" Jax noted as he watched Len hobble past the door that lead to the bedrooms.

Len stopped and looked up at the mechanic. Then he nodded and wiped away some sweat beading his forehead.

"How are you holding up?"

"Can't wait to kick these crutches for good…"

Jax nodded.

"I know the feeling…"

"It was the same when you injured your knee…?" Len asked and started hobbling along the wall again. Jax followed beside him.

"Yeah… I felt like that month never passed…" Jax said and scratched his neck, "I can't believe how it feels for you… I mean… It's over three months…"

"Three months and eight days…" Len admitted with a certain pride, he had after all suffered through that time as a reasonably well behaved patient.

"That's a long ass time…"

Len nodded, and looked up at his team mate. "Not my first time on crutches, but certainly the longest up until now…"

Jax chuckled, "I bet…"

"I was barely nine the first time…" Len revealed, a little unsure of why he chose to let Jax know.

Jax stopped and looked up at Len. He had gotten the feeling that Leonard didn't want to talk about the first time… At least that had been what happened some time ago, when Stein and Len had talked of old stories and mishaps.

"Okay…"

"Yeah…"

Len shifted a bit uncomfortably on as he looked back at Jackson.

"I got between my father and mom… Really gave him some lip…"

Len could feel Jax grow uneasy, it laced the whole atmosphere.

"He didn't like it, and I continued… Since my father had downed almost a fifth of whisky earlier that evening, he accidentally knocked me down the stairs…" Len swallowed hard.

Jax just stood there, frozen. He didn't know how to handle this confession, he didn't know what to do…

"I need to sit down…"

That broke through to Jax, and he shook out of the trance….

"Is your leg…"

"I've been walking around the last four hours… Yeah… It's starting to get a bit stiff, sore and painful!" Len almost bit back, he regretted it as soon as he saw Jax' face. "I'm sorry… I just… I don't… I'm a little off…"

Jax just nodded. He got the feeling that it wasn't just Len's leg that was bothering him.

"Don't worry…" Jax offered a kind smile, "We'll go sit down, you've certainly deserved it!"

Len almost smiled and hobbled in the direction of the living room and the couch.

"I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm telling you this…"

"We all need to share our shadowy memories some times…" Jax attempted and cussed himself because of how corny it sounded once it left his lips. "Even ex-cons…"

"I guess…" Len agreed, "Just don't tell anyone… Please…"

"You know the grey haired dude is going to know… Right…?"

"Yeah… Well… Just don't actively tell anyone… Okay?"

Jax nodded, "I won't tell anyone I don't share a psychic connection with…"

"Good…"

They reached the couch and Len melted into the furniture. He placed his leg along the seat, and let his right hand come down on top of it to massage the poor joint gently.

LOTLOTLOT

Len had started the whole story from the start again, and it felt damn good to get it off his chest.

"… because he was dead-drunk he used a little more force than he intended, and I fell backwards down the stairs. Broke my left leg right above the ankle…"

Jax didn't like the way Leonard described the event. It was like he blamed everything on the alcohol, and nothing on his father. Jackson had seen this behavior once before, in one of his best friends…

"Look, don't blame it all on the whiskey… It was your dad who did it! He's the one to blame!"

Len cringed at Jax' words. The worst part was, if he dug down deep, he knew that it was the truth…

His shoulders slumped down as he remembered the full event. After he had landed at the bottom of the stairs, he had started crying… Of course he had… His father didn't like the sound of that, so he…

"Once I started crying, my dad ran down the stairs. Not to comfort me…" Len admitted with a heartbroken voice.

Jax lost control over a teardrop which had been hanging dangerously for a while. After all he had seen of Leonard, he was about the last person to ever deserve anything like that. Of course he had come off as a douchebag and a pure criminal from the start, but that proved to be an effect of what society had taught him since childhood. Leonard Snart was a good guy, he was like the big brother who would put himself in harm's way for everyone he held dear. He was the big brother of the whole team, even Mick… (And Mick was Len's older brother in the same way…)

"I'm sorry…" Jax fought back more tears, "You shouldn't have gone through that…"

Len shook his head, "It's just the way the world is… I suppose…"

"The world is a brutal place…"

"Yeah… And it's not going to change, so why bother?" Len prompted.

"I guess…" Jax said defeated. "He beat you because you cried?"

Len nodded.

"That's just mean!"

"I guess…" Len agreed, "He stopped once he realized my leg had an extra angle at it…"

"But he shouldn't have beaten you in the first place…" Jax said with a hint of anger in his voice.

"It was just the way he was…"

"But it wasn't a way he should have been!"

A grimace passed Len's face just as Jax looked up at him. It wasn't related to the old memories, it looked a little more active that that…

"You good?"

Leonard huffed and attempted an innocent smile. "Just my knee… It's telling me it didn't like the last hour and a half of walking…"

Jax winced as he clearly could imagine how the abused knee would feel.

"You should put some ice on it…" he quickly stated. "I'll go find some…"

A smile actually tugged at Len's lips, "Thanks…"

"No problem, bro…"

LOTLOTLOT

Jax returned a couple of minutes later with an ice-bag and two mugs of hot chocolate topped with mini-marshmallows. He placed everything on the table, and found an extra pillow for Len's leg.

"Preparing a chick-flick-moment?" Len questioned amused.

"Nah… Just remembered that cocoa helps with just about anything…"

There was an awkward pause as Jax sat back down. It was clear that neither of them wanted to state that chocolate beverages might help with the serious stuff they had just talked about… The pause got thicker and heavier, until Jax couldn't take it no more.

"Figured it could have some effect on that dumb knee of yours too…"

Len broke out laughing as Jax saved them from several minutes of awkwardness.

"I think it will…" he finally agreed when he was able to breathe normally once again.

Okay... I know this is a bit out there... Just keep in mind that the characters have known each other for a longer time in my fic, than in the show... (For future reference... Season 1 isn't finished yet...)
Leonard has had a physical injury tear him down for quite some time... He's tired... He needs to be comforted, even though he might not get it himself...
Please don't make me justify myself...

Hope you enjoyed the chapter anyways...