Chapter Text
PAST:
‘This is it’ thought Leonard Snart, ‘I’m going to die.’
It was the fourteen year-old’s first day in Juvie. He was small for his age, underfed and underweight. He was the perfect prey for the feral troglodytes that inhabited this place.
There had been four when the attack started. One was down and incapacitated, one had decided he wasn’t worth the effort and wandered off, so that left two. Len recognized then as Santini spawn, the type that the family didn’t care enough about to use their good lawyers. Or they might be brats that needed to learn the lesson that only being on the inside could teach. If Len had recognized them, there was a good chance they had recognized him.
One of them had a shiv and he slashed Len’s right upper arm. He collapsed against a wall. Time seemed to slow down, all he could think about was Lisa, who was little more than a toddler. Who would protect her, now? He raised his good arm in a last ditch effort to defend himself, when suddenly, both boys were yanked back. In their place was a large, well-muscled youth who looked a few years older than Len.
The two Santinis ran off and the large boy picked Len up and threw him over his shoulder. Len struggled in vain to get out of the boy’s grasp, terrified at what this one had planned for him. But the boy carried him to the nearest security station. A guard was sitting there with his feet up on the desk, his face buried in a magazine.
“Officer Parker” the boy called, “this newbie was stabbed by one of those Santini Shits. He’s bleeding pretty bad.”
Officer Parker assisted the boy in getting Len to the infirmary and soon he was placed on a stretcher and wheeled into a treatment room. That was when he passed out.
Len woke up with a start and tried to bolt off the stretcher, but his left wrist was handcuffed to the side rail.
“Good, you’re awake.”
A young Filipino man approached him.
“I’m George; I’m the physician’s assistant, here. Let’s have a look at your arm.”
Len realized he was in the infirmary inpatient ward. His right upper arm was covered with a large bandage and he had IV fluids infusing in his left arm.
“Do you remember what happened” asked George
“I met the Welcoming Party; they are quite the enthusiastic group.”
“Very funny” said George, “one of them stabbed you and you lost a lot of blood. I thought we might have to transfer you to a hospital, but you seem to be doing okay, now.”
“Another kid, a big guy, saved me” said Len, “do you know who he is?”
“A kid helped Officer Parker carry you in, I guess he would know. If you can behave yourself I’ll take the cuff off your wrist, are you hungry?”
“Yes and yes” replied Len.
George removed the cuff and brought Len a couple of sandwiches and some juice. He hung a urinal on one of the side rails and showed Len the call bell.
“You’re going to spend the night here, don’t try to get out of bed without help. I got pain meds if you need them, do you want some now?”
Len nodded and the P.A. injected some morphine into Len’s IV line and then he left the room. Len heard the door lock, shutting him in.
Len looked about him and felt more hopeless than he ever had in his life. He had six months to serve in Juvie and he barely survived the first day. Tears slipped down his cheeks. He felt the morphine starting to take affect and he fell into an uneasy sleep.
A nursing assistant woke him up in the morning. He changed the bandage on his arm and told Len it looked better. He helped Len clean up and then brought in breakfast. Even this slight effort exhausted Len, he pushed his empty meal tray aside and went back to sleep.
An acquired instinct told Len to wake up; Officer Parker was at his bedside. The same instinct told Len not to trust this man. He was all smiles but there was a vicious glint in his eyes. Len knew that look all too well.
“Hey kid” said Parker, “how are you doing?”
“Okay, I guess” answered Len.
“Good thing I was there, when those other punks started beating on you. They could have killed you, but I saved you.”
“I don’t remember that” said Len, “I remember that you had your face in a magazine and some big kid saved me.”
“I think you’re confused, kid, I saved you, and if the warden comes around you better tell him that.”
Parker squeezed the bandaged part of Len’s arm, causing him to grunt with pain.
“Got to get back to work, see you around, kid.”
If Parker thought than his threats would scare Len, he was very, very wrong.
Len had been his father’s favorite punching bag since the old man got out of prison. The elder Snart always felt he had a good reason. Len got low grades, didn’t keep the house clean, or didn’t have meals ready on time. When he started including Len on his heists, he would beat the boy for making errors and embarrassing him or for pulling a heist perfectly and really embarrassing him. Len was pretty sure his father purposely set him up to distract the cops while Lewis got away with the goods. So when the Warden came to see him, Len had no problems telling him that Officer Parker had nothing to do with his rescue.
“Do you know who the other boy was” asked the Warden.
“For Pete’s Sakes, Warden, that was my first day” answered Len, “go ask Parker.”
“Now son, you need to lose that attitude, we’re here to help you.”
“Sorry, Warden, I don’t want any trouble, I just want to serve my six months and get out.”
The warden patted Len on the shoulder.
“If we work together, maybe we can make this a positive experience for you. My door is always open.
“Oh joy” Len said to himself, “he’s one of those idiot do-gooders, but he might come in handy.”
Len’s musing was interrupted by the entrance of Officer Parker. The guard was furious.
“You little shit” he yelled, “You think you can get away with that? Well, the warden said I need to keep you safe, I think solitary confinement, would keep you safe.”
He threw Len’s uniform at him and watched as the boy dressed, then Parker all but dragged Len to the segregation unit.
“Hey boys” Parker yelled as he shoved Len into a cell, “I got your playmate here, maybe I’ll let you all go to the exercise yard, together.”
Len recognized the voices of the boys who had jumped him, as they cheered Parker’s idea. Parker laughed as he left the cell block.
Len crouched down in the corner of his cell while the jeering of the other boys continued; suddenly a different voice rang out.
“Shut the fuck up, you little scumbags.”
The others stopped their taunting, but muttered under their breaths.
“I said shut up, or I’ll beat the shit out of you when we get out.”
There was complete silence after that.
“Hey kid,” the voice asked, “you all right?”
“Yeah” answered Len.
“Don’t worry about those little pricks, they won’t bother you anymore.”
That voice started to sound familiar.
“Are you the one who helped me” Len asked.
“Yep, that was me, name’s Mick Rory, what’s yours?”
“Leonard Snart”
“What are you here for, Snart?”
“Robbery” answered Len, “how about you?”
“I like to burn things, they think I’m a Pyromaniac, does that scare you?”
“Nope, I’m pretty sure you saved my life.”
“Good, see you when we get out, kid.”
Len and the rest were sent back to gen-pop the next morning. He quickly searched for Mick, it wasn’t hard to find because he was the biggest kid there. Mick was at a table by himself; Len grabbed his breakfast tray and joined him.
“I never eat this much in the morning” said Len, “would you like my cereal and milk?”
Mick ignored the obvious lie and took the extra food.
“So why were the Santinis trying to kill you?”
“My Dad tried to rob one of their warehouses, he got away but I didn’t. Maybe they thought killing me would bother him, but I doubt if it would have.”
“So your father is a mean bastard” said Mick, “mine was, too.”
“Is he dead” asked Len.
“Yep, he died when the house burned down, I was glad he died, but I still feel bad about my Mom and sister.”
“You burned down your own house?”
“Not on purpose, I was playing and it just got away from me. That’s why they’re making me see the shrink.”
“I wish I could kill my old man” said Len, “then I wouldn’t have to worry about my little sister.”
“Whatever” said Mick, signaling that he was done talking.
Len ate in silence for a while and then attempted more conversation.
“So what do we do around here? I didn’t have any orientation.”
Mick snorted, “we go to what they call school and then they make us work, they call it vocational training. After that we watch TV or go out to the yard, then we go to bed. It’s the same damn thing over and over again.”
“How long to you got here” asked Len.
“Till I’m eighteen, that’s another year and a half, how about you?”
“I got six months, then back to dear old dad.”
“If you survive” added Mick.
“About that” said Len, “do you think I can hang with you for a little while?”
“Guess so” answered Mick, “but don’t get on my nerves.”
…..
For the next few months, Len walked the fine line of keeping close to Mick and keeping his distance at the same time. He was aware that the Santini boys were still eyeing him and that Mick was the only thing stopping them from attacking. Mick had a reputation for violent rages and most of the boys kept their distance. Len was pretty sure that these rages were an act and that Mick felt uncomfortable being around others. But for some reason Mick didn’t mind Len, Len did not know why, but he wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.
As time went on, Len found ways to be useful to his protector. He would share his meals with Mick, the older boy had a sweet tooth, so Len would give him his desserts from lunch and dinner and the sugary cereal from breakfast. Len also helped Mick with his school work, if they could call what they endured, school.
School started after breakfast and the boys were sent to classes that were supposed to be teaching them math, English, history and science. Their teachers were rejects from the public school system and did little more than hand the boys prepared work sheets and berate them if the work was not finished. Several of the boys, including Mick, had trouble with the work. But the teachers were wary of Mick since he was taller and broader than them, so the big kid sat through school bored and sullen.
Len realized that Mick was not slow, but that his education had been severely neglected. Mick told Len that when he turned ten his father took him out of school. He told the school board that he was going to home school Mick, but in reality, he was kept home to work all day on the farm.
Len would meet Mick in his cell in the evenings to tutor him and soon he had Mick reading at high school level. Then it was on to math and English. Mick would get easily frustrated so Len had to learn when to back off and duck the occasional punch. Sometimes Len would engage in small talk to diffuse the situation.
“How come you don’t got a roommate” Len asked.
“They didn’t work out” replied Mick, “Warden decided I was better by myself.”
“Maybe you haven’t found the right roommate” said Len, “I could bunk with you.”
“Remember what I said about not getting on my nerves?”
“Whatever” said Len, “no skin off my nose, got to get going, it's almost time for lights out.”
Len left Mick’s cell had headed back to his own, steeling himself for another night of fending off Trevor, his amorous roommate.”
The Santini boys were still looking for a way to make Len’s life a living hell. They had heard rumors that the boy was gay, so they told Trevor that and also that Len turned tricks on the outside. The first was true, but second was certainly not.
Convinced that the Santinis spoke the truth, Trevor started his clumsy courtship of the young man. He offered Len candy bars, snack cakes, and homemade booze for a bit of Len’s attention. Len told him no, over and over again. Trevor would let up for a while, and then would assume his unwanted attention and he was getting more aggressive.
Last night Len awoke to Trevor crawling into his bunk. Len gave him a kick to the midsection that caused Trevor to fall off the bed.
“Leave me the fuck alone” yelled Len, “or I’ll tell the warden.”
“Do you think the warden would care about a little whore like you” sneered Trevor.
“What the hell are you talking about” demanded Len.
“Sal Santini told us all about it” replied Trevor, “how you would put out to anyone who had a few bucks on him.”
Len snarled and threw himself on the older boy, but Trevor connected with a roundhouse punch to Len’s jaw and the boy went down.
Trevor climbed back into his bunk.
“Maybe I’ll tell the boys I got a piece of your ass, tonight. That big gorilla you hang around with can’t protect you forever.”
Len felt a stab of terror, with Santini and Trevor spreading those lies; he would be in danger once again. He needed a plan; he pretended to be asleep while he thought. An hour before dawn, he knew what he had to do. It was risky but it was his only option.
Mick missed Len at vocational training. The kid had begged off after lunch, stating he had a headache. That was not surprising considering the swollen jaw and cheek he was sporting.
“What happened to you” Mick had asked.
“Walked into a door” Len had answered.
“What was the door’s name” Mick had muttered.
Mick stopped by Len’s cell after training, but found it empty of both Len and his meager belongings. Mick headed to the security station to find out what happened to his friend. He passed his own cell and found Len lying on the other bed surrounded by his possessions.
Mick stormed into his cell and grabbed Len by the front of his shirt.
“What are you doing here?”
“I live here” answered Len, “I’m your roommate, now.”
“The hell you are, the warden knows I don’t want roommates.”
“Well” replied Len, “I kinda told him you wanted me, cause we’ve been getting along so well.”
“It’s not happening” said Mick, “get back to your own cell.”
“Come on, Mick, it’s only for a few months.”
“I said no” Mick started collecting Len’s things, “get out of here.”
“I can’t, if I do, I’ll get raped or worse.”
Mick stopped, “what do you mean?”
“Somebody’s been saying that I am gay and a prostitute, Trevor decided to buy my services. I said no and he punched me. He then said he would tell everyone that he got a piece of my ass. I’m afraid that a lot of fellows would believe him, maybe even some of the guards.
“Please, Mick, you got to let me stay. I need to get out of here in one piece, for Lisa’s sake. I’ll be really quiet; you’ll barely know I’m here.”
Mick looked at the scrawny kid. There was real fear in his eyes, was it because of Trevor? Mick hoped that he wasn’t the reason.
“Okay, Shrimp, you can stay. Let’s get some dinner.”
The two sat at Mick’s usual table. There were Sloppy Joes on the dinner line tonight. Mick was able to get himself two, so he wouldn’t have to worry that Len would try to give him part of his. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Trevor come in, the boy sat at an empty table waiting for his friends to arrive.
Mick got up, went over to Trevor’s table and sat down across from him.
“Heard you’ve been bothering my friend and spreading lies about him” he growled, “if you so much as look in his direction, I will rip off your dick and feed it to you, understand?”
Trevor gulped nervously and nodded.
“Good” said Mick, he grabbed Trevor’s pudding cup and returned to his table.
Later that night, after lights out, Mick heard Len call out softly.
“Mick, you still awake?”
“Yeah, Shrimp, what do you want?’
“I got a present for you” Len held up a Bic lighter, “do you forgive me?”
“I guess so, but I got a question, is there any truth to what Trevor said?”
“I’m not a whore; I never even had sex.”
“Are you gay?”
“Would it make a difference to you” asked Len.
“No” answered Mick.
“Yes, I am.”
“How do you know, you’re only fourteen, maybe you’re just confused.”
“It doesn’t work like that, Mick, you just know, I’ve known since I was ten. I might be confused about some things, but not about that.”
“Okay” said Mick, “I just wanted to know.”
Len burrowed under his blanket, “good night Mick.”
“Good night” answered Mick, but it was awhile till he was able to fall asleep.