For a second Lewis looked taken aback, shocked even, but then a smile appeared in the corner of his mouth.

„Did he now?" he drawled, „never thought he would", he laughed huskily.

„How could you do that, to your own son? Beating him, starving him?"

„I just taught him a lesson or two. He needed to toughen up, always been too soft. Just like his god damn mother."

„The one that killed herself, because you mistreated her all the time?", Lisa asked sharply.

„See, too soft. I hate to break it to you darling, but the world isn't a nice place. You cannot afford to be weak. I made him strong, he should be thankful. I hear he's an infamous thief now. I made him that. I taught him all he needed to know. Hear he's got a name for himself. Captain Cold, they call him, right? Tell him I like that. I never thought I would say that, but I feel rather proud of that little shit", he leaned back with a self-satisfied smile on his face.

Not caring that it wouldn't do anything, Lisa smashed her fist to the glas, just wishing, that she could punch that disgusting grin right off his face. Of course it did nothing more than to hurt her hand, as it was safety glas.

A nearby guard quickly stepped closer to her.

„Miss, please refrain from doing that, otherwise I have to remove you", he told her.

Lisa threw her hair back over her shoulder and glared at him angrily, but held up her hands in a pacifying gesture. She then sat back down again.

Her father laughed. „That's my girl, just the little firecracker I used to know. You are so much more like me, than Leonard ever was, you know that?"

„I'm not like you", she sneered in disgust, "you are just a sadistic asshole, that is only brave enough to hurt women and children."

A flash of anger crossed his face, but he quickly controlled himself again.

"So what do you want anyway?", he asked her.

"I came to tell you that we are through. As far as I'm concerned, I don't have a father anymore. Len was more of a Dad to me, than you ever were. So when you get out in a few years, don't dare to contact us. Just leave the city. If you don't, I'll hunt you down and kill you, understood?"

He nodded slowly, "alright sweetheart, I get it. But I want you to think about something. All Leonard did, he did for you. He could have left, you know, the kid is smart, always was, he would've gotten by. Instead he stayed, always came crawling back, just like a god damn dog, begging for more. Just to protect his little sister. If it hadn't been for you, I would have never been able to break him. Think about that Lisa, actually it's your fault, he's gotten hurt."

Lisa felt like she had gotten punched in the gut. She actually hadn't thought about it that way. She had felt guilt, because she hadn't noticed that her brother had been abused right under her nose, but even as Len had told her, how their father had used her to hurt him, she hadn't realized it was her fault Len had willingly endured that kind of mistreatment.

The phone fell from her hand and she stumbled up to leave. Her fathers cruel laughter followed her outside.

Everything blurred together, as she tried to leave as quickly as she could, ignoring the guards asking her, if she was ok.

Outside, she rounded the corner of the building, leaned her hands against the wall and retched. Her breakfast made a reappearance and she saw that she had puked all over her left shoe. Shaking, she turned around and sat down against the wall, trying to ignore the stench of her own vomit. Tears ran down her face, as she breathed raggedly. Of course it was her fault, all the things her brother suffered, still was suffering, were her fault. If it wasn't for her, he would never had stayed. Her father was right, he went through all of that, because of her.

She didn't know how long it took for her to remember how breathing might work, and walking was a whole other level. In the end she crawled forward, until she could somewhat feel her legs again. Then she staggered down the street.

Stores and people blurred together and only a neon blue sign caught her attention. She knew there would be alcohol. A lifeline.

She dragged herself inside the dim cellar bar and climbed on a chair. The place was nearly empty, just after noon on a Saturday, only the serious drinkers sat together over their beer.

"What do you want?" the guy behind the bar asked her.

"Vodka, cold, but no ice", she said. Then she excused herself to the bathroom, where she fixed her dirty shoe and her ruined Make-up with damp toilet paper.

Knowing that even if her eyes were swollen and red, she still looked good enough to pass as pretty under the dim lights and the pink and blue neon shining from the bar. When she came back, her drink was already waiting for her.

So she drank.

No matter, that the strong alcohol made her empty stomach clench uncomfortably, she ordered another and another.

She flirted with the bartender, even tough his dark hair and easy smile reminded her of Cisco and she hated herself for it. But what was that little bit of self hate added to the pile she already felt?

Barry lay next to Len on a hotel room bed, almost asleep. Len hadn't want to be in the house, where right now he felt like he couldn't breathe, but he didn't want to be in Joes house either. Criminals and Cops didn't mix. So they got a hotel room.

Barry's phone went off, somewhere next to the bed, where their clothes were scattered on the floor. Sighing, Barry reached to pick it up.

"It's Cisco", he said with an annoyed groan.

"Sorry, I have to pick it up."

The moment he had announced the caller was Cisco, Len was wide awake again. Cisco was with Lisa right now. He would only call, if there really was an emergency.

"Hey, slow down Cisco, I can hardly understand you. Lisa? No, why?", Barry asked.

He looked over at Len, who stared back, wide eyed.

"He's with me right now, hang on Cisco", he passed the phone to Len.

"Yeah", he croaked out, voice still laced with sleep and now, worry too.

"Listen man, Lisa and I we… uhm.. we had a date", Cisco told him nervously.

Len rolled his eyes, "yeah Cisco, I know, she told me."

"I…uh, she did…?", Cisco stuttered and Len could practically hear him blush.

"So what is wrong Cisco?" he was getting impatient.

"Well, she canceled our date earlier, said she would explain later, but now it's been hours and… and I haven't heard from her. She doesn't answer my calls and she doesn't text me back. I know it's probably nothing to worry about, maybe she does that, sometimes? I don't know, I'm sure it's nothing, I'm sorry for calling", he stumbled over his words, unsure about himself. Len maybe even would've felt pity with the man, if he wasn't so worried right now. Lisa deliberately lying to him about her whereabouts? That usual meant that shit was about to go down.

Like the one time he had to pick her up from the police station, because she and a boy had been caught smoking pot in the park. It was really hard to keep the social workers off their back after that. Or the time she had gone for a little thieving spree on her own, but messing up the timing, so she had to shoot her way out. There was a reason, why he was in charge of planing. Anyways, Lisa going off on her own usually ended less than ideal.

He closed his eyes briefly.

"No, listen to me Cisco, I'm glad that you called. Is there any way, you might be able to find her? Like localize her phone or something?"

"Yeah probably, but I'm not sure I should do that, like I don't want to be that kind of boyfri…ahm…friend who does that", Cisco said.

"Kid, I'll tell her that I forced you to do it. It's going to be fine, alright?"

"Give me a second."

He could hear the keyboard rattle.

"The last location for her phone was near a bar called 'Songbird'. Do you know that place?"

The name did ring a distant bell. It was in the neighborhood of… Iron Hights! Shit.

"Cisco, can you check the traffic surveillance? She took her bike. Can you check if she visited Iron Hights about…", he took a glance at his watch, did a quick calculation, "about 11 am this morning?"

Again he heard the telltale clicking of the keyboard and then Cisco hummed.

"Yeah, there she is. 11:13 she entered the building."

Len let out a string of profanities.

"At 11:50 she left again. And she didn't look so hot. What happened? What was she doing there?" Cisco asked curiously.

"Visiting our Dad", Len said dryly, pinching the root of his nose in frustration.

A muttered "oh", was all he heard. Then there was silence.

"After she disappeared behind the corner, I don't see her anymore. What do we do now?" Cisco finally asked.

"Im going to take a cab and get her, she's probably wasted right now."

"Do you want any help?"

"No, I think this is between us right now, but I'll let you know, when we are home, ok? Thanks for your help, Cisco", he remembered to say.

He ended the call and gave the phone back to Barry.

"So you heard everything?"

Barry nodded. "Do you want me to come with you?"

Len, already halfway dressed, shook his head.

"No, I can handle this. I'm fine."

But he really wasn't sure that he was fine right now. His thoughts were racing. Why had she gone to see their father? Did she not believe him after all? Was she looking for confirmation on her fathers end? What had Lewis told her? That Len was lying? Had she told him about his illness? He already could imagine his father chuckle at that. Of course his pussy of a son would get a girls disease.

Len shook his head, trying to get rid of the thoughts physically. But who was he kidding?

Barry had watched him fumble about, getting dressed as quickly to as he could.

"You are not fine, I can see your hands shaking from here. Let me come with you, I can wait in the cab, while you get your sister. But I won't leave you to do this on your own right now, alright?"

Len stopped for a moment to glare at Barry, who stared back, unimpressed.

Finally he nodded. "Fine, suit yourself", he grumbled, "just hurry up."

Barry grinned at that and was dressed completely, before Len even had put on his shoes.

"Not fair", Len mumbled and Barry just laughed.

Len ducked into the bar, remembering getting drunk there before, after he had taken Lisa to visit their old man. In the end he had been so drunk, that he had to call a cab to pick up his sister, who surely already was waiting outside the prison for him to take her home. When he finally was sober enough to go home, he had found her crying in the kitchen, thinking he had abandoned her too.

He looked around, but his sister was nowhere to be seen. He went to the bar, where one empty glas was sitting on the counter. It smelled like vodka. He knew his sisters poison.

"I'm looking for a girl. Long dark hair, green eyes, probably dressed in black leather clothes", he asked the man behind the bar, who pointed to the bathroom.

"In there, she's been throwing up for the last 20 minutes", he informed him.

Without a thanks, Len moved over to the bathroom, and after trying the handle and finding it locked, he hammered loudly on the door.

"Lisa, it's me. Open this door now, or I have that lock picked in less than 10 seconds", he told her.

He could hear her curse, but the door swung open, just a moment later.

She sank down next to the toilet again, before he even fully entered the room. There was hardly enough space for two people and it reeked like boozy vomit.

Her mascara had left dark tear marks on her face, eyes red and swollen, blood vessels under her eyes popped to purple spots from the force of vomiting. She was a mess.

He crouched down in front of her.

"Lis, what are you doing?", he asked her gently.

Instead of answering, she started to cry again. He reached out and pulled her to his chest, not caring that he probably was getting snot and puke on his clothes.

"Hey, it's alright", he held her close until she calmed down and began to struggle against his grip. When he released her, she turned away from him, in shame or disgust, he couldn't tell. It hurt.

He forcefully gripped her chin and turned her to look at him again.

"What happened?", he asked lowly, leaving no room for argument.

"I went to see him", she sobbed.

"I know, but why?"

"Because, I wanted to tell him, that I know. I needed to tell him, that we were through with him, that he needed to leave the city, as soon as he gets out. That if he stays, if he comes near us ever again, I would kill him."

"What did he say?"

She looked at him, face ghostly pale, eyes dead.

"That it is my fault, this happened to you. That you stayed because of me, let him do that to you, just to protect me."

Len gritted his teeth, hate swirling in his gut.

"Lisa, it's not your fault. He did that, not you!"

"Yes, but if it wasn't for me, you could have left. It's my fault", she repeated stubbornly.

"This is what he does Lis, he messes with your head. It wasn't your fault, it wasn't my fault, or even Moms fault. He did that, fully aware, that he was hurting me. He enjoyed hurting me. He enjoyed telling you that you're at fault here. You are not. He is and nobody else, don't you get that?"

"But…"

"No, listen", he interrupted her, "I don't know what I would have done if you weren't there. Maybe I would have left, maybe I would have stayed, surely I would have lost all hope, maybe I would have done the same thing Mom did", he heard her gasp at that, "but honestly I don't know and it doesn't matter right now. It matters, that we got each other, it matters that we love and trust each other. That we survived this and that we are going to rise above this, together, yeah?" he brushed a sweaty curl out of her face and behind her ear.

All of what he had said, he had said firmly, like he wasn't doubting himself on nearly everything, just to make her believe him. He suddenly could see clearly, why he probably needed therapy. Why they both needed therapy.

She nodded at him.

"Okay", she said.

He grabbed her around the waist, pulling her up and steadying her with his arm.

"You are going to be so hungover", he told her.

She shook her head. "Probably puked it all out. Can we go home now?"

He handed her a piece of gum. "Yeah. Barry waits in the car, you probably want to take this."

He snorted at her pained expression.