"Not always." He grunted and turned his head. "And you're still a little punk, asshole." He hadn't changed that much, he older and smarter but he was still a punk. That was just what he was like. Personally, Mick always thought it was pretty funny, when he saw sparks of that runty kid still in Leonard. Leonard, who tried to be cool and untouchable, he still needed Mick.
"I dunno. There just is. Between us? It's always different."
"Look who's talking." Pot, kettle, black and all that. Leonard smirked and nodded. It was always different. Even when he'd taken Mick to cuff him to the radiator. Especially then, perhaps, because he wanted to keep him out of trouble and that seemed the easiest way. Leonard got up and looked over at the desk. He did have things to consider. Quite a few of them. "You care about your team?"
"They're not my team. They're your team. I'm just stuck with them now, aren't I? You made that call." Mick never wanted to be a legend but now he was stuck on the team and he had nothing else to do. He tried to be normal, he tried to go back to his old life but it was ruined. He had no Leonard and nothing really interested him. He hoped going back to the waverider would help but it didn't. "They're okay."
"I don't have a team." Well. There was the whole swearing allegiance to the Legion of Doom thing, but frankly that was more like some weirdos in high school starting a club and he couldn't imagine anyone actually expected him to take that stuff seriously. Bunch of middle-aged white guys experiencing homoerotic love for the first time ever and celebrating by making really stupid jokes and congratulating each other on them, he didn't really feel like he fit in. "I have you."
"Don't come that one with me, I've been with you from the start. I know how you operate. You always have a team, you like having a team. Those people on the ship? They were your team." And that was something he knew for a fact because he watched Leonard chose them over him once. And while it hurt a lot less these days, he would never make the mistake of thinking Leonard would only ever need him. He needed others, he wanted others and Mick was okay with that. "But you always got me too, partner."
"I died, in a way. People can change." Death definitely would change someone, but in his case it was due to other circumstances, if he had to pinpoint it. But Mick was here. Mick was with him. Leonard tightened one hand to a fist slowly and he gave a nod. "Partner." That was what mattered. Now he just had to figure out everything else. "I've people I work with, you're right. But I only ever got one partner."
"So, partner, you gonna let me out or what?" Because if they were this close and they were going to be working together, he'd really love to get himself out of this. He needed to work out what was going on, where he was and how to get onto the Waverider. He needed to get himself ready. "We need to form a plan. Where are we?"
"Kind of thinking this is doing a good job of keeping you out of trouble." Leonard figured that ultimately he didn't really have a choice but to set Mick free. Hell, ultimately all he wanted was to set him free. Get away. He had no idea where he was going, but he wanted it to be with Mick. Leonard closed his eyes for a moment, trying to keep track of time in a rather literal way. "We're with the enemy, Mick. Your enemy."
"I can't stay cuffed all damn day, can I? Let me out of these stupid things before you really pissed me off." Mick growled dangerously as he struggled against them, just to make a point that he was not happy about this. And when Mick was unhappy, he got stroppy and mean. He paused his struggle and glared at Leonard. "... What do you mean? Don't tell me I'm locked in with the speedster."
"I'll let you out, Mick. Relax." Leonard leaned back against the desk, glancing down at his notes before looking at Mick again. He had a whole head full of thoughts, but Mick's presence helped to keep him grounded. Reminded him which timeline was his. Theirs. He did need him. He'd always needed him. "Afraid so." The speedster. Did the others get short names too? The bleach job. He'd have to work on one for Malcolm.
"Then damn well do it. What the fuck are you stalling for, Snart? Undo them." Seriously. He'd been handcuffed to this stupid thing since he woke up and he seriously wanted to just move already. He snarled lightly and leaned forward, trying to make sure he had the attention of Leonard. "Why am I stuck here? I wasn't here when I was last awake. Did they catch me?" He paused, raising an eyebrow. Something wasn't adding up. "Did they catch you?"
"No, Mick. I caught you." He waited for a moment, then decided to clarify. "Relax. You're not my captive. I'm just figuring out how to best play this game." There were a lot of variables and he wanted to make very sure he wasn't a pawn. Never again. Bad enough he'd ever been played by the time masters. "I told you. A speedster pulled me out. The speedster. He seems to be under the assumption that would make me loyal."
"So you caught me and decided to drag me the place the speedster is." This was starting to feel like a set up again. He looked at Leonard, feeling considerably more uneasy as he tugged against the cuffs in another futile attempt to get out. "I feel like a captive. And you still ain't letting me out. What's that all about, Leonard?"
Why was he handcuffed in the villains lair while Leonard just chilled out here. "What game are you playing?"
"Simple." It was anything but simple, but he supposed he could simplify it to a degree and beyond that? Not as if Mick was stupid. Leonard pushed away from the desk and sat down by Mick again. "It's them against your team. I don't want to get caught up in the middle. Not sure if I can just pull us out yet. If not, we'll have to figure out what side's winning."
"I ain't pulling out, I ain't switching sides." Mick was making that clear now. For better or for worse, he was betraying them again. He had learned his lesson and he wasn't that guy. Ray, Martin, Sara, whether or not they were being dicks lately, they saved him. They cared in their own unique way and Mick cared right back. "I know what side I'm on, we're not jumping around. Now let me out." Because he didn't like being just cuffed here like this.
"No? Sure, make this more difficult." Leonard sighed and reached for the handcuffs, but the key didn't resurface just yet. Instead he gave in to more primal urges, turning his head so he could catch Mick's mouth in a kiss, pressing closer, suddenly gripped with the need, the want for more of him. More of them. He hadn't even known what he was missing until he finally was with Mick again, but now he couldn't ignore it.
They were always dancing around this kind of thing a lot before he died but for Leonard to just go right in there, it threw him off entirely and he had no idea why. It wasn't what he asked him for either, it was a distraction. Still, what a hell of a distraction. He knew giving in was stupid but he did give in, he couldn't help himself. He always gave into Leonard, even when he didn't want to. He pulled back eventually, looking at Leonard with a set look, trying his best to keep his head screwed on. It wasn't easy. "Uncuff me."
"Say you're with me." Leonard caught his eyes, kept close to him. It was a strange area to navigate, but he was sure that withdrawing couldn't be the answer right now. "Say you're with me and I'll uncuff you." Truth was, he'd uncuff him either way. He just wanted to hear the words right now. He wanted this to be Mick's choice. Mick was an anchor, Mick was his partner. He could be with him and figure all of this out.
"I'm always with you. You're my partner." Just as long as Leonard wasn't deceiving him, he'd be loyal but it was hard to tell, right now, if Leonard was going to be loyal or not. Given he knocked him out, handcuffed him and trapped him with a speedster. The condition of having to say it to get uncuffed, it wasn't that assuring really. Still, all of that aside, he trusted him more than he trusted anyone else in this damn world. "You're with me, right?"
"I'm with you." There was no hesitation there and Leonard finally unlocked the cuffs. A rare moment of weakness as he allowed himself to rest his forehead against Mick's shoulder, remaining like that, because he needed rest. He needed less in his head, but that wasn't about to happen, with a mind still adjusting to time again and a brain failing to compute it all. He'd just have to figure things out regardless.
Mick raised his now free hand and rested it gently against the back of Leonard's head, taking a moment to rub his hand along the bristles at the back of his head. He really needed a new shave, he was starting to grow his hair out. Couldn't have that, he'd look too cute with stupid dumb curly hair. "If you wanna leave all of this shit and just get the fuck outta here, I'm all over that too. Look, I'm loyal to them if I have to pick but out of them and you? I'd always pick you."
Leonard hadn't bothered shaving his hair since coming back, there had been a lot more to wrap his mind around. He allowed Mick to touch him, hell, he wanted him to touch him. "Don't think that's an option." But it was nice to hear that Mick wouldn't hesitate to follow him, to come with him. "I'll have to play the game. I'll try to leave your team standing." It would be a challenge, by his estimate. "I remember everything, Mick. I just also remember even more."
How could he explain that right? "I'm focused on you. Everything else seems further away."
"Don't do something we'll both regret." He couldn't stand the idea of Leonard killing someone on that team, being responsible for what happened and having to do damage control. Mick was a lot of things but he'd changed a lot of how he thought since Chronos. He didn't want tog o back to just being a thug and a criminal, even if he told others he did. As hard as it all was, having something made it easier.
"You're my focus too, Snart. Just play nice when you gotta play or we're gonna have a problem."
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"I dunno. There just is. Between us? It's always different."
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Why was he handcuffed in the villains lair while Leonard just chilled out here. "What game are you playing?"
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How could he explain that right? "I'm focused on you. Everything else seems further away."
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"You're my focus too, Snart. Just play nice when you gotta play or we're gonna have a problem."