𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐨𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐱𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞.

Almost Christmas and I was going to spend it with me, the TV and a bottle of Rum. I was drinking in a bar at the moment, I just captured one of my "To capture" list criminals and got him in A.R.G.U.S.' jail, and well, comfort after the effort, am I right? But my peaceful moment got shorted by my phone.

"𝐇𝐞𝐲, 𝐉𝐨𝐞. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐮𝐩?" I answer the phonecall.

"We might need you on this case."

"𝐎𝐨𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲 ? 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫?" I ask worried by his seriousness.

"Are you in front of a TV right now?" He asks me so I nod to the bartender so he can turn the TV on. He does so as I see two criminals on the screen, the news channel telling us they escaped Iron Heights and another one helped them do so.

"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐚 𝐛𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞."

∙ ∙ ∙

I made my way to Central City, it's only been a few months since the last time but I always feel better when I'm in town. I directly went to Iron Heights, where I found Joe and Barry.

"Please tell me this is not happening." I hear Barry tell Joe.

"It's official. Santa hates us."

"𝐇𝐞𝐲 𝐠𝐮𝐲𝐬."

"Hey." They said in unison.

"𝐖𝐨𝐰...𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬." I joke to make them smile a bit which worked for a brief moment.
"𝐒𝐨?"

"This sudden blizzard took out cameras and the security system. I mean, thank God nobody was killed but there's no trace of Mardon, Jesse, or Snart."

"𝐎𝐤𝐚𝐲, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨?"

"Check Snart's cell , if someone can find anything.....it's you."

"𝐀𝐥𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐈'𝐦 𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐭." I say turning around .

"Thanks." He tells me as I make my way to the 'hotel rooms'. I see a team looking over everything so I ask them to leave so I can do my work and they do so. It was small but still nice, for a cell I mean. He didn't have to share it, he had a bed and a desk with a chair.
The window was made of small squares so I started to look in every corner for anything but then I thought, he's smarter then that so I left my breath on the glass squares and took a little distance to see he left a message.

                      'WELCOME BACK
                             BOUNTY
                           HUNTRESS'

"𝐎𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞." I sigh seeing that with a shake of my head and I kept my researches. I looked under the desk. No objects or else but the wood didn't look perfect everywhere so I laid down on the ground under the desk to have a better view......to see another message.

              'YOU'RE GETTING COLD.'

"𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐲." I say to myself sarcastically as I roll my eyes and sit up. The bed is in front of me, all set with the covers ready to get someone.... "𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫." I make my way to the bed and look inside the covers and under the bed but nothing I sigh and lay down on the bed, facing the ceiling to see another message but the pillow under me makes a weird noise so I frown and look back to the message that says...

                   'MERRY CHRISTMAS'

Did he left a cue? I sit up and open the pillow to find an envelope with another message in it.

        'NICE TRY BUT I WON'T HELP YOU                                                                                          
                  CAUGHT ME AGAIN.'

"𝐎𝐛𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲." I sigh as I just throw the message in a bin as Joe comes in.

"Did you find anything?"

"𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭...𝐈'𝐦 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫 𝐋𝐚𝐛𝐬."

"Go with Barry, maybe you will find something more useful there than here."

"𝐈'𝐦 𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐭."

∙ ∙ ∙

"Oh yeah! Weather Wizard, Captain Cold, and the Trickster." Cisco says with a chuckle.

"𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐚𝐠𝐞." I say sarcastically as I focus on Snart's picture as I think. Mardon owed him so that's probably why he got him out in the first place but would they team up?

"There's three of them and one of you. I do not like those odds." Caitlin tells Barry which brings me back to the conversation.

"And I'm gonna be no help without my speed, so..." Jay says hopelessly.

"I still got Lara." Barry answers.

"𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝." I remind him.

"Oh, oh, light bulb, up here. I have an idea." Cisco tells us suddenly.

"𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐭." I order him so he narrows his eyes at me as I do the same, as if we were annoyed by each other. We truly are kids...

"Most weather phenomena are marked, no pun intended, by a change in electric charge and pressure in the atmosphere. We could just map out those fluctuations to-"

"To pinpoint his location." Barry finishes for Cisco.

"Right. It would just be a matter of removing all the electricity..." Cisco keeps going as Barry finishes again "All the electricity from his immediate surroundings."

"Attracting it ᴛᴏ ᴏɴᴇ 𝐬ᴘᴏᴛ." They finish at the same time as Cisco first started again.

"𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐨𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬." I state as Cisco smiles at me.

"Yes! Only instead of a lightning rod, we could use-"

"A wand?" Barry asks.

"Have we already had this conversation?" Cisco asks worried that Barry went back in time again.

"Kind of."

"What does that mean?" Harry (Wich is the real Dr Wells from Jay's Earth, I know weird, that's a long story) asks so Barry explains.

"All right. So the last time Mardon attacked he, um, generated a tidal wave that destroyed all of Central City."

"So, why are you not all sleeping with the fishes?"

"Earth-2 has The Godfather?" Cisco asks him.

"Every Earth has The Godfather, Vito." He answers as he leaves Cisco perplexed by that.

"So, I ran back through time. One day into the past, and I got a do over, and I stopped Mardon before he could hurt anyone." Barry says.

"You shouldn't have messed with the timeline." Harry states.

"That's what the other Wells said." Barry tells him.

"𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧." I tell him as he narrows his eyes at me.

"So the good news is, in that timeline, you created the wand and it worked. So you just gotta do it again." Barry tells Cisco. "For the first time." He adds.

"Yeah. No pressure." Cisco says sarcastically.

"I can give you a hand." Jay propose.

"Best of both worlds?"

"I like that." The finish their conversation as they leave the room.

"𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐞." I say as I leave too.

∙ ∙ ∙

Barry and Iris called me and told me what happened with Joe so I brought them coffee before we head back to their house together as they proposed me to give me some company while I make my research on my future captures.

"Do you think that he's gonna be okay?" Iris asks as we enter.

"I do, yeah. I think. It's just a lot to take in." Barry says as I close the door behind me.

"𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐡, 𝐡𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐭." I tell her with optimism.

"Ho-ho-ho." I hear that voice and I know it's definitely not Santa Close as I turn around to see Leonard Snart sat on a sofa with a foot on his knee and a mug in hands. He takes a sip a it as he puts down the mug. "Hmm. Cocoa isn't cocoa without the mini marshmallows and you're out. I checked." He adds just before Barry pins him to the wall in a flash.

"𝐎𝐡 𝐛𝐨𝐲." I sigh as I cross my arms.

"Are you out of your mind, breaking into my home?" Barry asks him angrily as Leonard just stays calm.

"Careful. Made an upgrade to the cold gun. If I release my grip from the handle, the core goes critical. You might make it. But they won't." He tells Barry and I see Iris getting worried. But I just roll my eyes.....as if.

"𝐀𝐥𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐢𝐭. 𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥." I tease and ease the tension with a smile. "𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲." I say and he let's go of Leonard.

"Read your article on the disappearing middle class. Strong point of view. Nice prose style." He tells Iris.

"Yeah, well, who needs a Pulitzer when you have a homicidal maniac's seal of approval." She tells him sarcastically as she steps closer at Barry's side as I stay at the door.

"Didn't Barry tell you? I had a rough childhood." He says as I just leave a small chuckle looking away.

"Everyone in this room had a rough childhood. Get over it." She tells him as he eyes me, so I just get to business.

"𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐒𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐭?" I ask him softly but a little tired because him annoying them isn't going to help.

"I got the Noel spirit. Wanted to give you a little gift."

"𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥?" I scoff with an eyebrow raised but he only smirks at me.

"What did he left?" Iris asks me curious.

"𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭." I respond annoyed still looking at him. I raise by brows to urge him to continue anyway.

"Mardon broke Jesse and me out to kill you. Jesse's on board, of course. He's shaking with excitement. Me? I'm gonna pass." He tells Barry.

"Why? You grow a conscience?" Iris asks not believing his 'good action'.

"Mardon wants revenge. Jesse wants chaos. I'm just not.....invested like they are."

"You mean there is no money in it for you." She states back.

"I was never much for non-profit work." He tells us.

"If you're not in with them, then tell me where they are." Barry tells him.

"Nah. Consider me more of a secret Santa. Besides, you and your friends love to solve a good mystery." He says before heading to the door.

"𝐃𝐨 𝐰𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮?" I ask narrowing my eyes at him as I'm standing next to the door.

"You would look like a sexy one, yes. It could be a good idea for role play in bed." He tells me with a smirk.

"𝐄𝐰𝐰. 𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠." I reply with a grimace and a serious voice.

"You like them better like that."

"𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐈'𝐦 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐠𝐚𝐠." I tell him as he takes the handle of the door in hand but not before giving me a last smirk, proud of himself.

"You are full of it, Snart. I think my friends and I saved your sister's life, and you just can't stand owing me a marker. I hate to break it to you, but that, that right there is called honor." Barry tells him so he takes a step back and turns to him.

"Go on. Make your pitch. I can see you're dying to."

"Help me stop them."

"Sorry. I'm not interested in being a hero." He tells Barry who just scoffs.

"Well, you're doing a pretty lousy job of being a villain this week."

"Merry Christmas, Barry." He tells him and give me one last glance before heading out.

∙ ∙ ∙

I only hesitated a few seconds before I head out too to follow him, he was already walking on the road, it was dark outside but we still had lights on. He probably heard the door got closed because he stopped and turned around as I was making my way to him.

"What do you want, Croft?" He asks me annoyed.

"𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧....𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝."

"You already had one. What else?"

"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐮𝐬? 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐢𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞......𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮."

"So what? You think I'm a good guy now? I'm a criminal, Croft."

"𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐈'𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞, 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞. 𝐈 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝.....𝐈'𝐦 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐈'𝐦 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰. 𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭-" I tell him frowning my eyebrows at him because I don't get him, or....our weird....relation/friend/ship... It's so confusing.

"What are you expecting from me then? I'm not gonna be part of your team, I'm not a hero  and I already said I won't help Barry." He says a little angrily as he turns to leave. Are we really having an argument on the middle of the road? Alright, plan B.

"𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐦𝐞! 𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦."

"Why do you think you would be an exception?" He faces me again.

"...........𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮....𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞.....𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐬𝐭? 𝐈𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞."

"Last time I wanted that to spend more time with you, to seduce you and get you in my bed." He tells me with a knowing smile and I don't know if he's joking or not.

"𝐎𝐡, 𝐠𝐨𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬." I say, as I close my eyes, more to myself than to him but I know he heard. I grimace but it quickly fades. "𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞?" I ask him more seriously.

"Well it's Christmas, and what's better than Christmas' Miracles?" He says after he seemed to think about it a little bit first.

"𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐦𝐞?" I ask him confused.

"Oh nothing...." He takes a step closer as we are only inches. "Just one kiss."

"𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭!?!"

"And you have to really mean it of course." He tells me like it's no big deal with a smirk.

"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬?" He only shrugs at me.

"We kiss each other, you have the information you want, everybody wins."

"𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐈 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭?"

"To help your friends of course."

"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭, 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐨𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞." I tell him and he smirks, but I just shake my head, it's useless he just can't help me without having something in return. " 𝐈'𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭." I say as I make my way back to the house.

I'm on the doorsteps as I think he already leaved but I hear him shout.

"Last time I checked their Villain HQ was an old abandoned shipping facility of toys but they may have find another one!" He tells me as I turn around to see him and make eye contact.

"Good luck Lara." He says before walking away. I'm at the door with my hand on the handle as I hesitate a few minutes before groaning.

"𝐃𝐚𝐦𝐧 𝐢𝐭." I tell myself before I turn around  and walk urgently toward him. "𝐋𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐝!" I shoot as I'm reaching him, he turns around.

"What-" He starts but I cut him off by crashing my lips on his as I have a hand at the back of his nake and the other has a hold of the collar of his parka. It doesn't take long for him to start moving again and hold me firmly by the waist and the back as we kiss with passion and urgency like we wanted to do this for so long. I'm out of breath as we separate, I'm still choked and confused by what I did.....we did, as he only smirks at me and tell me seductively one last thing before he leaves.

" See you around." The exact same way the first time he left the city at the train station. Wait, how do I remember that? WHY do I remember that?
It took me a minute before I go back inside and I rest against the door.

"Hey you alright?" Barry asks me bringing me back.

"𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐡.....𝐮𝐦. 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐈 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝."

∙ ∙ ∙

I spent Christmas with my friends after all and now that holidays are over I can get back to work. We did took care of Jesse and Mardon and they are now back in Prison and Snart is still out there....guess he was the smartest one, again. I don't know where this leads us but I guess time will tell.