#mickroryaw2017

Fire needs three things: fuel, heat, and oxygen.  Mick can’t get rid of oxygen, and his brain can invent thousands of ways to acquire heat, but he can eliminate fuel.

Back in the early days, though; Len was used to glass shards, toys, and trash strewn everywhere.  As long as he had desk space for his blueprints, he’d let everything else around him become a dump.

Mick finally snapped when a box of French fries crunched underfoot.  Len had fallen asleep at his desk pillowed on blueprints, melted ice drooling out of a cup of soda and pooling on the floor below.

Mick nudged Len, yet the younger man kept on snoozing until Mick lugged him to bed.

“Whaz up, Mick?” Len’s low Central accent slurred out as he blinked drowsily.

“Fell asleep on your blueprints again.  Beds are better for your back.”

“It’s the damn Sanderson job...” Len rubbed at his eyes as he melted into the sheets. “Every time I work out a plan, something pops up in the blueprints and guard schedules or some other crap that’ll get us caught in a heartbeat.”

“You’ll get it, Lenny.  Sleepin’ on it’ll do you good.”

Len obliged him, allowing Mick to get down to work.

Len woke up late the next morning to no garbage, grime, or dirty clothes anywhere in sight.  His eyes narrowed when he discovered that blueprints had even been neatly stacked on his desk.  He went back to work on his plans, working even as he ate his lunch.  When he noticed an air duct he hadn't before that may be invaluable in the heist, he knocked his burger wrapper to the floor in his haste to scribble down his new idea.  He felt tempted to pick it up for a moment before shrugging and shifting his attention back to the plans.  That wrapper on the floor let him breathe easy.  Although a blemish upon the otherwise spotless floor, it felt familiar.  Standing in such a pristine place made him feel like he was in a bad sitcom.

"Barely livable," he muttered under his breath.

Behind him, frustration dripped from Mick's gravelly voice, “Ya know what else is barely livable?”

"You really don't have to wait for me," Sara insisted. "I don't know how long I'll be here. I mean, I'm planning on staying with Laurel, so if she's here, it's not like I'll be coming back out."

"Fine, then I'll come up," Mick said.

"Why'd you even want to come with me?" Sara asked as they made their way into the building. "It's not like I have a couch you can crash on since I'll be doing the sofa surfing thing myself. I'm sure if you call Ray he'd be more than happy to put you up."

"Put up with me's more like it," Mick countered.

"Hey, I'm not trying to get rid of you," Sara said, sincerely. "I just don't have my own place in Star City and I can't make offers on other people's behalf."

"Could say I'm your boyfriend," Mick suggested. "Then they'd have to take me."

Sara raised an eyebrow at that suggestion, until her face crumpled. "We both know why I can't do that." She paused, and then met his eyes. "You do know, don't you?"

"I do," Mick acknowledged, somberly. "I shouldn't have suggested it."

"Under different circumstances, I would have enjoyed seeing my family's reaction to that situation."

"Me, too, Blondie," Mick said. "Look, I'll call Haircut once I know you've found your couch to sleep on. Deal?"

"Deal," Sara said as they arrived at Laurel's door. She knocked, but there was silence on the other side of the door.

Sara pulled out her phone and tried calling Laurel's cell, but it went straight to voicemail. She shrugged and put her phone in the back pocket of her pants. "She's probably working late."

"You didn't call her before we came here?" Mick asked.

"I did, but it went to voicemail then, too," Sara said. "Figured I'd take a chance."

"So, what now? Off to Arrow Central?" he asked as they headed back to the elevator.

"Got one other stop to make first," Sara said. "Since I can't find my big sister, I want to check on my little one."

Mick frowned. "Thought you only had the one sister."

"One by blood," Sara confirmed. "Sin's my little sister by choice."

Mick smirked. "Sin, huh?"

"Don't you go getting any ideas," Sara said, poking him in the chest as they rode down in the elevator. "She's ten years younger than me."

"Snart was fifteen years older than you," Mick pointed out. "And I haven't even met her yet. What makes you think I'll even be interested?"

"Good point. You know, I don't think I've ever seen you show interest in anyone. Are you even interested in women? Or was Snart a partner in more than one sense of the word?" Sara asked as she led them out of the elevator and building and began to head towards the Glades.

"That's because it's been none of your business," Mick said. "But to set the record straight, when I fuck someone, it's a woman."

"Then my warning stands," Sara said.

"You planning on walking all over Star City?" Mick asked after a few minutes of scanning the parked cars they walked past.

"You afraid of a little exercise?" Sara teased.

"Yes," Mick answered, eyes landing on an old Ford pickup truck. "Come on, that one will be easy to steal."

Sara sighed, but all she said was, "Make it quick."

It only took Mick a couple of minutes to break into and hot wire the truck. Sara directed him to Sin's apartment and he found a parking spot near the entrance.

"You sure you're not bored following me around?" Sara asked before getting out of the truck.

"I haven't had this much fun following someone in a long time." Mick smirked.

Sara groaned. "Now you're starting to sound like him."

"Someone's gotta," Mick said with a shrug and opened the truck door. Sara did the same a moment later.

This time, when Sara knocked on the door it was opened by a young woman with short spikey dark hair. Mick had never seen an expression go from annoyed to delighted so quickly as the girl squealed, "You're alive," and pulled Sara into a fierce hug.

Mick stood back as the two women hugged, giving them a moment.

When they separated, Sin looked up and spotted Mick. "Who's he?"

Sara turned and gestured him forward. "This is my friend, Mick. He was on the mission with me. Mick, this is Sin."

Sin ran her eyes over him and said, "No offense, man, but you don't look like a hero."

"None taken," Mick rasped. "I'm no hero."

"Can we come in?" Sara asked, not wanting to have this conversation in the hallway.

"Yeah, of course," Sin said, holding the door open wide. "Do you want something to drink?"

"Beer," Mick immediately answered as he stepped inside and the door was closed behind them. "Are you even old enough to buy beer?"

"My ID says that I am," Sin answered with a wink as she went to grab three beers from the fridge. She called back, "Make yourselves comfortable."

"I like her," Mick said as he settled into a ratty arm chair while Sara took a seat on the old couch.

"Mick." Her voice held an edge of warning to it, which he ignored.

Sin returned with their beers and after handing them around, curled up close to Sara on the couch.

"So, where have you been?" Sin asked. "Five months ago you said you'd see me in a few days and then nothing. I thought you might have died again. Especially when you didn't show up for the funeral."

Sara pulled Sin closer, keeping an arm wrapped around her. "I know; I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be gone for so long." After a beat, Sara asked, "What funeral? Who died?"

Sin realized that Sara must not know about Laurel dying yet, and she didn't want to have to be the one to tell her. It was cowardly, but she didn't want to be the one to cause Sara that kind of pain.

"Oh, you know Star City, there's always funerals going on. Um, you said you were on a mission. Was it for the Green Arrow?" Sin asked.

Mick snorted, but otherwise remained silent and drank his beer.

Sara took a moment to glare at him, then returned her focus to Sin, wondering who had died but deciding not to press if Sin didn't want to talk about it right now.

"No, this was a different kind of mission. We were on a time traveling spaceship on a mission to stop an immortal wizard from destroying the future," Sara said.

Sin sat back so that she could properly look at Sara, her eyes wide. "You're shitting me."

"We shit you not," Mick said. "Time travel is real."

"Then why have you been gone for so long? Wouldn't you just come back to when you left?" Sin asked.

"An excellent question," Sara said. "One our captain did not care to share the answer to before he just left us here."

"I guess that explains it, though," Sin said.

"Explains what?" Sara asked.

"Why you're different. You seem older. Sadder," Sin commented.

"It's only been five months," Sara bristled, deciding not to mention the two years she spent in the 1950s. "Not that much older."

Sin shook her head. "Something happened to you on that mission. You can't fool your sister."

"We all changed," Mick agreed. "Some of us more than others."

"You, too?" Sin asked, looking at him. "How were you before? Talkative?"

Mick grunted. "Not quite talkative. Not entirely sane either."

"You saying you're sane now?" Sara asked.

"More than I was," Mick admitted. "Time Bastards did one thing right."

Sara choked back a sob at that.

"Sara?" Sin asked, her voice filled with concern.

Sara shook her head. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not," Sin stated.

"I had a partner," Mick explained when saw that Sara couldn't. "Snart and I were thieves together in Central City before we were recruited for this mission."

"Leonard Snart?" Sin interrupted. "You're Mick Rory!? Heatwave and Captain Cold?"

"Heard of us here, did you?" Mick sounded pleased.

"You're famous," Sin said. "Some of the guys I know would kill to meet you. Possibly literally. Wait a minute, where's Snart now?"

"Jumping ahead in the story, kid," Mick admonished her, impressed by her connecting the dots so quickly.

Sin glanced back at Sara and saw her friend trying to blink back tears.

"You were with him and he's not here. He died?" Sin asked.

"He died to save the world just a few days ago," Mick said, his voice thick. He finished off his beer in one go.

"We weren't together," Sara said, quietly. "We were heading that way, but we weren't when he died. I got to kiss him once. A kiss good-bye."

Mick nodded, having guessed something like that had happened; he'd known how Snart had felt about the assassin. Apparently, the feelings were mutual.

Sin wrapped her arms around Sara, pulling her into another hug.

"Need more beer," Mick grumbled as he stood, needing space from all these feelings being exposed. He made his way into the kitchen and helped himself to another beer, drinking down half the bottle in one long pull.

Sin entered the room a few minutes later, carrying hers and Sara's empties. "Sara's washing her face," she offered. "Were they in love?"

"Boss and I didn't talk about feelings," Mick started, "but if they weren't yet, they were getting there. Anyone who looked at them could tell."

"I'm sorry for your loss," Sin said, quietly.

Mick looked up at her, surprised.

"You lost him, too, right?" she asked. "After knowing him for how long?"

"Thirty years," Mick acknowledged.

"That's longer than I've been alive," Sin murmured in wonder. She took a step closer to Mick, causing him to straighten up from his slouch against a counter. "I'm going to hug you now," she warned him.

"You don't have to," Mick said, suddenly craving the human contact, but not wanting to hurt her.

"I know," Sin said as she finished closing the distance between them and wrapping her arms around Mick's torso. Mick lowered his arms so that they hung loosely around Sin, not really hugging her back, but not pushing her away, either.

That's how Sara found them.

"Am I interrupting anything?" she asked, amusement in her voice.

"No," Mick said, quickly, taking a step back.

"Not yet, anyway," Sin said. "Feel better?"

"A little, yeah," Sara said. "I think it's time for me to find Laurel. You coming, Mick?"

Mick looked down at Sin and raised an eyebrow, who shrugged in response. "You go on ahead, I think I'll stick around here for a bit."

Sara cocked her head to look at them. "Are you sure?"

"Like you said before, no reason for me to trail you around the city looking for your family," Mick said. "Besides, Sin has beer."

"You're okay with him sticking around?" Sara asked, surprised.

Sin ran her eyes over Mick in a way that had Mick's blood suddenly heat up. "Yeah, I'm sure," she answered.

"Mick, call to let me know where you land tonight."

"Sure thing, Bo--, um, Blondie," Mick stumbled, surprise on both their faces at what he'd almost called her.

"Walk me out," Sara said to Sin, her saccharine smile fooling no one.

Sin followed Sara to the door. "This the part where you tell me to watch myself around him?"

"He's way too old for you," Sara said. "And dangerous."

"I thought he was your friend," Sin said, frowning. "And he seems like he could really use someone right now."

Sara's expression softened. "When'd you get to be so smart?"

"Probably while you were dead," Sin half-joked. "We can joke about that now, right?"

"Yeah, we can. And I won't lecture you about Mick. Just, be careful. I don't know if this mission is going to pick back up again and if it does, I don't know how long we'll be gone for. I don't want you hurt if you get attached and he suddenly disappears."

"At least I'll know why ahead of time," Sin said. "And who said I'll get attached? Maybe I just want to take advantage of him." She winced and blushed faintly when she heard Mick snort in the kitchen, but what the hell, he was hot; she was going to own it.

"Stop, I beg you. I don't ever want that image in my head," Sara whined.

Sin laughed and pulled Sara into a quick hug. "Try to say good-bye next time, just in case."

"I promise," Sara said.

Sara stepped out into the hallway and Sin called after her, "If you're looking for Laurel, go talk to your dad."

"Okay, thanks," Sara said, looking at Sin curiously as she closed the door.

Mick was staring at the food delivery menus on the fridge when Sin returned to the kitchen.

"You know what I missed the most on that ship?" Mick asked, turning to face Sin.

"Sex?" Sin guessed.

"That, too," Mick agreed. "But I was thinking of Big Belly Burger."

Sin grinned at that. "C'mon, there's one just a couple blocks from here. We'll get some burgers, then see about the other thing."

Mick nearly choked on his last sip of beer. "Yeah?"

"If you play your cards right."

"Cards were really more Snart's thing," Mick said with a frown.

"And what do you play with?" Sin asked.

"Fire," Mick automatically responded.

"I have been told that I'm a little spitfire," Sin smoothly said.

Mick laughed, the sound foreign to his ears. "I just bet you have. Let's hurry up and get our food."

The walk was made mostly in silence. They found a booth and once they'd ordered, Mick asked, "So, Sara tell you not to get involved with me?"

"Pretty much," Sin confirmed. "Pretty sure you heard that, too. You?"

"Before I even met you," Mick agreed.

"She doesn't want us to get hurt," Sin tried to defend her friend.

"Not really up to her," Mick said. "Not that I'm out to hurt anyone."

"Me either," Sin agreed. "Just looking for a little fun. It's not like I expect you to stick around here."

"Just so we're clear," Mick agreed, wondering why that thought made his chest hurt just a little bit.

Their food arrived a few minutes later and Mick couldn't wait to pick his burger up and sink his teeth into it.

"You're not going to take those off to eat?" Sin asked, gesturing to his gloves.

"Don't take them off in public," Mick said around a mouthful of food.

"Why not, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Got caught in a fire a number of years back," Mick said, unashamed. "Got some pretty serious burns on my arms and back, including my hands."

"Do they hurt?" she asked, nibbling at a fry.

"Not anymore," Mick answered. "Hurry up before your burger gets cold."

Sin knew better than to press the topic any further and picked up her burger and began eating.

Mick polished off his burger in half a dozen bites, or less, licking his gloves clean. Settling back in the booth, he said, "If you were serious about your other offer, I should probably warn you that it's been awhile since I've been with anyone."

"Yeah, Sara said you were gone for five months," Sin said.

"Been a bit longer than that for me," Mick admitted. "See, while we were gone, the Time Masters got their hands on me. Brainwashed me into being their bounty hunter and assassin for a couple hundred of years."

Sin looked at him skeptically. "Now you're just pulling my leg. You are not a couple hundred of years old. You look like you're in your forties."

"Time Masters operated outside of time. Could live for hundreds of years in the span of one earth year," Mick said.

"And you were never with anyone during that time?" Sin asked.

Mick shook his head. "Didn't even occur to me. I was their loyal puppet, only did what I was told."

"That sounds terrible," Sin said, aghast.

"It was," Mick agreed. "Team got me back to myself. Mostly myself. One good thing they did was take away the need to burn everything. Don't get me wrong, I still like to burn shit up, but the need to burn isn't there anymore."

"Glad something good came out of it at least," Sin said. "And that you were reunited with your partner in the end."

"Yeah," Mick somberly agreed.

Sin wiped her mouth with a napkin and threw it down on her empty food basket. "Let's get out of here. I think we've been serious enough for one night."

"You still want me to come back to your place?" Mick asked, surprised. "Even knowing I was a bounty hunter, a killer?"

"Sara used to be an assassin, too," Sin reminded him. "You're not still a bounty hunter, right?" Mick shook his head. "Not a killer?"

"Not if I can help it."

"Then we're good."

"You're something else," Mick said in wonder.

"I've seen a lot of crazy shit in this city," Sin said. "Good people forced to do bad things and bad people suddenly doing the right thing in times of crisis. I've learned not to take everything at face value."

They kept the conversation light on the walk back to Sin's apartment and Sin led Mick straight to her bedroom when they arrived.

"You're not even trying to be coy," Mick said approvingly.

"What's the point in being coy?" Sin asked, pushing him lightly until he sat on the bed. She bent to kiss him, a light press of lips with a promise of more. "Scoot back against the wall," she murmured against his mouth.

Mick yanked off his boots and jacket before doing as requested. "Bossy little thing, aren't you?"

"Only if you want me to be," Sin said, slipping out of her own jacket and boots. She crawled up the bed and straddled Mick's lap. Mick's hands gripped her hips as she settled against him. "Hi," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck.

As Sin leaned in to kiss him again, Mick pulled back and swore. "Shit, sorry, before we do anything else, I gotta make a phone call."

"Seriously?" Sin pouted, rolling her hips. "You have to make a call right now?"

Mick groaned as he felt his body react to the movement. "I can either do it now or after we're done. Figured now would be better. I'll be quick," he said, pulling phone out of his pocket. Sin started to move to get off of him, but Mick reached out to hold her in place.

He quickly pulled up Sara's number, glad that she picked up after only one ring. "Hey, Sara, just wanted to let you know that I'm set for the night."

"Are you still with Sin?" Sara asked, her voice sounded strained.

"So what if I am?" he returned, his defenses rising.

"No, that's good. You should be around good people tonight," Sara said.

Mick held the phone away from his ear to see if he'd heard that right. "You okay there? You sound off."

"I'll talk to you tomorrow, Mick," Sara said, evading his question and ending the call.

Mick frowned as he set his phone on Sin's bedside table.

"Everything okay?" Sin asked, her fingers scratching lightly at his neck.

"I don't think so, but she didn't say what was up. I'll find out tomorrow," Mick said. He shook his head then leered at Sin, who was still on his lap. "Now, where were we?"

Sin grinned and met Mick in a heated kiss.

They didn't talk again for a very long time.

~~*~~

After a couple of very enthusiastic rounds of getting to know each other better, Mick fell asleep curled around Sin.

They woke the next morning in the same position.

Sin declared that breakfast at her favorite diner was in order. They were seated at a table for four and soon after they ordered, another person sat down at their table.

"Hey, Mick."

"Haircut," Mick said in greeting.

"Hi, I'm Ray," he said, holding a hand out to Sin.

"Sin." She looked at Mick as she perfunctorily shook Ray's hand. "Friend of yours?"

"He was on our mission," Mick reluctantly admitted.

"I-I thought we should talk," Ray said to Mick.

"How'd you find me?" Mick asked.

"I triangulated the signal on your phone," Ray said.

"I'm gonna go use the little girl's room," Sin said, excusing herself. Mick's eyes begged her not to go, but she rolled her eyes and left the two teammates alone.

"What do you want, Haircut?" Mick asked, sipping his coffee.

"To apologize, sort of. For Snart. I was the one who was supposed to die, and I can't help feeling that…"

Mick interrupted him. He didn't want to deal with all this feelings shit before breakfast, if ever. "It wasn't your fault. It was his. Son of a bitch never did anything without a plan."

"Maybe you're right," Ray said, a little too brightly. "Maybe he wanted this." He gestured between the two of them.

"What are you doing with your hand?" Mick asked, warily.

"Maybe he wanted us to, you know, be partners."

"Think I'm going to be sick," Mick said. He couldn't imagine being partners with anyone other than Snart.

Ray didn't seem to notice his reaction and continued. "I think Snart knew. He knew that I'd keep an eye out for you, and you'd keep an eye out for me."

"While doing what?" Mick found himself asking.

"What we haven't finished doing," Ray said, earnestly.

"The mission?" Sin asked, sliding back into her seat.

"You told her about it?" Ray asked in surprise.

"No, Sara did. She's Sara's friend." Then Mick quickly added, "Mine, too, now."

"So you're going back already?" Sin asked with a pout.

The server arrived with three plates of food. Sin and Mick looked surprised as an egg white omelet was set in front of Ray.

"I ordered at the counter and told them I was joining you," Ray explained.

"Is he for real?" Sin asked Mick.

"Unfortunately," Mick said.

"Hey!" Ray objected.

"You're the one to interrupt our morning after breakfast, buddy," Sin said. "If you wanted a welcome reception, you should have called first."

Ray had the decency to blush. "I guess you're right, I'm sorry. I didn't really think that Mick would have met someone so quickly."

"Apology not accepted," Mick said, biting into his bacon. "Besides, how're we supposed to finish the mission if Rip just left us here?"

"I think we can call him back," Ray said, then lifted something out of a bag on the floor. "With this."

Sin and Mick looked at the device, then at each other, then at Ray. "What's that?" they asked in unison.

"Quantum entangler." At the blank looks on his companions' faces, Ray continued, "The Waverider would have left a Quantum signature. We can use this to send a signal to the Waverider so Rip knows we want him to come back."

"Let me think about it," Mick said, looking over at Sin.

"We should really do this sooner rather than later, before the signature dissipates," Ray said.

"Let me eat my breakfast and then I'll give you my answer," Mick snapped.

"Yeah, sure, okay," Ray sputtered.

"And I think you should take your food to the counter," Mick added.

Glancing between Mick and Sin, Ray nodded his agreement. "Okay, sure. I'll just…" He put the Quantum entangler back in its bag and then took his food to an empty seat at the counter.

"You're going to go," Sin said as soon Ray was out of earshot.

"I know," Mick said. "Hasn't felt right leaving the mission incomplete. Doesn't mean that I want him to know I'm just as determined to see it out."

Sin giggled at the small smile tugging Mick's lips. "You're terrible."

"He makes it so easy," Mick said. "I'll call Sara on the way back to your place so she can come say good-bye."

"Thanks," Sin said, sincerely.

"Not letting her break her promise to you," Mick said.

"You sure you're not one of the heroes?" Sin teased him.

"Eat your pancakes," Mick huffed.

Ray was practically beaming when Mick told him that he'd be going with him and insisted on paying for their breakfast. They let him.

Ray drove them back to Sin's apartment, and Mick called Sara to let her know they were getting the Waverider to come back. She said she'd be at Sin's apartment in ten minutes.

Mick told Ray to wait with the car while he and Sin went upstairs, supposedly to get something Mick had left behind.

Really they just wanted to make out until Sara arrived.

Sara pounded on the door to announce her presence, startling them apart. Sin opened the door to admit a very pissed off Sara.

"What's wrong?" Sin asked her.

"You really think you can get Rip to come back?" Sara asked Mick.

"Haircut made some device last night that can get him back, yeah," Mick said. "You don't look okay."

"I'm not," Sara agreed. "But Rip can fix it."

Sin wondered if they would be able to go back in time and save Laurel.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you yesterday," Sin rushed to say. "I wanted to, but I thought it would be better coming from your dad. You know I'm no good with stuff like that."

Sara's eyes welled up with tears. "I figured that out. I'm not upset with you, but I can't talk about this right now."

Sin pulled Sara into a hug that the other woman gratefully accepted. "You just go do what you have to do." She met Mick's eyes as she said this. "Then you come back to me."

Mick smirked, but nodded.

Sara pulled back and wiped her eyes. "I'll miss you."

"Me, too," Sin said. "Now go save the future."

Sara went to the door and turned to wait for Mick.

"Go ahead, I'll be down in a minute," Mick said. Sara's eyes narrowed at him, but she went down to Ray's car.

"What was all that about? What's Rip gonna fix?" Mick asked.

"Her sister was killed about a month ago," Sin told him.

"Bastard knew it and brought us back late on purpose," Mick realized. "Looking forward to Sara ripping him a new one."

Stepping in close to Sin, Mick asked, "You mean what you said? You want me to come back to you? Or was that all just for Sara?"

"That was for both of you," Sin said. "I had a good time last night."

"So did I," Mick said. "Looking forward to next time."

"You just make sure there will be a next time," Sin said, pulling on Mick's jacket until he bent over to kiss her.

Mick's phone began to ring and without even looking at the caller ID he answered, "I'm coming."

"I'll see you soon," he growled, kissing Sin quickly one last time.

"You better," she licked her lips, "better hurry up before Sara comes back up here."

"Wouldn't want that," Mick agreed and took his leave.

A smile was teasing his lips as he slid into the passenger seat of Ray's car. Sara was already in back, playing with one of her knives.

"Let's go find Rip and end that crazy sonofabitch once and for all," Mick said.