Colour Outside the Lines [A Leonard Snart/Captain Cold Fanfiction]

Chapter 1 : The story before the story

Have you ever been to a clothes store and needed help from a member of staff?
You turn to the nearest person dressed in the uniform of that shop and ask for assistance. You pay attention and notice them while your interacting with them. While their helping you with what you need.
But as soon as your needs have been met and you finished the business you had with that staff member, you forget them. They become just another face in the crowd. A face you'd know you'd seen but couldn't remember where or who they are.

That face is me. I am that person. Only ever noticed when interacting with others. Only ever paid attention to if someone else needs something. Only difference is, I don't work just work in a clothes store.
I work in a coffee shop and clothes store.

By morning I am the barista no one looks twice at. By day I am the sales assistant you only talk to when you absolutely have to. Then by night, I'm plain ol' me. Plain ol' Elizabeth Smoak. Nobody Fancy and nobody worth remembering, but that's just how I like it.

I like living my life like a black and white picture. So people may think that's boring, but I like the structure and control it brings. I've spent too long of my life, wasted too much time being reckless and 'colourful' in my decisions. Besides being black and white means I'm less likely to got noticed, meaning less likely to be hurt all over again.

That brings me onto why I moved. I moved from Vegas with My Mother and Older Sister, to here in Central City. And in all honesty it was possibly the best decision I have ever made. No one knew me here and it meant I could start all over again. A fresh new start. One I desperately needed.

Within a week of moving here I had my first job. Working as a sales assistant in the clothing store. It was a small part time job and it didn't exactly pay well but it was a job I had managed to find on my own. However, About three months in I began to fall behind on rent payments and was forced to find a second job.

It wasn't easy but one day I found it by chance. I had finished work early and decided to stop for a coffee. Best decision I made that day. I was desperate for another job and they were desperate for another barista. Match made in job seekers heaven.

Now I can afford to stay on top of my rent and various other bills, as well as having a bit of money on the side for me to spend or save as I see fit. No more relying on others to bail me out.

But that's enough about my boring jobs. Maybe I'll talk about my city instead. Well not my city, but the city I moved too. Central City.
It's a bit of a grand name but it's nothing compared to Vegas and that's just how I like it. I hate Vegas and so moving was the only natural course for me to take.

Originally I wanted to move to a boring city where nothing but the occasional homocide happened. To start with central city was just that. Maybe a murder or two a year nothing major. But then the particle accelerator blew up and well.....lets just say things started to feel a lot more like Vegas.

Murders began happening a lot more often, same with regular crime. At the time I didn't know it but it was all caused by 'Meta-Humans' and the powers the accelerator gave them. At first it seemed as if they were all dangerous and shouldn't be tangled with, but then nine months later another 'Meta-Human' turned up. The Flash turned up. And he made Central City, Central City again.

The Flash did a lot for me really. He helped me to find myself once again. I wouldn't say he saved me. Someone else is responsible for that. However, he's a story for a bit later on. Not much later, but later.

The Flash, or as I came to know him, Barry, helped me to rekindle my friendship with my older sister Felicity. Turns out I missed her a lot more than I originally thought and so when Barry helped me to start up a relationship back with her I was so grateful.

With Felicity came lots of friends. Turns out my big sis was part of a vigilante team and knowing her came with the added bonus of knowing them. I met her boyfriend Oliver. Oliver's bodyguard Diggle. Their friends Roy, Sara, Ray, and Lorel. Oh and Oliver's Little sister Thea.
I didn't really get on with the two Lances (Sara and Lorel), part of me actually hated them. Oliver was brilliant and so was Diggle. Thea kind of ticked me off, I hated how I kind of got that 'I'm better than you cuz I used to be rich' kind of vibe from her (but I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who got that vibe). Roy reminded me of my past and so I avoided him as often as possible. Ray, oh god Ray, he was insanely cute and I loved him in my own way.

Even though I hated half the team, I wish I could say I went on to join them in their crusade but there was always a better reason not to. Again I will divulge into him at a later point. And no it's not Ray.

Remember that face you saw in the clothing store? The one who's name you only remember when she's standing right in front of you? When she's helping you with your needs? The one you instantly forget about the moment your finished with?
That face is still me. I am still that person. Only thing is, now I'm only that person at work. Any other time, I'm out living my life. I have friends, family and one person that means everything to me.

And on my worst days, the days when I just think about giving up on my friends and family, think about returning to my whole existence being that face in the crowd; He stops me. He reminds me there's more to life than that. That I shouldn't be content with the boring black and white life I chose. That I deserve a colourful and vibrant life, even if that colourful life doesn't necessarily fall within the boundary lines of normal.

Who is that someone special?
His name is Leonard Snart. He's also the notorious criminal Captain Cold. Or One of the Flash's main rivals or nemesis.

Those last two names are what the majority of the world know him as. A criminal and nothing more. But for me that's not true. I know him as Leonard Snart, the man who saved and changed my life.
It might seem silly to you, but I love him. I think I always will.
And I hope he loves me as much as he says he does. I hope he always will.

Anyway I told you it was a long story involving Leonard, and now I'm going to tell it to you. If your willing to listen that is.

It all started a few years ago. It was a normal day for me......