{For you, there's nothing in this world I wouldn't do

[myheadisaprison]

PSL with gildedshot
Pre-canon things, etc

Comments

Len's return home from Juvie

[gildedshot]

Lisa Snart just had her fifth birthday three weeks ago and only one person acknowledged it. Her father was too busy drinking and working and ignoring her to care if she even had a bath today. And she hasn't seen her mother in almost two weeks. She left for work one day and hasn't come home since. Lisa doesn't know where she is....and her dad tells her not to ask questions. No, it was her grandfather. The sweet kindly man who thought she was precious and doted on her as much as he was allowed. He too had no idea where Lisa's mother had gone but he had been trying to help find her as well as helping Lewis take care of Lisa..since it was painfully obvious the man had no desire to take care of her himself.

Lisa misses her brother too, he's been gone for almost 8 months now. Of course a five year old doesn't really understand the measurement of time passing beyond several days at a time. To her she just knows that it's been a long time since she's seen him but her grandfather makes sure to tell him that he's alright. He's been to see him and check up on him after all. He's also going to be there to pick him up when he is finally released.

It's about noon on a Friday. She's been home alone for 6 hours now, typical of her day since her mom left unless her grandpa stops by. She's watching TV, her stomach growling because daddy forgot to make her breakfast again and they're out of bread..so she can't make herself a cheese sandwich. She has some crackers but she knows if she eats them now she will be even hungrier later. She really hopes grandpa comes by soon. Maybe he'll make her some mac and cheese...or even just a grilled cheese. She'd like that. Nothing fancy..just something warm would be nice.

[notjustalostcause]

Eight months is a long time by just about any standards, but it seems to go even slower inside the detention center. The only real break in the monotony of the routine they've laid out for him are the days when his grandpa comes by. It's nice to know someone gives a damn, even if it's not the person who, by all accounts, should beyond all reason. The old man has been the most steady, positive presence in his life, and Leonard appreciates him more than anyone.

But it's still a very long eight months.

He can't write letters to Lisa because she's too little, so he draws things and sends her picture instead. It's the only connection to her he has.

Until the day finally comes and he's being released. His grandpa is there to pick him up, just like he promised. He always follows through when he makes a promise. He takes him home and Leonard slips in the house. "Lise?"

[gildedshot]

Lisa's head whips around to the door and her slightly dirty face lights up at the sight of her brother. She scrambles off the couch and runs to him, flinging herself against his legs and pressing her face into his hip. "LENNY!" She cries looking up at him with her impossibly big blue eyes. She's wearing her shirt inside out and backwards and her pants don't match it. Her socks are also mismatched. It is very clear that she's dressed herself. But she doesn't care honestly. She's proud of being able to dres herself.

Their grandfather comes in behind Len tutting softly at the state of the young child and carries some things he'd picked up for both his grandchildren inside.

"What do you kids say we get cleaned up and go get some lunch?" He says kindly to the children. And about that time Lisa's stomach gives a loud growl prompting her to burst out in a fit of giggles.

"The monster in my tummy want's pancakes. Is that okay? Can we go get pancakes, Lenny?"

[notjustalostcause]

Leonard catches her as the little girl flies into his arms, pulling her close into a tight bear hug. "Hey, Lise," he mutters quietly into her hair. He doesn't care that she's dirty--okay, that's wrong, he does care, but it won't deter him from clinging to her like he thought he might never actually see her with his own eyes again, all the same. "I think you got taller while I was gone," he admits, pulling back to really look at her. She's a disheveled mess, but she isn't bleeding and she doesn't have any bruises that he can see, so maybe it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

"Sounds like a good idea, Pops." He nods a little and turns his attention back to the little girl in his arms. "Pancakes sound perfect." He smiles, and kisses her cheek. "I missed your birthday, so I guess I gotta get you cupcakes, too, huh?" He pokes her sides playfully. Anything to keep her distracted from all the realities of these last several months.

"Let's go get cleaned up and ready to go eat, okay?" He grabs the new set of clothes their grandpa had brought in-- thank God for that, because Leonard doubts she has anything clean anyway.

[gildedshot]

Lisa clings to her brothers neck when he picks her up and hugs her tightly. She missed him so much and she's so glad he's back. She hates being alone all the time. "Yay, pancakes!" She giggles when he tickles her and squirms in his arms. She's missed this too. She lets Len take her back to the bathroom to help her clean up waiting until they're settle down and he's pulling her dirty clothes off of her gently.

"Where were you Lenny? How come I couldn't come see you or talk to you? Daddy said you went to jail, but I don't know what that is. Was it nice there? Did you miss me? Did you get my pictures I sent? Did you like them?" She asks all these questions one right after the other not giving him any time to answer as he gives her a warm bath before redressing her in clean clothes.

[notjustalostcause]

Leonard can't say he's surprised by the sudden barrage of questions from her, she's young and curious and this had been the longest time they had spent apart since she was born.

"Um, well..." He answers her questions as he gets her clean and dressed again. He silently curses Lewis for even telling her he was in jail. Even if it was, sort of, she had no business knowing something like that. "It wasn't jail," which technically isn't a lie, "but it was kind of like...a school for bad kids," he explains, helping her put her shoes on. "And I missed you a ton, every single day. I still have all the picture you sent me, they're in a bag with the rest of my stuff." He grins at her and scoops her up, "May e you can help me find the best places to hang them up in my room later."

[gildedshot]

"But you're not a bad boy, Lenny." Lisa says making a frowny face up at her brother as he dries her off. "So why did you have to go there? Did my mommy go there too? She said she was going to work but didn't come home. Daddy got really mad." She says quietly as her brother dresses her. "I hid under the bed because he was really loud. It scared me." She confided in him. She didn't know why her dad was so mad but he was yelling and breaking things and Lisa hadn't known what to do or who to call or anything. So she'd hidden in the only safe place she could think of.

[notjustalostcause]

His chest tightens when she says he's not bad, and he wishes he was the hero she saw him as. "I did something I shouldn't have, and I got caught, so I got in trouble. But it won't happen again." Because he won't get caught next time. But if she takes it like it sounds, like he won't so anything bad again, that's fine by him.

He smooths her hair back away from her face, a small, sad smile touching his lips. "I dunno where your mama went, Lise. But you got me, okay? Forever." He smiles again, kissing her forehead. "I'm sorry dad got scary... But Lise... did he do anything to you while I was away?" There's no good way to ask a kid that so he just comes right out with it. "Did he hit you or hurt you at all? Or just get loud and yell and break some stuff?"

None of it is really good for her to be around, and he'd rather she hadn't seen so much of that side of Lewis, but he could handle her seeing him scream and break a vase way easier than if he'd put a hand on her and he wasn't there to stop it.

[gildedshot]

Lisa didn't have any bruises on her little body just yet. So far she'd managed to run away from her father before he could get his hands on her. The one time he did almost hit her, grandpa had stepped in. She of course didn't really understand what was going on aside from the fact that her daddy was mad and her mom wasn't there.

"No. He was throwing plates and knocked the table over so I ran and hid. I fell asleep under my bed. When I woke up he was sleeping in his chair so I left him there." She says reaching up to scratch her head and push some of her long hair out of her face. She beamed when Len kissed her forehead and pressed herself closer to him.

"I miss mama." She says sadly but then looks up at Len with her wide blue eyes. "You're not going away again right? You promised." She adds and then her little tummy gives another loud growl. "I'm hungry Lenny. Can we get pancakes now?"

[notjustalostcause]

"Okay, good. That's always what you should do if he gets mad like that. You did good, okay?" It makes him sick that this is something he can and has to give her praise for, for recognizing when she needs to escape their father.

He holds her close when she says she misses her mom. "I know..." He won't promise her that she'd come back. Some things are too much to promise. "Nope, I'm gonna be here with you, forever."

He smiles, "Yeah, let's get the monster in your tummy some food so he'll be quiet," he grins and scoops her up. She's always been on the small side for kids her age, but she's so light as he carries her on his hip downstairs that it just makes him mad all over again. At Lewis for being neglectful of a child who can't take care of herself; at himself for getting caught in his dad's mess and taking the fall.

Never again, he decided that when the cops--former co-workers of his father's, who had just shook their heads in shame and mumbled a lot of comments about how sad it was to see a cop's kid go down this path--put the handcuffs on him and ducked him into the backseat of the car. Never again would he take his father's blame in a job gone sideways. Never again would he leave Lisa by herself with that asshole.

[gildedshot]

Lisa giggles when Len picks her up and wraps her thin little arms around his neck to hold on as he carries her downstairs to where their grandfather was washing the mountain of dishes in the sink.

"All ready!?" His face brightens up at the sight of his grandchildren. He doesn't let them know, but he worries so about them. Even more so now that he's older and it's painfully obvious Lewis isn't taking care of them. "Let's go get some pancakes my little one." He says to Lisa and gently cups her cheek with easy affection.

"On the way home we'll stop and get some groceries so you two can have dinner together, how's that sound?" He asks her in a uplifting voice knowing she won't understand that it's really his way of letting Len know there is no food in the house.

[notjustalostcause]

Leonard had wished for years that he could just live with his grandpa, it would have solved a lot of things. But he never knew to ask when he was little and by the time he was old enough to consider speaking up, Lisa was born and he refused to leave her. Plus, it wasn't as bad with her Mom around. He didn't really remember his own, but Lisa's mom wasn't the total worst, at least. Of course, things eventually went sideways, and apparently all the way out the door while he was gone. He's quietly preparing for how much worse Lewis is going to be in the aftermath. Lisa's painted a pretty specific picture already.

"Sounds like a plan to me, Pops." Leonard forces a smile, for Lisa's sake. He wonders how long it's been empty here, and where the he'll Lewis even is.

[gildedshot]

Lisa lets her grandfather take her from Len and clings to him as they head outside to his car. She's talking his ear off about something she saw on a TV show and he iis hanging onto every word she's saying. She loves her grandpa. "Pop-pop can I have hot chocolate with white cream too?" Of course in her little five year old language it sounded like tot chocolate, but he knew what she meant.

"Anything my princess wants." He assured her as he set her in the back seat. He buckled her in and then slid into the front seat waiting for Len to settle before pulling away from the house and taking his special children to a special lunch. He really wishes he could do more for them. He desperately wants to get them out of their situation but he doesn't have any way to support them....and he's so much older now.

[notjustalostcause]

Leonard listens to his sister's ramblings like they're the most interesting things he's ever heard. He'd missed things like this, while he was gone, the simple stuff that people take so for granted when it's just part of their everyday.

They go to the diner for pancakes and hot chocolate and make a trip to the store after so the house isn't empty of food when they get back. Leonard makes a point to thank his Pops for it--everything he'd done while Leonard was stuck in juvie. He swears he'll make it up to him, even when the man insists that isn't necessary. Leonard's already made up his mind, really.

That night, when Lewis finally staggers home, Lisa is in bed. He's drunk, and apparently forgot his son was coming home, if the slurred, "Well, look what the cat drug in," was anything to judge by. "Where's your sister?"

"In bed, asleep." Except probably not so much on the last bit now that Lewis had slammed the door and forgot all about volume control in his own voice.

"Good." is all the response he got before the man dropped into a chair and started flipping channels on the tv.

Leonard watches him for a moment; at least he seemed to be in a decent enough mood, even if his welcome was less than stellar. He shakes his head and mutters, "Home, sweet, home," getting to his feet and heading upstairs.

His door is only half-shut; his own way of wordlessly always letting Lisa know she can come in, if she wants as he drops onto his bed in his room with a huff. He definitely hadn't missed this.

Family

[bringstheheat]

As was typical for their age, Leonard and Mick were on the outs again. Another heist, another squabble, another night where Mick reaches out one time too many and Leonard snaps a little too hard, provoking a fight.

So Mick stomps out for a drink and possibly more agreeable companionship for a night, or maybe just a fight, he won't say either way.

But he's back in the morning because he simply doesn't have it in him to stay away for long.


What he doesn't expect is to find a much smaller Snart waiting for him when he lets himself in with coffee and food.

[gildedshot]

Lisa was old enough now, at 10, to realize that Mickey and Lenny loved each other in the coupley way. She was also old enough to realize that they were fighting. She had memories of her parents fighting when she was growing up and she couldn't help but notice a similar pattern with them.

She'd tried talking to her brother but he didn't seem interested in talking to her so she took it upon herself to walk to Mick's house to talk to him. She let herself in with her brothers key that she nicked from him and sat waiting for him to return.

"Uncle Mickey." She said to him softly and pushed one of the two cups of cocoa towards him. It wasn't as hot as it had been but it was still warm enough to be drinkable. "Sit and have a drink with me?"

[gildedshot]

When they got home from lunch out with their grandpa Lisa fell asleep on the couch while LEn was doing his thing, most likely cleaning up and doing laundry. She happily joined him for dinner before taking a bath and then once again falling asleep to stories read by Len.

She was sound asleep when a loud sound prompted her to sit up in bed. It was the door slamming, and then she heard her dad yelling. She tried to go back to sleep but the bad dreams started so she got up and tiptoed down the hall. Thankfully Len's door was open. She walked inside letting the door close behind her before crawling into Len's bed with him. "Bubba...I had a bad dream."

[bringstheheat]

Frown.
"Your brother is gonna have a stroke if you aren't home on time, Princess." But Mick still moves to sit with her. She's getting better at making cocoa, he's only been teaching her for years now.

"What're you doing here?"

[notjustalostcause]

Leonard is nowhere near asleep when Lisa slips into his room, too busy considering all the things he'll have to do over the next week to get the house in a better shape than Lewis has left it in.

He shifts to give her room as she climbs into his bed, "About what, Lise?" Not that it's a hard guess to make. He pulls an arm around her, and runs his fingers though her hair in hope that it offers some small comfort.

[gildedshot]

Lisa simply pulled her own mug towards her and took a sip. "I don't think he'll notice for a while. He locked himself in his room. He was pretty upset with himself." She said sadly before turning her bright blue eyes up at Mick.

"Did you two fight again, Mickey?"

[bringstheheat]

Locked himself in his room? That draws a concerned frown before he picks a his mug. While Mick isn't in the mood, he's at least going to have a sip or two. "Just a fight, nothin big." Leonard didn't want to be touched and Mick couldn't understand what was changing between them. Naturally it sparked a stupid argument over nothing until Mick was left storming away because he'd sworn never to raise a hand against his partner.

[gildedshot]

Lisa cuddles close to Len and buries her face into his chest. She has missed this so much too, it's amazing just how central her bubba was to her daily life and then he was just gone for so long. But he's back and she's so glad to have him back.

"I don't remember...It was scary." It was true, she really didn't remember what had frightened her in her dreams but surely Len could wage a guess. Their father hadn't exactly been quiet when he came in.

[gildedshot]

Lisa's big eyes stared deep into Mick's soul. "Can you please tell me? Because I don't like it when you two are fighting...and I think you are not getting each other....misunderstanding? Is that the right word?" She asks not quite sure. She shrugs because it's not important. "You two seem to be fighting a lot lately."

[bringstheheat]

"Your brother don't like people getting too close, 'm sure you've seen it. There used to be a time he didn't mind if it was me. Now he only wants me around as a partner." But not much more than that and he can't bring himself to explain it in quite as much detail to Lisa.

Still. She has to have seen it, the aborted attempts to reach out, the way that Lenny ducks away from his hand like he might somehow hurt him.

[gildedshot]

"Bubba cares about you, Mickey. Like a boyfriend. He really does. I don't think he would be as upset if he didn't. Also...Lenny's kind of like a cat. He only wants to be touched when he wants to be touched. We're...not really used to touch being a good thing. We don't even touch each other very much anymore. I think he might be afraid he's gonna hurt you." Lisa sips her cocoa and tries to make Mick understand what she's trying to say. Lewis...he's been saying things too....bubba acts like it doesn't hurt him but i really think it does."