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A few months passed by until Leonard could use his visions when he wanted and not every time he touched a meta. He was even able to see the past or the future of humans as he pleased.
In that time, though, he was also able to see how Barry was more and more restless and sad when only the two of them were alone. The boy didn’t want anyone else to know he wasn’t the happy puppy he pretended to be all the time, but he had seen some sympathizing looks his friends gave him from time to time.
It was awful and he didn’t like it, but he was strong for the hero’s sake. Barry needed an anchor and he was more than happy to oblige if it made the brunette feel better, even if it was only for a short while.
Leonard couldn’t stand seeing the way Iris treated his husband, so he left the room when he could do it without dragging too much attention. He felt like yelling at her when he saw her, but he knew that he only would get Barry getting mad at him and the thief didn’t want that.
“Len!” The brunette appeared in front of him, at his house, with a huge smile. “Iris is pregnant! I’m going to be a dad!”
“Congratulations.” The criminal rolled his eyes and stood up from the sofa. He was watching a film, but nothing was more important than the speedster except his sister. “Do you want to know if your baby will be a boy or a girl?”
“I hate you when you do that.” The brunette scowled playfully. “Of course I want to know! I’ll pretend to be surprised when the doctor tells me like in three or four months!”
Leonard smirked and walked to a drawer. From it, he took a little box wrapped in purple paper with a yellow bow and he gave it to Barry.
“Nora will be a beautiful girl.”
The hero opened the present excitedly and smiled even wider when he saw what was inside the box. It was an onesie all red with The Flash insignia in the chest. Under it, there was written “The fastest baby alive” and it made him laugh. Then he got serious suddenly.
“Wait, does that mean that she’s going to be a speedster?” Barry paled. “Oh, my Gosh, tell me she’s not going to be a speedster.”
“Well, she won’t be a baby speedster.” The thief shrugged. “You don’t have to worry about that, though; Iris will block her powers without telling you anyways when she starts showing signs of her speed.” He commented. “Or well, maybe she won’t do that anymore now that you know it.”
“Why… Why would Iris do something like that?” Barry deflated. “I mean, would Nora be too young or something like that?”
“Do you really want the truth?” Leonard sighed. “I can tell you the answer she’ll give you, if you want.”
“No, I… I want the truth.”
“She’s fine having you as a hero because she’s fine losing you, but not losing her daughter.” Snart told him. “Iris doesn’t want Nora to be like you in any way. Don’t get me wrong, she loves you, but not like she loved Eddie and not like she’ll love her future husband.”
“You have to tell him everything now.” The Oculus said suddenly. “I know it’s difficult to be that honest, but you need to do it.”
“I know, damn it!” The thief exclaimed out loud startling the brunette. “I’m trying to be gentle.”
“Len?” Barry asked cautiously. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, I… Let me start from the beginning.” The criminal sighed, took a beer out of his fridge and sat on his couch. “When my father began beating the shit out of me I started to hear a voice. Being a child I didn’t think much of it, but when I grew up a little I knew it wasn’t normal and I thought I was crazy.” He explained and took a sip from the bottle. “When I ‘sacrificed’ myself I found out that the voice was The Oculus and we’ve been really together since then, that’s why I got my powers.”
“You mean it is sentient?”
“Like the Speed Force.” Leonard nodded. “The Oculus has been helping me since I was a child, and I’ve always trusted the voice, so I follow its advices.” He doubted a bit, but he kept going. “The second time I had a vision about you, I saw you in the Time Vault. You were crying, defeated by the newspaper that said you died fighting a meta, but the front page changed while I was still seeing your future.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that you’re not going to die anymore in 2024, but it’s up to you if you want to change more of your future or not.” The criminal answered the boy’s question without hesitation. “It means that it’s up to you if you want to be unhappy being with Iris and make Iris unhappy being with you until you die or get divorced too late.” Leonard finally looked at Barry’s eyes. “It means that it’s up to you if you want to be with someone that will always see you as her second choice or with someone else that will look at you like every other choice doesn’t matter.”
“But… I’m going to be a father, I can’t just abandon her to raise our baby alone or take her away from Iris.” The brunette complained. “And I love Iris more than anything and maybe having a child together will make everything better.”
“It won’t, Scarlet.” Leonard shook his head. “What you refuse to see is that you’ll always love Iris more than she loves you, because you love all of her, but she only loves The Flash. You deserve better, Barry, you need to find someone that loves both parts of you.”
“Like you do?”
The thief kept quiet for some seconds. He was tempted to stop time and think, but the Oculus had already said that he needed to tell the boy everything, so he really didn’t have to think about that.
It was difficult, though, because he was already feeling too vulnerable. He wasn’t used to share so much information with other people and even if the person he was talking with was Barry, it wasn’t really easier.
He had already told him about the Oculus, and the other two people that knew about it were Lisa and Mick. He knew they wouldn’t use it against him, even though he had a rough time with his best friend with all the Chronos fiasco.
“Yes, Scarlet, like I do.” Leonard accepted almost whispering. “But I don’t want you to leave Iris or to be with me because I said so or because you see me as your only option to be really happy, Barry.” He explained honestly. “I want you to think about everything, about all the options. I want you to take your time to make a decision because it will change all your life and the whole future.”
“Why are you telling this to me now?” The hero bit his bottom lip with sorrow. “Why did you wait until Iris was pregnant?”
“Because Nora needed to be born. The Oculus wouldn’t shut up about that being important for the timeline.” Snart drank all his beer almost in a gulp and stood up. “Look, Scarlet, if you need help with anything just ask for it, okay? I’ll be there for you no matter what. And if you need answers I’ll give them to you unless the Oculus doesn’t let me.”
“Then tell me what I should do, please, because right now I’m so confused.” Barry’s eyes were getting wet and the criminal was afraid that he was going to start crying. “I love Iris so much and I’m so happy I’m with her, but the happiness is so thin and brief.”
“I know, Barry, but I can’t make those decisions for you.” Leonard walked towards the hero and put a hand on his shoulder trying to be comforting. “Though, if you ever need time to think about anything a bit more I can always freeze time for you.”
The hero gave him a confused look and instead of saying anything the criminal just stopped time. As a lot of things related to his powers, that special skill were only known by his best friend and his sister, but now Barry knew too.
The brunette was amazed at the stillness of everything and the sudden silence. He looked everywhere to make sure that nothing was moving and even though that with his speed could almost see everything still, it wasn’t as amazing as that.
When he was running he could hear slow noises, and almost imperceptible movements. Barry was so amazed that he forgot for a second about his problems.
“This… this is incredible.” He smiled a bit. “Your powers are really awesome.”
“Well, I have to hear a voice in my head every time the Oculus feels like talking.” Leonard smirked playfully. “So not everything is good.”
“Don’t listen to him.” The voice said, and weirdly, it felt like it was talking out of his head. “I’m quiet most of the time, but he’s a drama queen.”
“Um… I guess that was the Oculus?”
“You can hear it too?” The criminal frowned at Barry’s nod. “Explain. Now.”
“Here everyone can hear me if I want other people to acknowledge me, I just didn’t feel like chatting with Lisa or Mick.” The voice explained tiredly but amused. “The Flash, though, is different. I can feel the Speed Force, so strong and beautiful… And Barry Allen’s its favorite child. I thought it was worth to say hi.”
The brunette blushed and the thief laughed. “Only you would get compliments from something that doesn’t even have a body.” Leonard shook his head. “Let’s go back to the real world.”
The criminal took away his hand from Barry’s shoulder and let the time continue. The brunette’s disappointed look stung a bit, but they couldn’t avoid their lives like that. It wouldn’t be healthy and of course it would be really difficult to get something done if they couldn’t stop touching.
“So… Um… Do you control the Oculus?” The hero asked, his voice full of curiosity. “I mean, is it why you can have its powers?”
“It’s pretty much the opposite.” Snart admitted. “It could control my body and go and do whatever it wanted, but apparently I’ve helped it a lot and it wants me to live the rest of my life happy.” He explained. “When I die, though, it will take the reins and keep me safe forever. I think it’ll be pretty much the same for you, but with the Speed Force instead of the Time Stream.”
“I’m not sure I want to go back to the Speed Force…” Barry muttered doubtfully. “Last time I ended in a bad mind place and I don’t want it to happen again.”
“Last time you were taking a prisoner’s place, but you’ll be free next time.” Leonard explained. “Besides, I don’t think you have much of a choice in that matter.”
The brunette sighed but nodded slightly. He wasn’t sure what to do with all the information he had gotten about his future and the thief’s feelings, but he was going to think about it for sure.
He really didn’t want to be miserable nor make Iris unhappy in a marriage that didn’t fulfill her, but he knew her. She wouldn’t make it easy because she had already made a choice and she would do everything on her hand to get what she wanted.
Barry loved her more than anything and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to let her go, but even if he decided to do it, she would fight. Iris West-Allen wasn’t a woman that just let things that she didn’t like happen if she had a say on it.
“Thanks for everything, Len.” The brunette said with a faint smile. “And thanks for the onesie too, it’s pretty cool.”
Leonard nodded with a smirk and let the boy go without any complaint. The Oculus, though, whined something about not being able to feel the Speed Force a bit longer. They had done everything they could. Now it was everything up to Barry and the choices he would make.
Hopefully, the Oculus would be right and the brunette would decide to get divorced.