Chapter Text
"Sorry, your name is...?"
"Mick Rory," Mick says, sitting very still. "Uh, technically it's Michael Christopher Sebastian Rory, but I go by Mick."
He appreciated full names. They helped cut down on ambiguity, which was helpful for a kid from a town with thirteen Micks.
Irish Catholics flock together.
"Ri-ight," Sara Lance, 'but please call me Sara', says. She looks a bit long-suffering, but in fairness, she is the Captain and leader of the Legends, a rather motley collection of capes and vigilantes and volunteers, rather than one of the more reputable hero teams like the Flash (Majorus or Minorus, as people in the Gem City liked to joke about the two distinct teams: better than calling the Minorus team the Kid Flash team, given that said hero was fully grown) or the Arrow teams over in Starling. She's probably used to people fucking up their interviews. "So why do you want to join the Legends and be a hero?"
Basic opener, should be a softball.
"I want to help people," Mick answers steadily. He really hopes he doesn't screw up this one; this could be his last chance of becoming a real superhero.
"You could do that in a hundred other roles: police, hospital, even -" She glances at his fireproof clothing. "- firefighter. Why do you want to be a hero in specific?"
"I think it would be the best use of my talents," Mick says. He keeps his fingers knotted together in his lap. "I've done some bad things in my past that I'm hoping to move beyond, and being a volunteer hero seems to me to be a good way of doing it. I understand the risks involved."
"Do you?"
"Survival rates are pretty low, self-sacrifice pretty high. I get that. I'm willing to take that risk on."
A glimmer of interest. "Glad to hear it." She shuffles through his paperwork. The White Canary, sister to the Black Canary over in Starling, daughters of the former Black Canary - it must be nice, being born into a family like that, a hero for a mother and a respected detective for a father. Mick had no such luck. Most people didn't. "Hmmm."
He's heard that 'hmmm' before; it means she's seized on the part of his application that's actually interesting.
"You still have this - 'heat gun' that you mention here?"
"Yes," Mick says, just barely swallowing the 'ma'am' his farm boy heritage is currently suggesting as a good idea. White Canary's younger than he is; she won't appreciate it. Best just to leave it off.
"You know how to use it?"
"Better than anyone."
"Repair it?"
"Yes."
"Hmmmm. And -" Some more paper shuffling. "- do you ever have any issues with, ah, your listed medical condition -"
"My pyromania is being treated effectively," Mick says. "I see a regular shrink and I'm on a regimen of medication which is proving very effective. It's all in the application."
"I see."
More paper shuffling, but she's interested. The Legends are down a fire-worker - they used to have Firestorm, but he split into his component parts so that one could retire to be with his grandchildren and the other could go to college, the obvious result of such an age-differential pairing. That meant they're particularly interested in acquiring another fire specialist, and Mick's hoping that means they'll take a chance on him.
He doesn't let himself hope too much, though. He's been at this stage before and it hasn't ended well.
"Huh."
Yep, there it is. The interested 'Hmmm' followed by the 'Huh' of concern.
"Says here this isn't your first time applying to a hero group," Sara observes.
"No."
"You've applied to both Flash and Kid Flash groups, as well as to the Arrow outposts, the Lanterns out by the coast, the Super groups - Supergirl, Superman, even Superboy - you're on the nigh-endless waitlist to get an interview on the Wonder Woman team despite the disadvantages of your gender, and you've even gone so far as to apply to work support for the Bats in Gotham."
"Didn't work," Mick says shortly. "They only work with Gotham residents."
Unspoken: no one else applies.
"Looks like you really want to be a hero, Mr. Rory," Sara says.
"That's right, Miss - uh, Captain Lance."
"Call me Sara," she repeats absently, still frowning down at the paperwork. "Okay, this might be a rude question, but - why?"
Mick winces.
"Why didn't one of these groups - excluding the Bats, we know they're weird - agree to take you? Your testing stats seem fine, if more geared towards physical work and fighting than intellectual support, which is fine; the heat gun seems like a real asset; and for all your talk of bad things in your past, you haven't been listed as being purposefully involved in any major arsons since your mid-twenties. Unintentional ones, yes, but nothing intentional."
"That's right," Mick says.
"So why not take you on?"
Mick swallows. Here's the part of the interview where it always goes wrong. "On the application, question 26c," he says, "it asks if you have anything additional you feel you need to disclose before you get hired."
"Yes, it does," Sara says, checking. "And you've marked it 'yes'. What do you feel you need to disclose before applying to work as a hero?"
"My - uh - there's this guy," Mick says, changing tracks. "He's - interested. In me."
Sara's gaze sharpens. "You have a stalker?"
Mick opens his mouth to protest, but no, now that he thinks about it, there's a good chunk of Len's behavior that falls into that category. "Yeah," he says. "I guess? It's kinda endearing, sometimes."
Sara's eyebrows go up.
"I saved his life when he was a kid," Mick explains. "He wanted to pay me back for it when he was older, except he hasn't really figured out a good way to do it yet. So he sends me gifts, money, tries to get me out of a jam, that sorts of things. And to do that, he says he needs to keep an eye on me. Sometimes. Uh, most of the time. If it means anything, I don't really mind the stalking so much; I don't really care much about privacy. And some of the gifts are nice. And he'll lay off for a few days if I ask and stuff. It ain't domestic violence or anything like that. It's just - sometimes it can be an issue. Mostly for other people, he'd never do it if it really bugged me, y'know?"
Sara's looking amused, now, instead of concerned. "So he's old-style-romance-novel courting you, and you're okay with that?"
"Something like that," Mick says. He doesn't know how to explain that Len's interest in him isn't sexual; Mick's more interested in fire than he is in people, though he doesn't mind having sex, and as far as Mick can tell, Len gets his kicks from adrenaline instead. But Len loves showing off how good of a provider he is, how thoughtful a gift-giver, how generous a friend, how valiant a protector, and Mick's his favorite target for that, right next to his sister. Mick tried to commiserate with her once, but she ended up trying to give him the shovel talk instead. "Either way, I feel like I gotta disclose it 'cause it could impact what I do as a hero, since he does go out of his way to try to keep me safe."
"I see," Sara says, still looking amused. She'd been trying to hide her smile, but she's given up the fight and is full-on smirking at him now. "Better that your knight in shining armor is a known factor at the start, huh?"
Mick shrugs. He can't really say he'd describe Len that way.
He can't say most people would, really.
"What's this guy's name, anyhow?"
He'd been hoping she wouldn't ask that. But she has, and he has to answer. He can't start off a career in being a hero by lying.
"Leonard Jacob Itzhak Snart."
"Leonard -" Sara pauses. "Wait. Leonard Snart? Not the Leonard Snart?"
"Yes, ma'am," Mick says, unable to help himself.
"The Leonard Snart that's a supervillain?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"The Leonard Snart that is a founding member of the Legion of Doom, the Supervillain League, and the Henchman and Minion Union? The one who's regularly classed up there in the top five most terrifyingly competent supervillains you can possibly go up against? The only non-powered one on that selfsame list?"
"Luthor -"
"Lex Luthor literally grafted his spine into that supersuit, he doesn't count anymore," Sara says dismissively. "But just so we're being clear, we are talking about the Leonard Snart that, when Luthor got bitchy over a Metropolis incursion, organized the other villains into very nearly throwing Luthor out of his own goddamn evil conspiracy?"
"...he's very good at organizing?" Mick offers weakly.
Sara stares at Mick. "So, just to be perfectly clear," she says, and oh, this isn't going to be good. "You're telling me, the leader of a team of superheroes ranked B-level at best, that your would-be suitor from another era, your knight in shining armor, your stalker boyfriend or whatever you want to call him, is an omega-level ranked threat-to-the-world supervillain capable of quite literally rallying armies. Is that what you're telling me?"
"...yes, ma'am."
"And you're telling me that what he likes best is watch you wherever you go and, what, leave you gifts?"
"Sometimes if I get in trouble with other villains, he intercedes to make them let me go," Mick says, deciding to omit the violence that tends to happen if the villains don't comply with what Len considers to be commendable alacrity. "But yeah, usually just gifts."
Sara continues to stare at him.
After the first full minute of silence passes, Mick's shoulders slump. He's pretty sure that means he blew this interview, too.
Next comes the part where he's asked to leave, and quickly.
"You know what," Sara says. "You know what? Why not."
Mick raises his head and looks at her.
She's tapping her pen to her lips. "Why not," she says again, nodding to herself. "What the hell, wouldn't be the first bad decision I've made on staffing for this team. Congrats, Rory, you're in."
"I - I am?"
"Yep," she says, popping the 'p' like bubblegum. "You clearly really want to be a hero, god only knows why - I assume Snart's already offered to set you up in a fully equipped mansion as his official mistress-in-evil or something -"
"Consort," Mick corrects.
Sara blinks owlishly at him. "Pardon?"
"As his consort. He said he wouldn't wanna disrespect me by calling me a mistress."
Sara gives a low whistle. "He's got it bad, doesn't he," she says with a touch of admiration. "Gotta admit, would not have called that one; everyone always says he's such a cold fish. Well, I don't know what it is that's driving you, but driven you clearly are, and I'm willing to take a bet on you."
"Really?" Mick asks, still unable to believe it. "I - really? That's great! Most people kick me out around now. What was it, if you don't mind me asking..?"
"Honestly?" Sara says. "My team's fairly new, fairly unorthodox, and, most importantly, fairly struggling to keep up with the big league guys. You seem like you'd be useful support, enough that I'd take you on your own merits, but if your little thing with Snart can get us out of even one scrape or tight spot, you'll have earned more than enough credit to balance out any trouble we'll get that comes along with it. After all, we're not like the big guys; it's not like we actually have any secrets that would be a problem for his spying to discover that would make you a security risk..."
Mick nods. That makes perfect sense.
"Besides," Sara adds, "if Snart decides to retaliate against us for not hiring you, we wouldn't be able to take it."
"He doesn't want me working hero work at all," Mick objects. "He wouldn't retaliate; he's probably grateful."
"He might not want you working the hero side," Sara says dryly, "but he probably doesn't want you feeling bad 'cause you got rejected, either."
...that's probably true, actually. It sounds a suspicious amount like something Len would do and never mention to Mick.
Mick makes a mental note to look to see if any attacks hit the places he applied to shortly after he got rejected.
"But either way, it's not an issue," Sara says briskly. "Welcome to the team. I hope you realize that when I said B-list superheroes, I was A, serious and B, understating how much of a sheer total mess we are, so if you want to quit -"
"I won't," Mick says. Not after this long trying without success to get onto a hero team!
"Regardless, if you do, we'll be okay with it," she says firmly. "Just promise me you're not a spy or something."
"I'm not."
"Didn't think so," she said. "Though - now that we've gotten hiring out of the way - why do you want to join up? Beyond what you've already told me. Why heroism?"
Mick shrugs. "I got help after juvie, mental health type help, and I put my life together. Wasn't easy, lot of setbacks, but I did it, and I want to - I dunno. Pay it forward or some shit like that. Most up-and-up places won't take me, though - too violent, too thuggish, arson's scary, take your pick. I do some freelance charity stuff, but it got into my head that I could do something a little more substantive, what with the heat gun and stuff. I know I'll be a good hero, I've got the skills for it, and, well, I want to do good. This is a good way for me to do good."
"Sadly," Sara says, "that may be the most well-adjusted least-tragic-backstory reason I ever heard."
"My family died in a fire that I started."
"...well-adjusted, at least. Come on, I'll introduce you to the rest of the team."
The rest of the team consisted of Ray Palmer, inventor, super-suit user, and all-around smiling daisy flower; Zari Tomaz, hacker, trickster-style anti-hero, and possibly from the future; Nate Heywood, steel-skin grad school dropout with a hero ancestry; and Amaya Jiwe, animal spirit summoner and clone. There's also Gideon, their spaceship/timeship AI, but she apparently doesn't get involved beyond navigation.
"Nice to meet you," Mick grunts, a bit embarrassed. He's not good with people.
Luckily, neither are any of they, a fact which Mick is incredibly grateful for.
"Okay, guys!" Sara says, clapping her hands for attention. "Enough chit-chat; we're done recruiting for the moment, so let's go on a trial mission to see how we all work together, huh? There's a small job on the mission posting that we can take."
Mick loves it.
He gets to use his gun, which he adores; he gets to use his fists and even, at one point, his head, ramming it into one of the villains they were sent to apprehend; he gets to feel the rush of a fight, the camaraderie of fighting besides allies, and, best of all, the sheer joy and satisfaction of doing the right thing.
Of being a hero.
Yes, this is where Mick was supposed to be: with the heroes, getting his illness dealt with so that he can do all the things he wanted to do as a villain but for the side of good.
"Good job, everyone," Sara tells them as they head back to the Waverider, grinning wildly. "We only had one major screw-up that time!"
"So half the team getting captured wasn't part of a scheme?" Mick asks, only half-teasing.
"Nope," Ray answers brightly. He doesn't understand sarcasm, which Mick appreciates about him. "But it worked out for the best at the end - hey, cool! Presents!"
There were, in fact, a bunch of what appeared to be long-sleeved shirts on the table, each one wrapped in a bright blue ribbon. Ray bounds forward and pulls one free, unfurling it to show the rest of them.
"Official Superhero Squad: Legends Edition," Nate reads and laughs. "Nice, boss, I love it!"
"It wasn't me," Sara says.
Everyone, including Mick, turns to look at her. She's frowning at the table.
"No, seriously," she says when she notices their stares. "Don't get me wrong, I totally would if I'd thought about it, but I didn't. Gideon, is this you?"
"I'm afraid not, Captain Lance," Gideon says.
"Then who was it?" Amaya asks, frowning now as well. "You have them on your cameras, right?"
"I have a several minute blank in my camera files," Gideon says apologetically. "However, I have scanned the presents several times and they contain nothing harmful. There is, however, a card."
"They left a card?" Zari asks skeptically, stepping up and pulling it out from under the shirts.
There's a picture of a snowflake on the front of the card.
Mick groans and covers his face with his hands.
Len could be so goddamn embarrassing sometimes.
"'Congrats on the new team roster,'" Zari reads out. "'Keep each other safe and no harm will come to you.' What the hell does that mean?"
"Is it one of the other teams?" Ray asks. "One of the Flashes, maybe?"
"What type of superhero leaves a threat? Especially against other heroes?" Amaya asks.
"Yeah, well, what type of villain leaves presents?" Nate replies, gesturing at the shirts.
"Actually," Sara interjects, "I might know the answer to that, though I've got to admit that I wasn't aware it was going to become relevant so fast - or, uh, that the individual in question could break past our security, bypass Gideon, and somehow already knows all of our shirt sizes -"
"Plus the fact that I'm allergic to some types of wool," Ray adds, peering down at one of the shirts. "This one is my size and it's labeled allergen-free."
"Okay then," Sara says. She looks like she's developing a headache. "Uh, so, it appears that when we took Mick on, we got two for the price of one in a much more immediate way than I was anticipating."
"I told you about his way with gifts," Mick mumbles. Sara hasn't yet noticed the fact that there are now some very nice Impressionist paintings adorning the walls of the bridge, a handful of Mick's favorite artists, and he's not going to be the one to mention it.
He's willing to bet that the room assigned to him, which he hasn't even seen yet, has already been stocked with some nice sheets and a good weighted blanket, too.
He likes weighted blankets.
Maybe he can bribe Ray with one of his own not to mention it...
"Yeah, well," Sara says, shaking her head a little. "While our mandate does include picking up villains as team members, I guess I was expecting the villains to be a little more...past-tense."
"Oooh, do we have a villain member?" Nate asks, eyes bright. "Who is it?"
"His name's Leonard Snart," Mick says. "And he ain't a member of the team."
Unless he got one of those dumb shirts for himself, anyway.
"Wait," Amaya says. "The Leonard Snart who -"
Mick decides to go find his bedroom.
There is a weighted blanket there.
There's also a very happy supervillain sprawled on said weighted blanket, munching on the dinner that Mick made in advance for him in the event the interview went well.
"Mick!" Len exclaims, beaming at him. "Congrats! You got on a team! I knew you could do it!"
"Len, you ain't supposed to be here. You're a supervillain, remember?" Mick reminds him, even though he knows it's probably futile.
"I'll sneak out in the morning," Len promises. "I've got a teleporter on call now, actually; he can even jump timestreams, and he's just getting started as a villain so he doesn't mind being my taxi cab for a while. It's a good internship position for him."
"You're paying him, right?"
"Of course I'm paying him," Len says indignantly. "Who d'you take me for, Luthor? I'm also setting him up with a mentor in his own specialization - found someone who was looking for an apprentice now that they're getting older and slower, they'll be just right for each other."
Len's supervillain shtick might be cold, but his superpower has always been a combination of organization skills and networking. Now both of those villains would owe him favors.
Mick sighs.
"Now come to bed," Len says coaxingly. "I brought hot chocolate with mini marshmallow and your favorite ninja movies; we can celebrate your new job in style."
Mick allows himself to be drawn in, mostly because resistance is in fact futile.
"Hey, Len," he says once he's curled under the weighted blanket, a definitely-not-regulation fireplace crackling in the corner of the berthroom and the flatscreen television starting the opening credits. "Out of curiosity, if I hadn't gotten the job, would you do anything to them?"
"Not an issue, since you did."
"Len."
"You know I hate seeing you disappointed."
"Len."
"It wouldn't be nothing they wouldn't have already dealt with!"
"Len!"
"I just take an existing villain plot and -"
"Leonard Jacob Itzhak Snart!"
Len cowers before the might of the Disappointed Use Of The Full Name and tries to look apologetic.
He's not very good at it.
Mick sighs again and reaches out to put a hand on Len's hairline the way Len likes. It's really not fair to expect Len not to act - well, like the asshole supervillain he is.
"You know you're going to have to let me do this hero thing on my own, right?" he reminds Len. "Unless you want to turn anti-villain."
"No, I'm not gonna," Len says sulkily. "And I know, I know. I'll let you stretch your wings. I just wanna celebrate. You've been trying so hard, y'know?"
"Just this once," Mick allows.
"And anytime you're in serious danger."
"Life-threatening danger only."
"Ugh, fine..."
There's a knock on the door.
They both freeze.
"Hey, Mick, it's Ray!" a voice came through the door. "Everyone else decided to deal with the issue in the morning, so we're all turning in, but I was walking by and heard you watching a movie. Want some company?"
He sounds wistful.
Mick's about to say no, but Len pokes at him and nods.
Mick goggles at him. "He'll see you," he hisses.
"Good for him to get to know me early," Len hisses back. "Don't worry, I looked this guy up; he's a dweeb, but well-meaning. He'll be good company for you when I ain't around. Let him in."
Mick thinks this is a terrible idea.
"Come in!"
Ray comes in. "Ooooh," he says. "Is that a weighted blanket? I've always wanted one of those."
"Hot chocolate, too," Len says. "Mini-marshmallows. Grab a mug."
"Cool! I will - uh, sorry, do I know – I mean, have we met..?"
"Shh," Mick says loudly. "Movie's starting."
Ray really wants to ask, that much is obvious, but social requirements win out and he keeps quiet, grabbing a mug and settling down, although he does keep shooting Len confused looks of almost-but-not-quite recognition.
"Tell you later," Mick whispers to him.
Ray beams.
Mick even dares to let himself hope that this might actually all work out...
As long as Sara doesn't come walking through the door, anyway.
She does, but luckily it's only after Nate, Amaya, and Zari have already invaded the room and been seduced by a combination of weighted blankets, soft pillows, hot chocolate and a handful of ninja movies even Mick will admit are terrible.
They're all wearing their new team shirts, too.
Sara looks ready to murder someone, but since it would be her entire team, she ends up giving in and joining them.
Len is pleased as punch about it.
(The first time one of the villains they're pursuing surrenders on sight of Leonard Snart's new favorite supehero team, so are the rest of them.)