myheadisaprison | (no subject)

From:

So the thing about landing in trouble is, usually Leonard can talk his way out of it. And bar that, he usually knows the right buttons to push to get what he wants. Except that this time, he's nowhere near home, purposely putting a physical distance between himself and a city filled with too many memories to count, in hopes that somehow it might ease the pain.

And while he's at it, he's landed himself in jail on a job gone wrong at a bank. Oops? At least he has a certain speedster's number memorized for just such an occasion.

If Barry answers--and God forbid if he's tied up in metahuman insanity at the time--he'll hear an oh-so-pleasant recording.

"You have a collect call from--" there's an obvious pause for the person on the other line to give a name, "Leonard," the voice will be all too familiar and is followed by more of the recorded voice, "an inmate at Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York. To accept the charges for this call, press 3..."

Edited Date: 2018-05-28 02:38 am (UTC)

From:

adultflash

Barry accepts the call without even thinking about it. It's Leonard. Of course he would. He hasn't actually heard from him in quite awhile. A lot has happened since Mick's death, and he's hoped Leonard has been able to find some peace. But it seems like he's gotten himself into trouble, instead. Which sounds like a Leonard-esque coping mechanism, really. He's not too surprised by that, but he is surprised he's calling him for help.

"Long time no see. New York, really? What were you even--actually no, I don't want to know. What do you need me to do?"

From:

mypriority

"Slow your roll, Speedy Gonzalez..." He chuckles softly. "We do have, like, six minutes, you know."

Leonard is surprised by just how good it is to hear Barry's voice. He'd been so busy distancing himself from anything and anyone familiar, he kind of forgot to bother checking in with any of the few people he still liked. "I don't know if you can do anything, unless you have convenient New York connections that owe you a favor of some kind...?"

From:

adultflash

"Not...really," Barry admits. "I mean, I could at least maybe get you transferred to Iron Heights, but I also just got my job back after being in prison myself, so I don't want to put that at risk too much...I'll talk to Joe, okay? Do you want me to call the Legends, too?"

From:

mypriority

"You were in prison? The hell did I miss?" There's just a touch of incredulity there. Barry Allen in prison does not compute. "No," the answer comes a little rough, and a little too quick, which he must have realized because he carefully adds, "You can let them know I'm safe, but I don't want them coming to find me."

Edited Date: 2018-05-28 03:17 pm (UTC)

From:

adultflash

"I was framed for a murder I didn't commit. Then me and a bunch of other meta prisoners were sold to Amunet, I'm not sure if you know of her. Black market meta dealer. So I tried to break us out before she came to collect us, and we barely made it, but DeVoe stopped us...look, it's a long story. Let's just say you've missed a lot. But I'm going to try to help you, okay?"

Because no matter what insanity is going on in his life, he'll try to help the people he cares about. "And I'll let them know, but I can't guarantee they won't try to find you themselves. They miss you, Leonard."

From:

mypriority

"Clearly," he'll get the full rundown of those details later, when he has more time to devote to it.

"Yeah, well, I miss Mick. So..." He knows that it was Mick's own decision, and it was almost Ray if he hadn't switched places with him, but it doesn't make it any easier to deal with. There were a lot of feelings tied up in that loss ths t he didn't know how to handle.

From:

adultflash

"They miss him too, Leonard," Barry replies, gently. "Maybe they hadn't been as close, but he was part of the team, and so were you. Sometimes it's easier to cope with your grief if you open up to your family. Trust me, I know."

After a moment, he asks, "You by yourself in there? Want me to come visit?"

From:

adultflash

When the alert goes off that the second satellite has been activated to fall, Barry knows he doesn't have much time, and he knows he's going to need help. He especially knows that what he's about to do is a long shot, but for some reason he thinks of Leonard, and Leonard reminds him of New York, and before he knows it he's having Cisco look up Tony Stark's number (his personal number) and and giving him a call.

He has no idea if he'll even pick up, he has no reason to talk to a stranger. "Hello, Mr. Stark? This is the Flash, from Central City. I don't know if you've heard of me, but I need your help. There's a satellite that's about to fall to Earth, and I'm planning to use my speed to impact it so it won't crash, but if I do it by myself it's going to kill me."

From:

notasoldier

The number comes up as unknown with a Central City area code. Tony lets it ring twice before he answers it, curiosity getting the better of him. This is a number that only a handful of people know and half of them he's not on speaking terms with at the moment. He barely gets out a greeting before someone is talking very fast and very urgently on the other side of the call.

"I've heard of you," he says, muting the television in front of him and getting to his feet. He's been following Central City closely ever since the STAR Labs particle accelerator explosion. He knows about the Flash and his work there. "I've actually been meaning to get in touch with you for a while now, but it looks like you beat me to the punch. How did you get this number?"

He's already punching into his computer, trying to narrow in on this satellite threat. "What help do you need?"

From:

adultflash

Barry breathes a sigh of relief when Tony doesn't just hang up on him, but he's surprised when the Avenger says he's been meaning to get in touch. "I...you...you've been wanting to talk to me? Wow. Cisco's going to freak out. He's the one who found your number.

But okay, so, we've taken out the first satellite already and neutralized the threat. Meta named DeVoe was plotting to wipe out everyone's intelligence. What we didn't realize was that he'd programmed one of his satellites to fall to Earth as a backup plan, and it's about to head straight for Central City. And it's funny that you say you beat me to the punch, because that's exactly what I'm going to do to it. I just need an extra hand and it has to be someone with a suit that can take the heat. How fast do you think you can get here?"

He's aware that it's an insane plan, but what Avenger doesn't love a crazy plan, right?

From:

notasoldier

Tony's mouth twitches slightly at the surprise in the other man's tone. It's flattering to say the least, and surprising if anything else. Then again, maybe the Flash has his hands full enough with Central City that the idea of joining a super hero team based in New York isn't first on his priority list.

"Looks like Cisco saved me some trouble," he says, clicking his way through various reports and pulling up recent news footage from Central City. "Forty-five minutes. How are you planning on sucker punching this satellite out of existence? Unless this thing is supernova, my suit can handle the heat."

A stranger calling him up and asking him to help him punch a satellite in the face? How can he say no?

From:

adultflash

It's true, Barry does have his hands full pretty much all the time. But he also wouldn't leave his own team if you paid him a million dollars. He might help out once in awhile though, if they asked. Interestingly, Tony might find quite a lot of detail in those news reports regarding DeVoe's actions and his abilities. Ever since Iris went public with everything (just not the identities of anyone on Team Flash), the press has been eating it up. It had certainly gotten them the results they'd hoped for, with the public essentially finding DeVoe for them.

"Can you maybe cut that time in half?" Barry asks, impatient. "That's way too long. Cisco's sending you some suit upgrades that should help." Sorry Tony, you're dealing with a speedster here. "I'm going to run really fast and hit it. Sonic punch. If we hit it at the same time, it'll lessen the impact on both of us."

From:

notasoldier

"In half?" He huffs. It's not impossible, but it's difficult. Despite the pride he takes in his suit's ability to move at the speed of sound, it's not the speed of light. He clicks on the sudden email that pops up, again wanting to know how this Cisco was able to get access to his very private, very secure email address.

"Huh." For the first time in a very long time, Tony Stark is speechless. It's not necessarily for a want of things to say. There are questions. So many questions. But there are bigger things at stake here. "If I can make it twenty do I get to meet this Cisco?"

He rubs his forehead and downloads the upgrades. "I'm on my way. Send me the location."

From:

adultflash

Barry's sending the location as soon as he asks for it, and laughing at the background conversation he's having with his friend. "He says if you make it fifteen, he'll even get you a cup of coffee. Thanks, Mr. Stark. We really, really appreciate it."

He breathes, readying himself as Team Flash tracks Tony's progress to Central City, and runs precisely in time with him as he arrives. The satellite is falling, and he needs to gather enough momentum, enough kinetic energy to create the sonic boom. There is a science to it, after all, it's not as simple as "punching the satellite" but in the end that's essentially what he's doing.

He braces himself against the heat when he launches himself at the crashing satellite, extending his fist at the exact time necessary. "Now!" he calls out to Tony, and then it explodes. He's thrown back from the force of it, crashing into the side of a building and sliding down it.

From:

notasoldier

It takes almost two weeks before Tony's able to track down the criminal known as Captain Cold. He has to give him credit for being smart about lying low, though it's not that surprising considering he's an escaped convict. Both Barry and Peter had explained his name and while Tony had listened, he hadn't really absorbed much past the cold gun he had used as a weapon.

He may have been able to find him faster if he'd put Spider Man on the job, but there was something about the way Peter had talked about Snart that had made Tony pause. The kid liked this guy, and so did Barry. That alone made him think that he was dangerous, especially considering his rap sheet. Tony thought it was best if he found him on his own. In fact, he'd gone as far as telling Peter to be careful. He knew better than anyone, just how easy it was to talk people into things with a little bit of charisma.

The bar is a hole in the wall in Queens that looks like the floor hasn't been cleaned in a few decades. Tony sits at the bar in a dark glasses, black racing jacket and a low cap, nursing a whiskey. For the most part he's stopped drinking, but when in Rome... The bartender has given him a double take, but the rest of the bar seems content to ignore him. He doesn't have to wait long for Snart to walk in.

From:

mypriority

Queens is a lot bigger than Central City, and that means it's a lot easier for someone like Leonard to disappear between the cracks. And it helps his reputation isn't quite as big here. New York is a bit of a hotbed of criminal activity, so the time or so there may have been whispers about a thief called Captain Cold got buried pretty quickly with homicides and other, larger crimes.

Leonard, unfortunately, is a creature of habit. This bar is no Saints and Sinners, but it's about as close as he's found here. He doesn't realize anyone is actively seeking him out, so he doesn't hesitate heading straight to the bar to flag the bartender down for a beer.

From:

notasoldier

Tony looks him over and then shifts, tilting his head. "Snart, right?"

Not his best opener, but he's working with what he's got here. Which, is unclear. He promised Barry he'd check in on the guy and he also wants to feel him out, considering he's already won Peter over. He picks up his whiskey and moves into the seat between them.

"Captain Cool."

From:

mypriority

He almost manages to get something like, "Depends who's asking." out of his mouth, full of snark and lack of real answers. But the guy that seems to think he has any right whatsoever to take up residence in a space that close to Leonard's personal bubble keeps going and the thief goes from mildly amused to irrationally annoyed in 0.2 seconds.

He slowly turns his head to look at him for the first time, expression a carefully crafted mix of annoyance and incredulity. "You know," the drawl that often accompanies his words is thicker than usual, more persona than person in the moment, "if you're going to use a moniker at someone, you should at least get it right."

From:

notasoldier

Tony raises his eyebrows in feigned innocence. "Is that not right?"

It's actually not that surprising. Up until a few years ago he called one of his best friends 'Capsicle'. Though, that was a complicated term of affection. This is more of a test of sorts. He takes a sip of his drink. "What is it again?"

From:

mypriority

Test failed. Probably. But whatever, Leonard was never all that concerned about secret identities. Not like some people happened to be.

"Cold." He corrects him, "Captain Cold." he finally turns to properly face the other man, an eyebrow raised curiously at him. "Why are you looking for him, anyway?"

From:

notasoldier

"Other than the fact that he's an escaped criminal?" Tony sets his drink down and turns towards him. "I've got a message from a friend."

That was a stretch. Technically, Barry hadn't given him a message, just asked him to look in on him. At least to Tony's credit he didn't feel like punching the guy yet.

"Tell me something. Why Cold? Why Captain, for that matter? Is there an actual ranking system when it comes to criminals or do you just like the symmetry of it?"

From:

mypriority

"There has to be something else, or wouldn't you be pulling out the cuffs, officer?" His voice is dripping with sarcasm with the last half. No way is this guy, nor has he ever been, a cop. He cants his head a little at the statement about a message. "What friend?" He can't imagine the two of them have anyone in common.

"I like alliterations." He deadpans before taking another sip from his drink, waving his freehand. "And... I didn't come up with it. Someone else did. And I didn't hate it and it kinda stuck." He shrugs. That was about as fond as he'd ever get about Cisco, shame the nerd wasn't around to hear it.

...despite all it's failings.

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