I've Got Soul but I'm Not a Soldier

Secrets

Just because I didn't see him fall from the hole doesn't mean he didn't, Len keeps telling himself.

He loses Lisa and Mick in the chaos that follows the closing of the Singularity. People are running this way and that, locating loved ones, and Len focuses on moving through them at quick speeds, waving his cold gun around if he has to do so to finally get people to part for him.

STAR Labs is in ruins; it seems to have gotten the brunt of the impact, and Len's sure there's a story there. Barry would know, if he was here, but he's not and that's the problem. For the past two days Len has been with Lisa and Mick off the grid, so to speak, even to Barry, as they planned their heist. Len warned Barry he might be out of contact for a few days. Now he wishes he stayed in contact. As soon as he gets to the safe house and gets his cell phone, he's going to see if Barry left him any hint of what happened.

Right now, though, there is only confusion. So much confusion, all around him.

It doesn't take him long to spot the group outside of STAR Labs, all still looking either around them or at the sky, still, disbelieving. The knot in his stomach triples and he grits his teeth, bringing his gun up to aim at the group. The detective – Joe West, Barry's adoptive father, his mind supplies – brings his gun up as well, aiming it at Len.

"Where is the Flash?" Len demands instantly. His voice is as cool as ever, calm and collected, but inside he's screaming as he sees the despair written across their faces. He's never cared for anyone before, except Lisa; why now?

"What do you want, Snart?" Detective West asks, standing protectively in front of his quietly weeping daughter, Iris.

"Okay, kid, there's a new rule."

"New rule?"

"No more mentioning this 'Iris' while we're together."

"I want you to answer my question," Len says through clenched teeth, his cold glasses/goggles on his head hiding his eyes from view, thankfully. If they could see his eyes right now...

"Eyes are the window to the soul, you know?"

"Is there a point here, Scarlet?"

"You have a good soul."

"I know you're not drunk."

"What, I can't call you good? Is that a new rule, now?"

"Fine, Red, but only when we're alone. I have a reputation to keep."

They aren't understanding. He knows they were keeping things secret; it just seemed better that way at the time, but now he wishes they all knew so they would answer him. He doesn't have time for this.

"Where. Is. The Flash?" he asks again, enunciating carefully so their slow minds can comprehend what he is saying. They stare back at him blankly and the breath he releases is some ragged, raw thing he can't quite explain. "Barry Allen," he snaps. "The Flash. Barry Allen. Scarlet Speedster. Where is he?"

"Why...? Why does it matter to you?" Iris finally asks, poking her head out around her father's shoulder, and Detective West's gun wavers slightly.

His finger twitches on the trigger as a snarl lodges in his throat, which is, again, very unlike him. If his sister saw him now, she'd know immediately that the Flash was Barry Allen. Maybe she should be here; he can't seem to find the words, but she's always been great at rendering people speechless with her biting remarks, and she'd help get to the bottom of this. He wishes he hadn't lost her in the crowd.