It's been thirty-six hours since the Singularity vanished.
Over a day. Going on two days.
It's been roughly four days since he saw Barry last. Barry was upset because of Wells, and had recently fought a gorilla of some kind, and Iris knew he was the Flash and was giving him the cold shoulder. He came over, and they curled up in Len's room and watched old cartoons on his crappy TV.
Then hours later, Barry left to go back to STAR Labs and reconvene with the others. Len bid him farewell, and said he'd be out of contact for a few days; it was his way of warning Barry that yes he was pulling a heist, but no, the Flash didn't need to be involved. Barry accepted this, kissed him briefly, and then disappeared in his usual yellow lightning.
That was four days ago.
It's been thirty-four hours since he told Lisa Barry Allen is the Flash. Twenty-two hours since they sat in his room and worried about how to tell Mick. Five hours since they told Mick, who was understandably furious he wasn't told sooner, but actually didn't seem to care that much – said he figured as much when he compared how much the kid ate to how Len started behaving in their battles with the Flash. Lisa was miffed that Mick realized and she didn't, but all in all, things went over rather well with Mick, and Len was surprised, but happy about this.
All of the secrets are out in the open.
Now Barry just needs to come back.
Len needs him to come back.
In the four – going on five – months they've been seeing each other, he's grown quite attached. Perhaps that is a flaw on his part – getting attached, that is. He knows better. And yet he did it anyway, and now that's he attached he can't just get un-attached, because life doesn't work that way.
The thing about being attached is that it becomes something you can lose. He's only ever been attached to Lisa before, and he's done what he can to keep her safe. Now, there's another person in the equation, and he's already failed them. Failed them before he realized it was worth defending.
He knows, now. He loves Barry Allen. Barry Allen loves him.
But that doesn't help him right now, because Barry Allen is the Flash and the Flash is still missing.
His cell phone rings, startling him. He's running on two hours of sleep, riddled with bad dreams, so his movements are a little slow and the sound is very loud to him. Only three people ever get in contact with him on this phone – Mick, Lisa, and Barry. Mick is nursing a beer or twelve, and Lisa is asleep, so that leaves...
He swallows, eying the name on the screen.
Barry Allen Calling.
It's Cisco. It has to be.
Len sighs, hits the green icon on the phone, and brings said phone to his ear. "Yeah?"
"Is this Len?" comes a female voice, and he stiffens, because he certainly wasn't expecting that.
"Who is this?" he asks instead of answering, because this is Barry's phone and this isn't Barry, or Cisco. Has someone broken into STAR Labs? Why take a phone?
"Oh! Sorry, where are my manners? I'm Iris, Barry's friend," the female explains, and he relaxes slightly, unaware he'd grown so stiff.
Of course it's Iris. He recognizes her voice now, and he should have before. He blames it on his lack of sleep.
"Right – Iris. Barry's mentioned you a few times," he says.
More than a few.
Barry used to be in love with Iris. Whether or not he still is, is another matter entirely, because he said he loves Len.
Can you love two people the same way?
Len's certainly not an expert on that.
"Cisco says you've been calling this phone, so if I wanted to get a hold of you, this is how to do it," Iris explains, and there's a slight tremor to her words.
Nevertheless he has to ask. "Have you found him yet?"
She takes in a shaky breath. "No," she says, and he closes his eyes. "Not yet, but we're working on it. Or, they are. I mean – they're searching for signs of the singularity, and... everything. It's all over my head. But I wanted to talk to you."
"Why me?" he asks. "I'm a criminal."
"Yeah, but you're also Barry's boyfriend, and Barry doesn't date easily, so he must really like you," Iris explains. "As his best friend, I feel like I should get to know you, especially after... well, this. Or not. I mean, that's totally up to you, of course, and-"
"Does your father approve of this?" Len cuts her off.
"No, he doesn't know I'm talking to you. He's been... off, since it happened, which, of course he has, Eddie's dead and... and Barry's missing..."
Eddie. It takes Len a moment to place the name. Eddie Thawne, Detective West's partner, also Barry's kind-of-friend, and Iris's boyfriend. He's dead? This is news to Len, which just raises more questions about what happened, and who better to ask than Barry's best friend and (former?) crush?
"We can meet somewhere," he says. "You pick the location."
"Oh," Iris says, brightening a little. "That'd be great!"
She tells him a location, and he agrees, hanging up so he can meet her in twenty minutes.
As he goes to the bathroom to splash water on his face and attempt to become more awake, he catches sight of himself in the mirror. Short, buzzed brown hair, blue eyes, but dark rings around them. He's tired, and worried, and he hates feeling both. He hasn't ever been a vain person, but even he can say he looks like crap right now. And all he can think about right then is-
What would Barry say?
He closes his eyes. Shoves the thought away. Can't do this right now.
He pulls on a light jacket, since it's fairly warm but a little windy tonight, and leaves, wondering why Iris West is up so late.
Maybe he's not the only one who can't sleep.
xXx
Iris West is pretty enough, if Len were into girls. He can see the appeal, though – can see why Barry likes her. Or liked her. They don't speak of Iris, so he's not sure where they stand with that subject.
They've decided to meet at Denny's, for lack of a better location that's open this late, that also has coffee. There's already a steaming cup waiting for him, and he all but inhales the scent and swallows down a sip. It's how he likes it, surprisingly, but how does she know that? He quirks a brow at her, and she smiles. It brightens her whole face. Yeah, he can definitely see why Barry likes her.
"Barry never came out and said he was dating Leonard Snart but he told me all about Len," Iris says. "Coffee is a big thing with you two, I guess."
Len shrugs, because that's true. They both enjoy their coffee; Len needs it when he's planning a heist and is boycotting sleep, and sometimes he gets too wrapped up in the planning and Barry will slip him a coffee. He'll blink and then there's a hot, steaming mug next to him, only partially filled so Barry doesn't spill it by moving so quickly, but it's there all the same and he's always grateful. And Barry needs it because he's constantly on the go, with his abilities and everything. So, yes, coffee is a 'big thing' with them.
A waitress approaches them, then, and Len's stomach betrays him. It growls. The feeling is so foreign he doesn't understand what's happened at first, but Iris is smiling at him and the waitress is looking expectant. He's not hungry. There's no time for food, he's here for answers. There's no time to eat or sleep right now.
And yet he orders pancakes nevertheless, because it's something he can stomach, and he's at least rational enough, despite his lack of sleep, to understand the need for food. Not eating won't help anyone.
Iris orders a chicken salad, and the waitress scurries off.
"Not really hungry, but I guess I need to eat," Iris sighs, looking down at the tabletop.
Len can definitely relate. "How did Eddie die?" he asks, deciding to just jump into it.
Iris stiffens, her whole body freezing. Her eyes quickly close, but Len knows she's hiding tears. "It's a long story."
"Tell me," he says.
"Wells was the Reverse-Flash."
"Was?"
"He's... gone, now," she says softly.
So Barry and the team defeated the Reverse-Flash. So much has happened that he's not aware of, and he hates it. If he had Barry's ability to go back in time, he'd at the very least make sure he always had his phone on him so Barry could call and actually talk to him about everything.
"Did Barry really go back in time?" he asks.
"He told you about that?"
He nods. "He left me a voicemail. I was... unavailable, for a time."
Iris opens her eyes, frowning at him, like she knows he was planning a heist and Barry turned a blind eye, but she says nothing about it. "He was given a chance to go back and save his mom. I don't know what happened – none of us do. All we know is he created a portal through time and space and... it's complicated. But Wells – er, Eobard – wanted to go to the future but he needed Barry's speed to do it, and that's why he's been... manipulating everyone."
Len's head spins. He's too tired for these long explanations, but he's thankful for it nevertheless. He needs to know what's been happening, what he's missed. He needs to know what's going on.
"Eobard never made it through the portal – suddenly Barry was back and smashing his machine into pieces, and then they were fighting. It was... It was crazy," Iris says, actively holding back tears as her eyes close again, and Len stares at her and the pain on her face. "Eddie – Eddie was his ancestor," she explains breathily, the words raw and jagged and wounded, and Len understands that feeling a little too well right now. "Eddie Thawne, ancestor of Eobard Thawne. So Eddie... h-he shot himself. Killed himself, and Eobard... was erased from the timeline."
There's silence after her words are finished. She's swallowing convulsively around the lump in her throat, another feeling Len is too familiar with right now. He swallows himself, watching her, how she struggles to compose herself. She's strong, he'll give her that.
"A-After that, the wormhole opened back up and... and went into the sky," Iris finally continues, a moment later, her voice shaky but Len can't blame her. "And you saw what happened after that."
So that's what he's missed, then. Team Flash caught Harrison Wells, AKA Eobard Thawne, who was – what? From the future, originally? But that makes sense, he supposes, since he was there the night Barry's mom was murdered, as well another version of Barry Allen, also from the future. So Team Flash captured the Reverse-Flash, and then time travel ensued. Except nothing changed.
"Barry didn't save his mom," he says, though it's really a question.
Iris shrugs helplessly. "We don't know what happened when he went back in time. There wasn't... There wasn't time to, and..."
Now he's gone, they leave unspoken between them, but the words linger nevertheless.
The food arrives rather quickly – neither pancakes nor salad take long to make, after all, the longest part being the few pieces of chicken which top the salad. It's a slow night at Denny's, so it's understandable that they get their food quickly. The rest of the town is still in shock about the singularity, it seems.
The pancakes taste bitter and salty – like betrayal.
"I love Lisa," Barry sighs contentedly as he sits back after having his third plate of pancakes.
Len snorts as he finishes up his own food.
"Aw, I like you too, Barry," Lisa says as she enters the kitchen from where she'd been in the living room, tossing the kid a wink as she walks past him. "But I don't think Lenny would approve of us together."
"Tragic," Barry replies with a twist of his lips, an easy smile. "Len, can you make pancakes?"
"Not my forte," Len admits. "I'm more of a grill person."
"Make me some steak, and I might love you again instead of your sister," Barry says with a smirk, and Len snorts again, shaking his head as he gets to his feet, picking up the empty, syrupy plates.
He walks over to the sink and deposits them in it as Lisa throws him a nasty look.
"I cooked, you clean," she tells him, and he scowls at her because he has much better plans for today, plans which include a certain, vibrating Barry Allen, but she holds his gaze and he finally sighs, relenting.
He starts to fill the sink with dishwater and soap as Barry laughs from behind him.
"And you keep him in line," Barry says. "Is there nothing you can't do?"
"I'm pretty amazing," Lisa agrees easily, stealing Len's seat at the table. That little klepto. "If Len's steaks don't pan out, you and I can always run away together and never stop eating pancakes."
"Never stop eating pancakes," Barry echoes with another laugh. He has a nice laugh. "I like that. Yeah, let's do that."
"Hey," Len complains, simply because he feels like it's something he should do. "No stealing my boyfriend, sis."
"But I'm so good at it," Lisa complains back.
"Now, now, you're both pretty," Barry says.
Lisa giggles and Len smiles as he starts doing dishes.
"Len? Can I call you Len?"
Len blinks the memory away, pressure behind his eyes, his head throbbing, and he nods. "Yeah, sure. What is it?"
"Nothing, you just – got this look on your face," Iris says, frowning at him. "Are you okay? Wait – who am I kidding, of course you're not. None of us are okay."
Len doesn't argue with her, mostly because she's right. He's not sure what he is, but he's definitely not okay.
And neither is she.
"Is the food okay?" Iris asks, changing the subject.
"The food's fine," Len says numbly.
xXx
Forty-one hours since the Singularity vanished. Forty-one hours since the Flash vanished, too.
Five hours since he finished his meal with Iris, and the two parted ways.
Four hours since he got home.
Three hours since he crawled into bed, exhausted but unable to sleep.
Two hours since he fell asleep.
Twenty minutes since he woke up in a cold sweat.
His eyelids are so heavy right now. He's so tired, but sleep is a bad idea.
Or the best idea. He's honestly not sure anymore. He's too tired to think.
Not for the first time, his fingers stretch across the bed to knock against cold covers. Not for the first time, he closes his eyes and tries to pretend. Not for the first time, his fingers curl around his phone.
Hearing Cisco answer Barry's phone will always be wrong.
"Anything yet?" he demands instantly.
"Nothing yet," Cisco says, and he sounds rough and tired.
"None of us are okay," Iris told him.
"Find him," he says, and hangs up like always.
He checks in every few hours, just in case. Just in case in those hours, Barry has somehow returned and Len can be warm again.
After the third time, though, Cisco answers with a quick, "Nothing yet, sorry. We're working on it. You don't need to keep checking in. We miss him too."
"We miss him too."
I miss him, Len realizes.
He misses someone who has only been gone for a day, nearly two days. He misses someone he just saw a few days ago.
Was the room always this small?
Was the bed always this big?
"Find him," Len says again.
"We're trying," Cisco tells him. "You'll be one of the first people to know when we find something."
If you find something.
Len sighs.
"And, dude, you sound like hell," Cisco adds. "Get some sleep. Barry wouldn't want you doing this to yourself, and you know it."
"He's not here to order me around," Len mumbles, and realizes that's the main fucking problem.
"So I'll do it for him," Cisco says. "Go to sleep, Leonard."
"Call me..." Len starts.
Call me Len.
But he snaps his mouth shut.
"Call me Len, kid."
"Len," the kid tests it out, and smiles, so he must like it. "I can do that. Don't like Leonard?"
"Do you like Bartholomew?" Len counters, and Barry laughs, settling further into his side as they lay in bed together.
"Point taken," Barry says easily. "Len."
Len definitely likes how Barry says his name, he decides as he moves just enough so their mouths can connect once more. "Barry," he replies.
"Len."
"Scarlet."
Barry laughs again.
He has a nice laugh, too.
"I'll call you as soon as we find something," Cisco promises, misinterpreting what Len was trying to say.
"Thanks, kid," he says roughly, and hangs up.
There's a knock at his door almost as soon as he drops the phone next to him, on Barry's side of the bed. He sighs and rolls his head toward the door, already knowing who it is.
"Not now, Lisa," he says.
The door opens anyway, and in walks his sister, holding a cup of water. He's actually thirsty, he realizes only after spotting it and the condensation already forming on the glass. He sits up and reaches for the drink but she holds out her other hand instead, dropping two pills into his open palm.
"What's this?" he asks, nearly dropping the pills.
"Sleeping pills," Lisa replies. "You're exhausted, Lenny. Staying awake won't help anyone, but I know you won't go to sleep on your own. These will help."
He shakes his head. "I don't want pills, Lis."
"Take them, for my sanity," Lisa replies.
Dirty blow, but he's taught her well.
He drops the pills into his mouth and she gives him the water. The water washes down the pills and she nods, satisfied.
"It's okay to worry, Len," she says with a sigh, "but try not to lose yourself in the process. Barry wouldn't want that for you."
Barry wouldn't want a lot of things for him, but he's not here, so he doesn't get a vote.
Len shrugs.
Lisa sighs again. "Night, Len. Try to get some sleep."
With that, she leaves the room, and he's left alone once more.
The room is definitely too small.
xXx
Len wakes twelve hours later. It's midday, the sun giving way to evening, and he's lost so much time.
Instantly he checks his phone, but no missed calls, or texts, or anything.
He knows there's no news, but that doesn't stop him from calling Barry's phone again anyway.
Cisco answers after a few rings. "Still nothing, sorry," he says instantly.
Len releases a breath, even though he knew Cisco would say that. "No progress at all? Any ideas? Any way I can help?"
He needs to do something. He needs to be more productive.
"Nothing, sorry," Cisco says again. "We're doing all we can."
Len nods even though he knows Cisco can't see him. "Alright, kid. Thanks."
He hangs up and sighs heavily.
Where are you, Barry?
He doesn't know. He has some answers from Iris, but not the answers he really wants. Knowing what happened helps him understand, but doesn't help him find Barry. It doesn't help Barry come back.
There's a knock at his door, and then the door opens.
"Oh, good, you're up," Lisa says. "Food's done."
"Not hungry," he tells her truthfully, even as his stomach growls and betrays him.
"Your body begs to differ," Lisa says. "You're eating. Come on."
He sighs and allows himself to be led out of the room, wondering when Lisa became the big sibling instead of him.
Mick's already in the kitchen, eating a plate of spaghetti.
Pasta. Something easy. He can do this.
He sits at the table and a plate is put in front of him. He eats without really tasting anything.
"Any word from Cisco?" Lisa asks as she joins them at the table with her own plate of food.
Len just shakes his head.
Lisa sighs. "They'll find him."
"They better," Mick remarks around a mouthful of food. Normally Len would chide him about speaking with a full mouth, call him a barbarian who lacked manners, but now he just sits there and tries to taste his food.
Funny how things can change.
But really, it's not funny at all.
"We're doing something today," Lisa says. "I know it's almost nightfall, but we could all use a distraction."
"Not in the mood," Len tells her honestly.
"Didn't ask if you were, did I?" she counters.
"What did you have in mind?" Mick asks.
Lisa smiles. "Just a small heist."
"Alright, I'm in," Mick says.
Lisa looks expectantly at Len. Len stares back at her. He's not in the mood to rob something right now. He wouldn't be able to concentrate.
"I'll sit this one out," he tells her.
She scowls. "No, silly, you're definitely coming with us."
"I don't want to," he says, aware he sounds like a petulant child, but Lisa is basically ordering him around and he's the big brother here, not her.
"Too bad," Lisa says. "You're coming. Let's go."
xXx
There is no planning done to this heist that Len can see.
It's a small job, just a small auto shop which fixes some nice cars and bikes around the city. There's bound to be a few still in the garage that they can take.
Len doesn't like doing jobs without planning them first, because it's so sloppy. Lisa insists, though, and he could really use a distraction. He takes his phone with him, because he swore to himself he would from now, but he leaves it in the car with Mick, who is the lookout for this job while Lisa and Len go in and get the cars.
It sounds simple enough.
But there's an alarm that goes off as soon as Lisa touches one of the cars, and Len sighs because this is why planning is important. This is way too sloppy, and if they are thrown in jail, that definitely won't help them.
Len grabs Lisa's arm and hauls her away from the car, and out of the shop.
A part of him says this is the part where the Flash usually comes in, especially if an alarm is tripped.
He goes outside, and he can hear sirens in the distance, but there's no yellow lightning, no Flash, no Barry Allen.
They leave the scene of the 'crime' – does it count as crime if they didn't actually take anything – and Len feels colder than before they left.
This job was definitely a bad idea.
"That was stupid," he mutters, mostly to himself, but Lisa looks at him from her position in the front passenger seat while Mick is in the driver's seat and Len himself is in the back with their guns.
"I'll admit it was reckless, but I thought we needed a distraction," Lisa says.
Again with the 'we' stuff. "Why we?" he asks, because he can't help it.
She stares at him for a moment. "We all like Barry, Len. We miss him too."
"We miss him too."
The words linger in his mind.
"That was still stupid," he tells her.
"People do stupid things when they worry, Lenny, it's all part of life."
He shakes his head.
People do crazy things when they worry, he agrees.
People also do crazy things when they're in love.
"Your phone rang, by the way," Mick says when they are almost back to their safe house, and Len's whole spine snaps rigid.
"My phone?" he repeats.
"Yeah, it kept ringing so I shut it off, I was trying to focus."
A part of Len wants to be angry with Mick, but he didn't tell Mick how important the phone was right now. He didn't tell him Cisco would call when – not if – they found anything, and now someone had called him. Only three people called that number, and two of them were with him right now.
He knows not to get his hopes up, but that doesn't stop the lump from jumping in his throat as Mick hands him his phone.
By the time the phone turns back on, they are back at the safe house and Len climbs out of the car and disappears inside, into his bedroom, and he knows he won't be followed, at least not for a few minutes. Lisa will give him some room.
Quickly, he dials Barry's number and waits while it rings.
And rings.
And rings.
And goes to voicemail.
He growls under his breath. "Damn it, Cisco, I don't have time for this."
He calls again.
This time it's answered.
"We have... something," Cisco says as greeting.
"Barry?" Len can't help but ask, nearly crushing the phone with his grip.
Cisco sighs regretfully. "Not yet," he says. "But Firestorm's back."
Len's jaw clenches. Firestorm and the Flash disappeared together, but now Firestorm is back, but Cisco says Barry isn't.
"I'll be there in ten minutes."