Chapter Text
ARGUS' facility was only a couple miles outside of Central City, out by the shore. According to the locals, there had been rumors about them keeping metahumans for experimentation pretty much ever since stories of superpowered individuals first made the rounds. But, with the organization's natural secrecy, there had of course never been any proof. Leonard was not sure what exactly ARGUS did in his world; he learned that, here, they were ruthless. Cait claimed she had only come along to deliver Mick to them; she did not know if Zoom had gifted ARGUS any other metahumans, or what he got out of it in return.
"Kicks," Lisa suggested with a shrug. "We don't know who Zoom is or what motivates him. But he might as well be the devil."
So they knew Where and What their target was. Next step was figuring out the How . Leonard pinched the bridge of his nose and took a look around at what he had to work with: a scientist, a structural engineer, a… well, another he , minus the criminal experience, and a meta-human who already severely disliked him after knowing him for less than a day. Less than ideal, but not the worst crew he had ever worked with.
He thought about possible ways to get Mick, and immediately added a first step to the plan that included finding out where exactly in that facility a metahuman like Mick was likely being kept. In his mind, he wrote a checklist and added “Blue Prints” to it – he had both a structural engineer and a mayor at his disposal, they should hopefully be able to look into any plans ARGUS had submitted to a local construction department.
Having a list was an admittedly much needed lifeline as first Leo and Lisa left for their warm beds at home, and then Henry started awkwardly looking between Leonard, Ronnie and Cait, obviously pondering whether he could leave the three of them alone for the night and go home as well. As if they were three rowdy kids in need of a babysitter. Eventually it became obvious to everyone that they all needed sleep, so Henry did end up leaving them to their own devices (or, in Leonard’s case, to another night on the lousy couch in the lab).
The plan they came up with over the next few days was so bad it would have made Rip proud. Its only saving grace was that they had S.T.A.R. Labs resources to refine it. Henry and Ronnie were able to fix Leonard's goggles; the weight on the cold gun was still marginally off, even after some more tweaking, but at least the goggles would protect against the nasty sunspots he got from looking at its flare for too long. Leo did use his mayoral position to gain access to the city's plans of the ARGUS facility in its outskirts and they all spent a day studying them and memorizing all possible entry and exit points. Lisa provided the necessary insight into the plans and pointed out weaknesses in the construction (there were not a lot).
"What about this here?" Leo tapped the blueprint on the table.
Lisa nudged his hand away to get a better look. "Sewage system. Empties pretty much directly into the canal - you should do something about that, Leo! Hm, it's definitely big enough for us to fit through." She squinted at the scale. "And then some. Huh. That's a pretty big pipe. And it leads directly inside. We could use some explosives on a gutter or something once we're in and voilà – we have an entrance."
"What's this?" Leonard asked and pointed at a structure at the inside end of the pipe.
Lisa pursed her lips. "Hm. I have to guess, but I'd say it looks like pools - like the kind you breed industrial fish in maybe. And – oh." She cursed under her breath. Leo and Leonard gave her identical questioning looks. Lisa ran her finger over the blueprint. "Those are floodgates. The pools open directly into the pipe at the press of a button."
Leonard nodded. He had half expected that. "Must be why it's relatively unguarded."
Henry said, "Well, we could risk it. We have the equipment to get through the pipe even when the water is rushing through it."
"They definitely wouldn't expect that," Leo agreed, rubbing his chin.
Leonard was not too happy with that. "Let's find another way in." When the others frowned at him, he added, "We can't prepare for what might flush out with the water - we don't even know for certain that it's water. Could be piranhas. Could be a meta made of tar. There's gotta be a better way in." He remembered the rumors about the giant man-shark roaming Central City around Halloween. Nope, he was definitely not going in through a pipe if that was what might be waiting for him at the end.
He had to admit, after four months of mostly relying on Gideon for plans and strategies, Leonard was glad to work this way again; it gave him back some of the control he lacked so badly in this moment. And while the others were gathering any gear they might need, Leonard found himself a computer and compared the state of security systems in this world to his.
"This is gonna be a problem," Leonard noted with a frown at Ronnie when he learned about the meta human alert app.
Henry followed his gaze and then shook his head, explaining, "People from other earths seem to…” He hesitated for a moment, visibly condensing scientific theory into the most necessary bits. “...let’s say vibrate at a different frequency. The app doesn't register Ronnie until he's within two feet."
"And if someone gets that close, the app won't help them because then I'll use my powers," Ronnie added and pointedly looked at Leonard. Even though he had not hurt Cait and only scared her a little, the two of them were still not seeing eye to eye. He should not be surprised Ronnie did not trust him: Firestorm had helped defeat the Man in Yellow, immediately after Leonard had double-crossed Team Flash; he had probably gotten all that info while it was still fresh.
"Aren't people going to get suspicious if their mayor keeps hanging out at the lab that caused all these metas?" Leonard asked Leo while they were quizzing each other on ARGUS' power line system.
His doppelgänger laughed. "One, it's public knowledge that Henry and I are old friends from college; as is two, that I'm a great supporter of the sciences; and three, I've got no resemblance whatsoever to the Flash, so what are they gonna be suspicious about?"
Leonard gave a small nod. It would be more difficult in his world, where S.T.A.R. Labs was officially a derelict hull, a blemish in the history of Central City. It were not the big differences that made him uncomfortable – Atlantis and the monorail, a Snart being mayor, those were all things he could deal with. It was the social context that got him.
"Thank you, for your help and everything," Leo said. Leonard tilted his head and wondered if this was perhaps after all an attempt to manipulate him, but to his bafflement, Leo seemed completely honest about it.
"You trust too easily," Leonard replied after a pause. "I could be here to conquer your world."
Leo laughed, not taking him seriously. Leonard thought he would at least consider attempting world domination if they did not let him outside S.T.A.R. Labs again soon.
They were nice people and Leonard did not feel like they were lying to him, or even keeping stuff from him, but he still kept his distance. These were purely practical and professional relationships. Trust was something they would have to earn. He was careful which stories about his time with the Waverider's team he told them.
After the first night spent on the couch in the common area left him sorer than almost dying had, Henry had cleaned up a small storage room and put a military cot in it. It had just enough space to not feel claustrophobic and even had a narrow window near the top wall. Leonard now had a room. Where he could stay. He fought down the bitter feelings it brought about all that had gotten him into this situation, and was just glad they did not make him share with Ronnie.
When nobody was looking, Leonard read up on them. Lisa had not been lying about being a structural engineer – she was the star employee of one of the biggest companies in the state, having financed college with the help of her brother and a scholarship for figure skating. Lisa Snart of this earth was a downright overachiever and three time Olympic medalist, earning her the nickname Golden Glider. Huh . The multiverse worked in fun ways.
And Leo Snart's life was a goddamn fairy tale: raised in the poor part of town by a single mother who had fled her abusive husband shortly after the birth of her second child; fought every part of the way to get where he was; helped raise his little sister on top of work and taking care of his own education (first community college and then on to one of the more prestigious universities in the state on a scholarship); married his long term boyfriend Mick Rory, Chief of the Central City Fire Department (Leonard had to read that line five times to make it sound even a little believable), as soon as same-sex marriage was legalized; voted into office four years ago and bound to stay there for the foreseeable future because he was doing a damn good job taking care of this city's people. There really seemed to be no ulterior motive on Leo's part.
Leonard stared at the part about the single mother for a long time. It came as no surprise that Lewis was an asshole in each version: sacked from the force for taking bribes and being too nonchalant about it, then arrested for jewel theft, same old, same old. What was different here was that Laura Snart had escaped before the stress of the abuse had made her too sick to run. Had this world's Lewis still had friends on the force by the time the neighbors had to call the cops on them almost every night? Had they believed him when he told them his clumsy wife and son had fallen down the stairs together? Leonard wanted to doubt it; his mom had not had a way out of their personal hell; Leo's had. (At least this world's Lewis had been killed in prison years ago – Leonard did not want to see that man ever again in his life.)
There were pictures of them together online, at a fundraiser for survivors of domestic violence, and Leonard swallowed hard when he saw her. There was gray in her hair, which she had stopped straightening and was wearing it in its natural tightly curled pattern. She had wrinkles around her eyes, the kind you got from laughing. His mom had never gotten this old. Or looked this happy. He caught himself wondering if Leo's mom still lived in the city, and how long it would take her to realize he was not her son, but he quickly pushed that train of thought aside. His mom was gone. That was the way of life, and there was no changing that.
He clicked on to another picture and found himself staring again: Mick here had the same brick wall body his did, but there were tattoos where his had burn scars, and a smile that Leonard could not remember seeing on his Mick in a long time. Memories of one night when they were twenty-three flashed up: it was the Fourth of July and Mick had just gotten back from his first real stint in prison. Lewis was staying inside for the foreseeable future and Lisa was twelve and happily staying with her brother and his scary cool friend. For weeks before Mick got out Leonard had collected plywood and broken furniture, and on the night of the Fourth they had driven out to the lake where he had surprised Mick with the biggest bonfire either of them had ever seen. They had spent the night roasting marshmallows and throwing random things into the fire to see what would happen. That night Leonard had seen Mick smile like Leo's did.
Leonard's Mick had always been in love with the flames.
***
A couple of days into their planning, Henry finally persuaded him to participate in some tests to find out how similar doppelgängers from two earths were. Leonard agreed because, who knew, the results could maybe be useful for their mission. The biggest difference was probably that he was right handed and Leo left. Leonard's eyesight was better. Leo still had his appendix and fewer scars. They were both mildly allergic to strawberries. Their fingerprints matched perfectly, which was the most interesting to Leonard because he knew that by nature alone that was impossible. Normally, not even identical twins had the same fingerprints – he had learned that working with a pair on a job a couple years ago. Fingerprints developed in the uterus from stuff like the way the fluid swished around the developing fetus' fingertips, which meant that not even genetic predisposition could create two individuals with perfectly matching prints on all ten fingers, and whatever they said on Orphan Black was bullshit with how they had canonically made those clones, thank you very much.
After Gideon had restored his hand, Leonard had been curious if he now had a new set of fingerprints on his right (because wouldn't that be helpful for a thief with a record?) but she had cheerfully explained that she had been able to recreate his original ones perfectly from scans she had taken all over the ship. That revelation put him off touching everything around him for exactly two hours and five minutes before he had said "screw it!".
***
"Screw it!" was also what he wanted to say about their plan. From the get go it was clear that Henry was not a fighter and would be doomed out in the field. That was okay, though – chances were Mick and whoever else they found at the facility would be in need of medical attention, and Henry could definitely provide that. What he could not do was hack ARGUS' surveillance system, and the further their plan developed, the more necessary that became.
Leo was also practically useless in hand-to-hand combat, and that frustrated Leonard way more than their lack of a hacker. His aim could be improved enough to be of use, but also only with time they did not have; none of them wanted to leave Mick in that place any longer.
"Maybe you should stay behind," Leonard suggested after another disastrous sparring match that left Leo with a bruised jaw despite Leonard holding his punches (he was slightly worried by how cathartic it was to hit his own face).
Leo froze in his motion. "No, I'm saving Mick! And there's a small army in there – we need every man!"
"You said it yourself: we're going up against an army," Leonard said and decided to be frank. "We'll be more worried about keeping you safe than saving your husband if you come along. You're no use to him dead." Leonard's throat tightened the moment the words left his mouth. His thumb found the spot where the ring had been before he could stop himself; his hand was feeling cold again today.
Leo gave him a curious look that lasted maybe a split second before it turned knowing . What did he know though? His Mick had been taken from him. Leonard had willingly left his behind, and more than once too.
But Leo did not say anything and instead nodded in response to what Leonard had said. "Okay. But just give me something to do!" And so Leo became their getaway driver.
That still left them with the hacker problem. After days of preparing and painstakingly thinking through every possible way of their plan came the crushing certainty that they were not getting into the surveillance system and therefore would be spotted almost instantly. Leonard had initially thought he would be able to at least buy them some time by somehow frying the entire complex's power grid, but not only did most doors rely on electricity to open and close – the backup generators would also be online too fast for an outage to be of any use. They had to face it: they were not well enough equipped to go up against ARGUS' soldiers. Their group depended on not getting spotted for as long as possible, which made their mission pretty much impossible if they did not come up with something soon.
A week after they decided to break Mick out, Lisa walked up to where Leo was studying road maps and Leonard was tinkering with something he thought might be useful, and sat a pair of skates down on the table with a heavy thud. Leonard eyed them from the side. They were metallic white with, how else could it be, golden highlights and golden blades. She sighed. "I'm coming with you," she said matter-of-factly. Leonard and Leo both looked up. They had been over this. Leo said it first: "No."
Lisa rolled her eyes. "Leo..."
"No," he said again. "It’s too dangerous. You – we are not fighters." He pointed from her to himself and back.
Lisa rolled her eyes. "You don’t need a fighter," Lisa said, squaring her jaw. "Just someone fast enough to cause some trouble."
She motioned her arms like Tadaa! to present the skates, and now Leonard realized that the blades were strange . While he undoubtedly recognized them as figure skating skates from their toe picks, the material was not the usual steel with some decorative gold plating, but something else entirely, and there seemed to be some sort of machinery in between the sole of the foot and the blade itself.
“You don’t seem too keen on sharing your cold gun, so I had to come up with my own thing,” Lisa smirked winningly. “They can glide on any material. It’s nowhere close to the Flash, but skating is still way faster than running. So I can get past things quickly, and also out of danger.” She added that last part for her brother’s benefit, definitely, but Leonard had to admit, the argument worked on him too.
“You built these yourself?”, he asked, one eyebrow raised.
Lisa laughed. “Oh, heavens, no! I work with buildings and infrastructure, maybe doors. No, that’s the other reason you are going to let me come – I have a hacker and electrical engineer.”
Leo and Leonard exchanged a glance.
“Who?” Leo wanted to know. “Did you tell someone what–”
Lisa shook her head, insulted. “Please, I’m not an idiot. Either I am coming with you, or you don’t get their name.”
Leonard blinked. Not his Lisa, but so much his Lisa.
He turned to Leo with a nonchalant shrug. “We do need a hacker.”
Leo shot him a look of utter betrayal, but he adjusted his strategy because there was no arguing that. “We can’t bring in new people - too many know about what's going on with Mick already, we don't need anyone else finding out.” He motioned between Leonard and himself. “Just, how are you planning on explaining this?”
Lisa smirked. "That's the thing: I'm not. This is on a strict need-to-know basis, and for her that means helping to free someone who is being held against their will by the government."
Leonard pursed his lips. Only half a year ago he would have preferred getting as few people for a job as possible; he would rather juggle five tasks himself than trust them to someone he was not sure could reliably do them. Mick and Lisa had been the only team he had needed. Less people who could fuck up, less people to split the loot with. But that was before Rip Hunter and the Waverider. And it turned out that eight people with a common goal and specialized skill sets could accomplish much more than the couple random goons you could hire at the bar. Despite himself, Leonard had gotten a taste for teamwork. Once he got back home to his Central City, he might even apply that in his original line of work.
"You trust her?" he asked Lisa.
She hesitated for the barest hint of a second as she realized she had used a pronoun before. "Yes," she then said firmly.
"How do we know she's as good as you say?"
Lisa grinned. “I brought proof.” She pulled a stack of papers from the back of her jeans (a habit Leonard knew all too well from his own sister), and showed them to him. There was information on the number of ARGUS' staff, their shift changes, everything.
Leonard nodded, genuinely impressed. "Okay. She's in."
As it turned out, Brie Larvan was dedicated to her work at S.T.A.R. Labs Engineering, passionate, and just bored enough to get gleaming eyes at the thought of an adventure. Lisa charmed her into asking as few questions as possible and promising her answers after everything was done. Brie was also fiercely competitive and the challenge of hacking into a military facility's security system was too sweet to pass down. She was the final piece they needed for their plan to stand a chance, and Tuesday, almost two weeks after Leonard had arrived on this earth, they were ready.