#aldo burrows

Cisco barks a laugh, “that’s it? You lured me here to force me to warp you to another dimension... so you can fanboy?”

“I’m not a fanboy,” Len insists through gritted teeth. “I need to learn this Wentworth guy’s tricks of the trade. I’m good at the brooding, sly shtick but he’s well versed in other identities. It could prove fruitful.”

“Whatever you say, Snart. You could’ve just asked me to go on a field trip, you know? Didn’t have to trick me.” Cisco says, taking his goggles out of his pocket.

“This isn’t a field trip, Cisco.”

“Sure. Here, hold my hand.”

Len turns his nose up at the offered hand.

Cisco rolls his eyes and grabs a hold of Len’s fluffy parka sleeve, “okay, let me focus.” He puts on his goggles and mumbles to himself, “now which Earth was that?”

“Wait! You don’t know which one it was?” Len asks, a tinge of skepticism and worry in his tone.

Cisco shrugs and defends himself, “it’s a big multiverse, dude! I’ve been trying to map earths using their vibrational frequencies, but it’s not an exact science. Our tech’s not that advanced yet.”

“Well, how do I know you won’t just warp us to a volcano planet and leave me?”

Cisco is affronted, “wow, Snart. I may not agree with you on a lot of things but I’m not so heartless that I’d leave you on Earth-24B.”

Len isn’t sure how to respond to that.

“Give me the DVD,” Cisco instructs. Taking the case from Len and grabbing onto his sleeve he opens a breach and jumps them through, focusing on the series in hand as he navigates them to another world.

The pair plop down on a desert road in the middle of nowhere. 

“What the hell, Ramon?” Len sneers, reaching for his coldgun. 

“Woah! Hold up! I said it wasn’t an exact science. Give me a minute to recalibrate to this earth.” Cisco takes off his goggles and starts tweaking some knobs. 

“We can’t sit here like ducks,” Len grumbles, looking down the road to see a lone gas station. The pair jog over and Len boosts and unattended truck that’s worse for wear. 

Cisco rolls his eyes but goes along with it, glad for the AC while they ride along the highway. “I felt your doppelgänger near here when we jumped out of the warp, I know it.” Cisco says, tediously working on his goggles. 

“Who–” Len cuts himself off as he sees a figure of a man walking down the highway thumbing for a ride. They squeak to a slow halt, “holy hell,” Len curses under his breath. “Get in the back. Now.” 

Cisco throws his hands up in defeat, tossing in a fair measure of sass as he scrambles over the seat to the back. 

Len opens the door for the man and hides his face as the guy gets in and they roll off down the highway. 

“Thanks for picking me up. Only going about twenty miles down the highway; I appreciate it.” The man was looking down at the GPS in his hands as he spoke. 

“Not a problem,” Len drawls, turning to look at the man with a smirk on his face. He hid his surprise; Len already figured out this was Scofield but the sight of a younger him was jarring. 

Scofield looks up and nearly jumps out of his skin, sliding as close to the door as possible. “What the hell is going on?” 

Len chuckles, “nice to meet you too, Michael.” 

Michael doesn’t know what to say, his mouth agape as he tries to process what he’s seeing. An older version of him, weather beaten yet still with a glint in his eyes. Am I going insane? he thinks to himself. 

Len continues to smirk as they drive down the road, “you’re not going crazy, Michael. I’m real, just as much as you are.” 

Michael sits quietly and thinks about his situation thoroughly before responding, “you’re with The Company. They’ve done something to your face... Is this supposed to be some kind of trap?” He keeps his tone collected, but a hint of frantic worry peeks through as he tries to understand. 

Len laughs heartily at that, “no, this face is as natural as the day I was born. Taken a few beatings, but we both know something about that.” 

“So… you’re from… the future?” Michael asks, hesitant to let the words come out and regretting them as they fell back on his ears. 

Len wobbles his head side to side, "not exactly. The explanation would take a lot longer than the twenty miles we have." 

Michael's brow furrows but he nods his head. "So what do you want with me then?" 

Len smirks, internally laughing at the circumstance. "You're not the type to believe it, but this meeting was truly entirely by chance." 

They drive in silence for a moment before Len speaks up, "you're on your way to meet up with Sucre and your brother aren't you? For the plane to Belize or something?" 

Michael is silent, his eyes trying to get a read on Len but finding nothing but an impenetrable facade in the form of a smirk and cold eyes. "You have to be from the future." Michael says, instinctively grasping protectively to the box of fishing oil he was planning on pawning off as nitro. 

Len just nods as his eyes catch the subtle tightening of Michael’s grip on the box and GPS. His thoughts go to the inevitable despair Michael will soon face as he holds his father as he passes. Len equally loved and hated those scenes. He saw in Aldo Burrows a man he dreamed to have as a father, until he got too old to wish for things he couldn't get. Instead, the man he had as a father, the one he killed by his own hands, was akin to the one Aldo killed all those years ago to save Michael. Their reunion was short lived and it pained Len's heart even more to know that there was an Earth that held those atrocities as reality and not TV drama. 

 "The stops right up here... but you already know that," Michael says quietly, yanking Len from his inner thoughts. Len nods and pulls the truck over to the side of the road, letting it idle as Michael sat for a moment, collecting himself. 

Before he has a chance to leave, Len turns to face him head on, “I’m not a sap, so I’ll keep this short. You’re asking yourself, ‘do the ends justify the means’... They do. I’ve done some nasty things in the name of greed and vengeance, and some for love and family. I don’t agree with your whole,” he gestures vaguely at Michael with his expressive hands, “savior complex. But I understand what caring for someone can do to a man. Others have forced your hand, Michael. The best you can do is protect the ones you care for. Protect the ones you can. And let no one get in your way.” 

The pair stares at one another for a moment and Michael lets the words sink in. Len, not one for morale speeches, sits quietly, resolute in his words. 

"I have no earthly idea what is happening right now. I may be going insane but... whoever you are--" 

"Lenny, you can call me Lenny," he says softly, holding out a hand to shake. 

Michael gives a small nod and takes the hand tentatively, giving a firm shake as neither one brake eye contact. "I'm glad to have met you, Lenny. I know nothing about you, but I feel like we share more than just a face." 

"We're more alike than you think, Michael," Len says somberly, "keep your head down. Stay sharp." 

Michael actually gives an eerily similar smirk at that, "always." And like that he was gone, hopping out of the truck and disappearing into the desert brush. Len watches until Michael is gone from sight and then continues to drive off. 

"HO-LY SHIT," Cisco exclaims from the back of the car where he was ducking in the shadows and watching the terse exchange. He clobbers over the seats to get back in the front, "DUDE!" 

Len rolls his eyes, trying to keep himself from smiling. 

"Like not only is there a whole earth where prison break is real but we're in it, and we just met Scofield!" He says excitedly. 

"I just met Scofield, actually. You hid in the back," Len points out. 

"I-- what-- you said to! So? It doesn't matter, anyway. This is crazy! No ones gonna believe this, oh my god. Good thing I took a video--AH!" 

Len punches the brakes in the middle of the highway. "You what?" 

"I got a video? Of y'all being awkward bros. It was kinda cute, not gonna lie." Cisco says, getting his phone out and flipping it to the video to show Len. 

After it’s over Len has the most stoic look on his face and Cisco doesn't know if he should run or what.