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IT WAS HER SECOND CHANCE. A new beginning. Another shot at the life she had always wanted, but it never felt obtainable until now. Besides, even if she didn't want to accept the offer they had so kindly given her, she would have been stupid to decline. It was her way out...her escape. So with her head held high and a pang in her chest, she shook his hand and made off into the cold night to keep her end.
It was a simple task for Detective West, but it was far more complicated for Evelyn Sutton. It was a compromise he already had in mind upon reading up on her through the CCPD database; Although, at first he wasn't completely set on the idea. He was still playing the game of what if's as well as mentally going over his pros and cons list. It wasn't until she was escorted into the interrogation room that the idea had stuck.
There she was sitting across from him in all black. Her long, brown hair was tied up and out of her face, and her eyes downcast finding the plain gray tile far more interesting than his face. The awkward silence and the tension swirling around the dimly lit room were too unbearable for the detective. He cleared his throat, noise for the first time bouncing off the white walls. She looked up. Her hazel eyes met his chocolate brown. In an instant, all the questions he had gone over were pushed back deep within his subconscious and replaced with something different entirely.
Her eyes were dull but he always could see past the surface. The ability to see what lay behind the eyes. Others thought that this particular gift came with years of experience as a cop, but he would argue that it was a skill he perfected over the years by being a parent. He peeled back each layer until all the lies she guarded herself up with were gone leaving nothing but the truth in its place. It was then that he saw her...the real her. He couldn't quite decipher why, but when he looked at Evelyn he saw Iris. He saw the potential that radiated off of her. He knew that she was wasting her time and her life on being a petty thief. She could be so much more. She could do so much more. The world would be a little better if Evelyn Sutton used her skills for something practical and moral. She could do some good for this city.
Detective West threw his offer on the table. She wouldn't have to do any time in Iron Heights, and in exchange, she'd have to leave her so-called family behind and turn her life around. Of course, she wouldn't get off completely cleared she'd still have to do some kind of community service. But hey, picking up garbage on the side of the road is far better than a jail cell especially given the time she was supposed to serve.
Joe told himself he was merely doing it if it meant it was one less criminal he had to worry about. In reality, he was doing it for the sake of his kids. If it was Iris or Barry, he'd want someone looking out for them. Even though they were old enough to make their own decisions, he'd still feel a lot better knowing that there could be someone out there that would intervene and make it their business to help steer them back in the right direction.
After some lecturing and advice, he gave her the opportunity to make her life better and for that, she was truly grateful. She walked out of CCPD with a brand new outlook on life and for the first time with hope. However, that feeling didn't last very long and was soon replaced with fear and anxiety the moment she stepped foot inside the dark, abandoned warehouse. She managed to get in undetected and quickly pack a duffle bag filled with clothes. It wasn't until she was halfway out the back doors of the warehouse that she stopped herself dead in her tracks. There was an indescribable sensation running up her spine and turning in her stomach. Her mind and gut screamed at her to be wary for she wasn't alone.
"Going somewhere?" The voice broke the dead silence of the night. Evelyn's eyes had shut for a brief moment before they fluttered open.
"It's not what it looks like..." she told her soon-to-be former boss. It's a dumb response, and she knew that. Oddly enough, it was the only thing she could come up with at the time, and those words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop them.
"Really? Cause it seems to me like you were trying to sneak out when you thought I was asleep?" Her boss said voice laced with pure sarcasm.
She finally found the courage to turn around coming face to face with none other than Leonard Snart. He sat on the edge of an unused desk that was resting against a pile of unopened boxes that had been there for as long as she could remember. His arms were crossed over his chest as he eyed Evelyn in amusement.
His cool demeanor had kind of thrown her off guard. This may be his usual appearance but in a situation like it was the last thing she had expected to see from him. However, she had made a mental note to not get used to it for he could be playing her and will switch up at any given moment.
"You know," He had begun as he pushed himself off the desk. "I wasn't expecting to see you so soon."
Evelyn's blood had begun to boil as he stared at her with that smug smile that over time she had grown to love. She never had and never will tell him that. He knew she knew what he had meant by that statement. Just like he knew how she'd react. "Yeah, because you left me." She said through gritted teeth.
His eyebrows shot up, fitting perfectly with the smirk that rested upon his lips. "Now now-"
"No." She interjected sternly. "We never leave one of our own behind no matter the situation." She stated confidently and angrily what her former boss had drilled into her head from day one. "That was your rule, yet you seemed to have forgotten it tonight."
"The heist went sideways too fast. Even I couldn't have predicted tonight's chain of events." He told her his lame excuse as to why he left her to the wolves. She shook her head with a mad smile. She knew every word he was spouting was complete and utter bullshit. He had left her behind on purpose. She knew it. He knew it.
"Cut the bullshit, Snart." She said and his lips immediately compressed together in a tight line. "You purposely left me to take the fault for whatever insane reason you had swirling in your head."
"Okay, I did." He admitted nonchalantly, his tone guilt-free, and that tugged at her heart. "But you had it coming. I had the whole thing planned down to the tee. Every detail was perfectly accounted for, but then you had to take it upon yourself to choose a different exit plan last-minute throwing the whole heist out the window."
"What are you talking about?" She gaped. "I found a quicker and more efficient way which you never had a problem with before. We got the diamonds out faster than we would've if we stuck with your plan."
"What's your point?" He asked her in annoyance.
"My point is that we had the diamonds, and yet you still left me behind to take the heat."
"It was simply a lesson you had to learn." He told her with a shrug of his shoulders causing her to see red.
She took a step forward. "A lesson?! I could've gone to jail, Leo!"
"I was gonna come back for you." He told her flatly and without missing a beat as if he had the response rehearsed for this very moment.
"Before or after I was out on parole?" She remarked which only caused his signature smirk to make a reappearance.
"You act as if I had never broken out of prison before?" He retorted. Evelyn roughly pushed away from her face the strands of hair that had fallen out of her messy ponytail.
"That's not the point-" She said, but he took it upon himself to interrupt her the moment a certain thought had slipped into his mind.
"Speaking of prison." He took a step forward, and she instinctively took a step back. "Why aren't you in one? The last time I saw you, you were handcuffed in the back of a police car. And yet, here you are in all your glory."
"I- I..." She trailed off tongue-tied as he waited impatiently. For as long as she's been a part of this team she had never lied to him and vice versa; However, she wasn't sure he deserved her honesty after the stunt he pulled today. Still, she couldn't bring herself to lie to him especially since he would've figured out she was lying anyway. He was a human lie detector, or at least he was when it came to her.
"I made a deal." She mumbled.
"Come again?" He said with narrowed eyes.
She took a deep breath before making direct eye contact with Snart. "I made a deal with the detective." She told him confidently, but it came crashing down moments later.
He locked and unlocked his jaw before he spoke. "What kind of deal, Evelyn?"
"I wouldn't have to do any jail time if...if I left this all behind and fixed my life." She came clean of the offer that she took tonight with a shaky voice.
"And you were so quick to accept?" He questioned what he believed to be his partner (apart from Mick of course). He would never admit such a thing to Evelyn though for she would've never let him live it down.
"Yes." She breathed, her eyes fluttered shut briefly. "I've been doing, this, for a long time. I can't keep doing this. I want more." She hated that it was hard for her to be honest with him. She never had a problem with confiding in him before. She told him everything about her time in the system before she fled, about how much not knowing her parents affected her, and how much she hated that it did.
"Alright." He sighed with his eyes closed and raised a hand to silence her. His blue eyes then met her hazel ones. "Let's take a breather and discuss this tomorrow morning. Fair?" He didn't wait for her to respond before he turned around. He took a few steps before her next words caused him to halt.
"I'm leaving, Leo." She whispered yet he still heard it. She waited in agony for him to say something. Anything. He continued to stand there silently for what felt like hours.
Suddenly, he turned around to face her, and her breath had caught in her throat. His icy blue eyes had hardened. His jaw was tight. Slowly a frigid smirk appeared. "Well, it seems to me like you want out?"
She closed her eyes momentarily and released the breath she had been holding. She knew what was coming next for she heard him utter those exact words before. That line was infamous, and when used it always ended badly for whoever was on the receiving end. She slid the bag off her shoulders then tossed it on the floor beside her. She straightened her posture looking him dead in the eyes and masked her fear.
"Then you're out." He said. His tone was cold and harsh making her flinch noticeably. She was used to this specific tone of voice since he has used it quite a lot, but it was the first time it was directed towards her.
In a matter of seconds, she heard the safety of the gun click. Snart aimed the weapon in her direction. They stared one another down as Evelyn awaited her fate. She had grown more anxious the longer time had passed. For whatever reason, she was still breathing. At this moment, Evelyn had realized that the anticipation of death is far much worse than death itself.
Snart eyed Evelyn. His inner conflict slowly becoming apparent. His finger hovered over the trigger, but he couldn't bring himself to pull it. He emitted a low growl that even Evelyn had to double-check to make sure she had heard it. He gave her one last once over before lowering his gun and walking away.
Evelyn stood there alone trying to process what had just happened. He's letting her go. Alive. No one ever got to just walk away from his crew. The only way out is death that's why she was determined to sneak out in the dead of the night. Yet here she is, alive and well, and it's because he granted it to her. She decided to act now before he had a change of heart and came back to finish the task. She quickly picked up her bag and disappeared into the night never to be seen by him again. Snart told himself that that's exactly what he wanted.
It wasn't until weeks later that he'd realized something. After countless hours of planning for heists without her constantly looking over his shoulders asking too many questions. He found it to be rather annoying, but now he found himself missing and craving for those tedious moments. He told himself that in time things would go back to the way they were before she stumbled into his life. But he was foolish to believe such a thing when time had never been on his side before. No matter how hard he tried to ignore it, there was this void in his crew and—although he would never admit it—deep within his chest. It wasn't until weeks after he had let her walk away from him that he'd realized she was something far more valuable than a pinkie ring he settled for.
She was a diamond.
A/N:
This is really bad 😬
But I hope it was still enjoyable.
rewritten: 2/4/22