Last for the night, guys! Still a lot more than I expected to put out, so we'll see when the next one comes. Might not be until Thursday.
It's all Earth-X in this one, and it is not a happy family reunion. At all.
Enjoy chapter seventeen!
***
An alarm started wailing over the pen, and Malcolm and Thea winced, reaching for their ears. "Move!" Nazis shouted, and the others had to shuffle around as prisoners started organizing quickly. "Move!"
"I don't like the looks of this," Stein said nervously, watching Nazis enter the pen.
"What's going on?" Alex asked, looking around.
"I don't know," Slade shook his head, moving Alex in front of him.
"What are we doing?" Barry asked the man Thea had spoken to.
"It's roundup time," he answered.
"Roundup for what?" Sara scowled.
The prisoners had all moved to the back, and a line of armed Nazis walked forward to Oliver, Barry, Sara, Alex, Slade, Malcolm, Laurel, Thea, Stein, and Jax. "Get in line, now," one ordered.
Thea sneered at them, but when Malcolm took her arm, she reluctantly joined him in line. The others joined them, watching the line of Nazis in front of them keep their guns aimed at them. "You'd think we're a threat or something," Laurel remarked, then raised her hands when several guns shifted to aim at her. "Sheesh, what did I do to all of you?"
"My guess is whatever you did to make the others pissed at you," Oliver said quietly.
Laurel scowled, but didn't say anything further. It was a good thing, too, because her jaw dropped open when she saw the man in a long leather coat walking through the gate. "So these are the heroes," he sneered.
"Yes, Sturmbannführer," one of the Nazis responded.
"Oh, my God," Thea breathed in shock as Quentin Lance's Nazi doppelgänger approached.
Sara stepped forward, swallowing hard as she watched the Sturmbannführer approach. Laurel was just behind her, speechless. The Sturmbannführer stopped in front of Sara, looking at her long and hard before scoffing. "Blonde hair, blue eyes," he identified. "This is Nordic perfection! Why would you align yourself with the unpure?"
"Because I like men," Sara answered, lifting her head high. "And I like women."
The Sturmbannführer stared at her before huffing. "You know, I had a daughter who looked just like you, with similar compulsions." He reached out, touching Sara's cheek, then snarled, shoving her face away. "And I expunged that filth from my family line forever!"
Sara sank her teeth into her lip as the Sturmbannführer growled. "But you," he slowly turned to Laurel, who took a deep breath of her own, adjusting her stance so she was as tall as she could be. "When the Reichsmen told me who you were, I couldn't stomach the thought." He walked over, and instinctively, Laurel took a step back, feeling the anger and fury radiating off the man. "How could I? One daughter who had compulsions . . . was nothing compared to a traitor of the Reich!"
All the color drained from Laurel's face as whispers started among the prisoners. "Silence!" one of the Nazis shouted.
"Traitor?" Barry whispered in disbelief.
"I thought I recognized her face," the prisoner behind them whispered, and they turned to see he was looking at Laurel in a mixture of awe and . . . sympathy? "But to hear who she is . . . "
"It was because of you I ascended to Sturmbannführer in the first place," the Sturmbannführer hissed, grabbing Laurel's jaw in his hand, not caring when she hissed in pain. "And it was because of your actions that made me have to work for it again!" He growled, narrowing his eyes. "I had the pleasure of watching you die before. I'm proud to have the honor to be the one to give the order this time."
He released Laurel, only to backhand her, sending her stumbling back. It was Barry who supported her this time, reaching out to help her as Sara hastily backed up. "Hey," he whispered, helping Laurel stand, wincing when he saw the finger-shaped bruises forming on her jawline. "I got you."
"Bring them all!" the Sturmbannführer ordered, pointing at the prisoner behind them. "And him!"
"Move, now!" one of the Nazis ordered, their safeties clicking off. "Go!"
Oliver narrowed his eyes, moving forward as ordered. Barry helped Laurel along until she could walk without him, and from there, Sara stuck close to her side. The others joined the line after them, walking out into the field away from the pen. "Not to be an alarmist, but if we don't have an escape plan, I suggest we get one immediately," Stein hissed.
Oliver looked to where Slade and Malcolm were in the line, then twisted his wrist, working on his cuffs. Getting the idea, both men started doing the same thing. Barry looked at Oliver out of the corner of his eye, waiting. When Oliver tensed, he turned around at the same time he did, and the ten heroes turned to charge the Nazis.
Except the Sturmbannführer held up a remote of some kind, and Laurel yelped in pain as she fell to her knees, writhing as electricity from the collar laced up and down her body. She heard similar cries from Thea and Alex, and yells of pain from Malcolm, Barry, and Jax. Eventually, the electricity stopped, and Laurel squeezed her eyes shut, bent over double. "Up!" the Sturmbannführer barked angrily. Laurel winced, trying to stand, then a gentle but firm grip on her arm helped her up. Startled, she looked up to see it was Barry who had helped her once again, and he nodded to her as she took a shaky breath, turning back to look at the doppelgänger of her father, who couldn't seem to look at her without looking like he wanted to murder her with his bare hands. "Go," he sneered.
"Come on," Barry whispered.
Laurel swallowed and nodded, walking with Barry's help towards where the ground sloped off. When they reached it, Laurel nodded again, and Barry released her arm. "Thank you," she whispered.
Barry looked surprised by the statement, but he nodded in return. "Turn around," the Sturmbannführer ordered, and almost simultaneously, the eleven in line did. The Sturmbannführer walked up to Oliver, considering him, before huffing. "I know you are not him, but I cannot stomach the sight regardless."
Oliver blinked in confusion, but the Sturmbannführer reached up and yanked a black bag of some kind over Oliver's head, blocking his face entirely. "The hell does he mean by that?" Thea looked up at her father in confusion as the Nazi turned and walked back to the line of soldiers.
"I don't know, but I don't like it," Malcolm narrowed his eyes.
"Ready!" the Sturmbannführer growled, and the line of soldiers walked forward, aiming at the eleven in line.
Alex swallowed hard, closing her eyes. "I'm sorry, Kara," her voice cracked as she took a deep breath.
Slade and Malcolm steeled themselves, and Thea swallowed. "I'm glad we had the time we had," she whispered to Malcolm. "After the island."
A ghost of a smile formed on Malcolm's face. "Me, too."
Slade and Laurel just exchanged glances, and Laurel let out her breath before standing tall again, and Slade nodded, impressed by her courage. Both turned back to face the Nazis, the Sturmbannführer himself drawing a sidearm and aiming right at Laurel. "Aim!" he yelled.
Guns clicked along the line of Nazis, and Sara braced herself for the hail of bullets –
A familiar blast of bright blue energy hit the line of guns, along with the crackle of ice. The Nazis all dropped their guns, and the Sturmbannführer lowered his, surprised. The line of heroes all turned to see a familiar man in a fur-lined coat and protective glasses turn to them. "I hate fire!" he declared.
"Snart?!" Barry, Stein, Jax, and Sara asked at the same time, Oliver quickly reaching up to pull the bag off his head.
"About time!" the prisoner at the end of the line grinned.
"Kill them all!" the Sturmbannführer yelled, bringing his gun back up, aiming at Laurel.
Slade ducked around Oliver, he and Barry grabbing Laurel at the same time, yanking her down to avoid bullets flying at her. Oliver, Malcolm, Alex, and Sara charged the other Nazis, using their cuffed hands to grab them by the necks, using them as shields against the other Nazis. "Take cover!" Oliver shouted.
Stein, Jax, and the other prisoner ran to hide where the ground sloped. "Go!" Slade gave Laurel a small push.
Laurel scrambled and ran, Barry right behind her. Snart's doppelgänger stood in front of them, firing more cold shots after the fleeing Nazis, giving the other heroes the chance to run and join their comrades. He fired one last blast at the watchtower over the pen, blowing it up in a shower of sparks. He caught a glitter on the ground, and he grinned, picking up a key ring before running to join the others.
He had barely joined them when the prisoner glared at him. "Hey, you're cutting it close."
"I thought that was great timing," Snart grinned, making Sara, Stein, and Jax stare at him in confusion. "And I really enjoyed the pun!"
"So you're Leonard Snart's doppelgänger?" Barry asked.
"No, I'm Leonard Snart," Snart corrected. "But you can call me Leo." He paused, looking Barry up and down. "That is a fantastic outfit. Did you make that?"
Barry's mouth opened, but no sound came out, and Oliver did a double take, looking at Leo in shock. "Is he seriously flirting with you?" Malcolm couldn't help but grin.
"I'm surprised you're not getting along with him," Sara couldn't help but say.
"Why would I get along with him?" Malcolm frowned. "It's the first I've met him." When the three Legends looked around at each other hesitantly, Malcolm scowled. "Will one of you explain why you keep thinking I've met people I haven't?"
"Can we get these bastards off us first?" Slade snarled, holding Laurel in front of him as she ducked to avoid bullets.
"Leo?" the prisoner prompted.
"Right," he put his gun down, taking the key ring and looking at his collar. "Time to make you shine, buddy!"
"Uh," the prisoner winced, having to crane his neck awkwardly to allow Leo to unlock it. "You, uh . . . you might want to close your eyes."
"Why?" Jax frowned.
"Oh, wow!" Thea flung her arm over her eyes as light seemed to explode from the man's body. "OK . . . wow!"
Stein watched the man fly into the air, then looked at Jax. "Well, I believe he just answered your question."
The man flung a large blast of light at the Nazis thinking it would be a good idea to try and get another shot at the heroes. They went flying, the grass singed from the man's blast. He hovered back to the ground, landing as the other heroes stood. "Come on," he grinned at them, the light fading from him. "Let's go!"
Oliver got his voice back first. "Where are we going?"
"To our base," he answered like it was obvious.
"Your base?" Sara repeated dubiously.
"And – and who are you?" Alex tilted her head.
"I was thinking exactly the same thing about you all," the man pointed to all of them.
Leo turned when he heard the Sturmbannführer shouting back further away. "You might have to tell us on the way," he drawled.
"Yes, please," Laurel nodded immediately.
The man jogged off, leading the way, as Malcolm helped Thea up out of the ditch, Barry and Slade helping Laurel, the rest of them running after them before the Nazis could get the chance to shoot at them again.
***
Again . . . sorry, Laurel? At least you guys know why every Earth-Xer seems to hate her!
It'll be back over to Earth-1 next time!