Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Slowly Barry slipped open the door. It was late and he knew the others would all be sleeping. It had been a long day fighting Vandel’s forces. Somehow or another they all ended up at Oliver’s home. The other man hadn’t protested as everyone took a room to crash in. Luckily Thea had already been asleep because no one really wanted to explain what had happened earlier that day. Everyone had taken a room except for Len who had roomed with Mick to make sure the other man didn’t end up burning something down in the middle of the night. Right now Barry was padding softly through the hallway in a huge tee shirt that ended just above his knees. Normally he did wear pants to bed but after a day running around in the Flash outfit he just wanted something loose (it was just cool enough to require some clothes). The dim light allowed Barry to make sure he didn’t knock into anything as he found the door he was looking for. Normally he would knock but it had been a long day and he doubted anyone would be happy to be woken up. Quickly glancing around to make sure no one was looking he quietly opened the door then slipped in. It shut with a soft click behind him. The sound of rustling sheets had him turning. Mick was sitting up, blankets slipping down to show that he wasn’t wearing a shirt. The older man blinked sleepily as he took in the sight before him. Barry forgot that Mick was actually a very light sleeper.

“Couldn’t sleep?” the man asked, voice much more gruff than usual. Not actually speaking Barry shook his head. Mick just moved over a bit. With a tiny smile Barry went over to the bed and crawled up from the foot of the bed. He carefully crawled onto the king sized mattress, making sure not to hit Len in the process. The tiny smile grew a bit. Really sometimes Barry wondered if the other man could sleep through an earthquake. Mick pulled back the covers back so that Barry could slip in between him and Len. Briefly Barry noted that Len had decided to forgo the shirt as well. Once Mick laid back down Barry rested his head on his chest with an arm wrapped around him. Mick was always so much warmer than normal people. Feeling the bed shift behind him it didn’t surprise Barry when a cool arm wrapped around his waist and Len pressed against his back.

“Night doll.” Mick muttered. Barry didn’t try to fight the fact that his eyes were slipping shut, a soft sigh escaping as he finally managed to fall asleep.

~
~
In the morning he felt his cheek resting against a cool chest and a warmer one pressing against his back and an arm around his waist. Len’s arm rested against his arm. Soft puffs of air made his hair move gentilly. Snuggling a bit closer Barry was just about to doze back off when he heard the door open.

“Hey Rory Sn-” Oh god this was not good. Barry didn’t dare make a move.

“Sara wha-” oh dear god that was Ray.

“What?” snarled Mick, angered by the fact that he was woken up.

“Uh we were going to ask if you knew where Barry was since Caitlin and Cisco were here for him, but it looks like we don’t need to wonder any more.” Barry was sure Sara was smirking as she spoke.

“Is it an emergency?” Len asked and Barry knew the other man’s eyes were still shut, reluctant to let any light in.

“No.”

“Then fuck off.” spat Mick as shifted slightly.

“Right. We’ll just let them know he’s busy.” Ray stated as he shut the door.

“Oh god.” Barry finally whimpered.

“Chill Barry. It could have been worse.” Len muttered as he rubbed the younger man’s arm.

“How?”

“Could’ve walked in on somethin’.” Mick replied as his hand started to trail downward.

“M-Mick!” Barry squeaked as his hand brushed his thigh. The older male didn’t stop as he slipped his hand up and under the large shirt.

“Mick!” he shouted. Barry went to elbow him but Len tightened his grip to keep him from moving.

“Len!” Barry began until Mick’s hand brushed against his side. “Mi-Ah!” He jerked as Mick poked his side. The poke became brushes of the fingers. Struggling Barry tried to get away from being tickled only to have Len throw a leg over his waist to stop the bucking

“Le-eh-n. L-Let me go. Please.” he gasped out as he tried not to laugh. “Mick!” Finally after what felt like forever Mick stopped and Len moved his leg. Both moved back enough for Barry to roll onto his back.

“Jerks.” he managed to pant out.

“So what made you decide to crawl into bed last night?” Len asked as he propped himself up with one arm, the other resting on Barry’s stomach. Mick had a hand just playing with Barry’s hair.

“I couldn’t sleep.” Barry replied while not meeting Len’s gaze.

“Come on doll. What’s the real reason?” Barry hesitated for a moment then sighed.

“It was just a stupid nightmare.”

“If that was it you wouldn’t have come here.” Len pointed out. Not looking at either of them Barry started to speak again.

“Not… not exactly a nightmare. Memories. When… when my mom was murdered and then my dad… Bette being shot,” Barry’s eyes flickered over for a moment, “Oh, right. You wouldn’t know her... “

“Later.” Barry nodded.

“There were times my family almost died or when Mardon had almost destroyed the city, Eddie being accused of a murder he didn’t do when he-when he shot himself and the singularity…” A soft kiss pressed to his temple while another was against his cheek.

“Don’t worry Scarlet. Thawne isn’t dead, everyone is okay. None of it was your fault. Even if you are the fastest man alive you’re just one person.”

“Bu-”

“Doll, you can’t control someone else’s actions. You can try to help but it’s up to them.”

“I’m worried, what if Eobard comes back?”

“We’ve got you.” Len replied.

“Not going let the bastard near you.” Mick agreed.

“He’s faster than me.”

“We won’t go down without a fight.”

“He’s right Scarlet. Don’t worry. Now we better get out before Queen barges in trying to protect your virtue.”

“Len!” Barry shouted as he playfully slapped his shoulder, “Don’t say that. With my luck that would happen.”

“Too bad for him ain’t much left of that.” snickered Mick earning a smack for Barry too.

“You are not telling him that.” Barry stated as he slipped out of the bed. Wondering over he riffled through the drawers to pull out a shirt and pants. As he slipped off the shirt he paused to turn around. Both Len and Mick were just lying there and staring.

“Hey! I don’t care if you watch but you both need to get dressed too.” Barry scolded. Both men groaned but got out of bed, changing into their own clothes.

“How are we going to do this?” Len asked as Barry started making the bed.

“What do you mean?”

“We can either tell them the whole truth or the partial truth.” Mick stated.

“What would be the partial truth?”

“You’ve started coming to us when you have nightmares because while the others have had trauma it’s different when it happens as a child.” Barry thought over what Len said and shrugged.

“I guess we could go with that. Would probably keep Ollie or the other’s from trying to kill both of you.”

“Let him try.” Mick grumbled as he slipped a shirt on. Rolling his eyes Barry flashed over, pressing a quick kiss to the other man’s lips.

“No, don’t. I actually like the both of you and we’ve managed to avoid death threats so far. I’d like to keep it that way.”

“Not to mention how Lisa or Iris would react if they found out.” Len added as he slipped his arms around Barry’s waist.

“I do not want to think about how that would turn out.” Barry decided. A kiss to the back of his head was what he got in response. Reluctantly Len pulled away.

“Well let’s get this show on with.” Sighing Barry nodded in response. Oh this was going to be fun.

Chapter Text

Barry breathed in a deep breath as he stood outside the kitchen doors. He trusted his friendship with Catlin and Cisco enough to not believe they’d abandon him over this, but that didn’t mean they were going to be happy. His relationships with the others he was more worried about. He wasn’t close to most of the team the same way he was with the other two. Realistically Sara would probably not be bothered by it. Lord knows how often she would flirt with Mick and Len. Barry wasn’t angry about it. Nope. Why would he be? It’s not like it matters that she gets to flirt with his men while he couldn’t even talk to them without getting disapproving looks. Not at all. Really though it was Oliver that had Barry worried the most. He was more of a dad then either of Barry’s actual dads’ sometimes. This was probably the day that he died.

“Doll?” The soft rumble of Mick’s voice brought him back from his thoughts. With a weak smile Barry pushed open the door and walked in. All at once the voices died. Barry didn’t acknowledge the looks, a childhood, and honestly an adulthood, of being stared at made it hard for him to actually care. The silence on the other hand always got to him on some level. Len and Mick followed after, heading to the counter for their own food while Barry grabbed a mug for coffee.

“Where’s Ronnie and Stein?” Barry asked, noticing neither men there.

“Stein headed home first thing in the morning, Ronnie’s going to be back later.” Caitlin answered with a sigh, though her voice sounded a bit tight. Under the circumstances it wasn’t surprising that Stein wanted to go see his wife, nor was it at all surprising that Ronnie took him home. As much as it would have been nice to hang out with them without the threat of the world ending, it also meant less people to judge him. He let the silence relapse, no one making an immediate try to speak up.

“Anything you’d like to share with the class?” Thea asked as she twirled her fork around her plate, a small amused smile on her face.

“One of your friends broke a vase while they snuck out last night.” Len informed as he accepted the mug given to him. Oliver’s eyes only flickered to Thea in disapproval before going back to the trio.

“That’s not what she meant, and you know it.”

“Hm, I don’t know anything that the team needs to know about. Mick?”

“Nothing that’s any a’ their business.” Mick rumbled out as he grabbed a plate.

“Guys, please,” Barry sighed, fighting back a small smile. After taking a long drink from his coffee he finally looked at the people gathered. He took a moment to observe the people there. Ray was not making eye contact, face stained a bright pink, while Sara was smirking with… something in her eyes, Barry wasn’t sure if it was a good look or not. Cisco and Caitlin were frowning, glancing between the three men. Kendra was actually glaring at Carter who was sneering at Mick and Len, though that wasn’t that different from any other day. Oliver, though, Oliver looked ready to kill someone over one wrong word. His face was red as a frown was on his face. Narrowed eyes watched Mick and Len’s every move as if waiting for an excuse to do something. Thea was smiling way too happy about the whole situation. There was no way she wasn’t going to be gossiping about this with Roy and Sin.

“So what has Sara said?” Barry asked.

“That you were sleeping with Snart and Rory.” Tilting his head back and forth with a bit of a shrug Barry hmmed.

“Well… she’s technically not wrong.” He admitted.

“BARRY!” was shouted from two different voices.

“I mean literally sleeping. I wasn’t having sex with Len and Mick.” Rolling his eyes he took a sip of his drink. He could practically feel the amusement rolling off of the two older men. After all, just because nothing happened last night doesn’t mean it never happened.

“Why?” The deep disappointment and tiredness that came from Oliver was definitely a new level. Thea looked impressed that he was able to earn that sort of tone.

“Nightmares.” Memories, but there was no way he was going to admit that. Pity wasn’t something needed right now. Well… not that much. Just enough to keep Oliver from killing them.

“I’ve been having nightmares a lot more often.” He admitted. Oliver pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes clenched tight.

“So you have a nightmare and you crawl into bed with your archenemies.” That caused him to almost choke on his drink.

“Archemenies is way too strong a word. I can promise I have two of those, and they are definitely not in here helping us try to save the world. Lately you can’t even call them proper villains.” Oh there was going to be hell to pay for that and honestly Barry couldn’t wait. On the other hand, Mick and Caitlin had almost the same offended look at that.

“Dude….why?” Cisco asked. Releasing a heavy sigh Barry sat his mug down so he could cross his arms. Instead of looking at any of them he stared at the blender across the way. It was some fancy thing in the brightest shade of pink. It had been a gag gift from someone that Thea forced Oliver to keep.

“I had a really bad one a while ago, and just… they found me and helped me through it,” Which wasn’t a lie, just not the whole truth, “They’ve been helping me since, and I know Oliver. Okay? I know, but Len is an insomniac and Mick gives really great hugs and they get it. They get cops not believing you and shitty childhoods and shitty therapists.”

“Barry, listen I under-”

“Oliver, you were the son of a rich white guy. Your biggest issue before the boat crash was making sure your girlfriend didn’t catch you cheating on her with her sister.” Barry deadpanned. Sara’s smile was gone while Ray was looking at Oliver as if he had never seen him before. The man himself had a deep frown on his face.

“Wow Scarlet, that was cold,” Len stated, a small frown on his own face, but the smallest crinkle around his eyes to show his worry. He had set his mug down so he could cross his arms. He was leaning heavier on the counter then he normally would, wanting to come over but holding himself back.

“Look, Oliver I’m sorry, but none of you have had to deal with this. You and Ray came from rich families, everyone else had a steady home life even if it wasn’t picture perfect.” Barry felt Mick press against his side in quiet support. They just didn’t understand. Sara chose to rebel against her cop father, and sure Barry technically did the same, but it was also so drastically different. Sure Caitlin, Cisco and Ray had been bullied, but it wasn’t because their parent was in jail. It wasn’t because everyone thought they were insane. As far as Barry knew Kendra and Carter didn’t even have those sort of issues themselves. Len and Mick though?

“You’re right,” Caitlin spoke up softly, “We couldn’t understand, but still Barry, you could have told us. We could have helped.”

“Caitlin, I love you, but I have spent years telling other people what was wrong, years telling people who can’t relate to what I say and sometimes… sometimes it’s just so tiring to see pity.” Silence stretched for a long time when Ray spoke up quietly.

“They help you? They haven’t used any of this against you?” There was no judgment in his eyes, only a sort of yearning to know the truth.

“Never.” Ray stared him down for a bit longer when Cisco stood up and walked over to Barry. They stared each other in the eyes, Cisco looking for something.

“You trust them?” Shakily Barry nodded.

“Yeah.” A hard sigh left Cisco as he held up a hand and stepped back.

“Okay, okay. Just…” He waved his hand before leaving the room. A sour feeling filled Barry as he watched, but he didn’t follow. Cisco needed time to come to term with everything he just heard. There were a lot of issues between Cisco and Len alone, personal bad blood that started all the way back when Len stole the cold gun. Then there was the whole mess that was Len finding out Barry’s identity. Before Cisco left Barry was going to speak to him, see if he was okay. Even if he thought Cisco wasn’t going to end their friendship over Barry getting help with his mental state, regardless of from who, he needed to know how long it may take to be forgiven.

“Are they really worth all this?” Oliver asked gesturing first to the door then to Caitlin, whose lips were pursed. It was getting annoying. He gets that Oliver becomes all caveman protective of people he cares about, but god damn it he’s 27. He is not a teenager.

“I think that Barry’s mental health is worth it, but that’s just me.” Ray’s tone held a warning to it. Never had Barry been more grateful than he was just then for Raymond Palmer. It helped that he had never known Len and Mick pre-identity reveal. He got to know the Mick and Len that Barry fell in love with…. What the hell. Now was so not the time to realize that he fell in love with both of these ridiculous men. Forcing himself away from that bombshell (though was it really?) Barry watched the two men.

“Barry’s mental health? You really want to go there Palmer? You think his friends and family cutting ties with him because he goes to wanted criminals before them is good for his mental health?”

“I think that Barry having people he can talk to without being judged for it is good for him yes. Besides, you are literally the only one who seems to be threatening cutting ties with him over this.”

“We wouldn’t judge him.” Kendra spoke up finally with a frown. Carter just snorted with an eye roll. Asshole.

“You literally are right now.” Ray protested. Honestly, Barry might be the smallest bit in love with Ray at the moment.

“So you think it’s fine that he’s hooking up with criminals.” With how hard Ray rolled his eyes Barry was surprised they didn’t get stuck. Ray seemed so done with Oliver’s bullshit.

“First off Oliver, you’ve hooked up with criminals, technically you are still hooking up with one . Secondly, he just said he wasn’t sleeping with them.”

“If you actually believe that-”

“I believe that Barry doesn’t even trust us to tell us when he’s having nightmares so of course he wouldn’t trust us with his love life if he had one.”

“As riveting as this is,” Len finally spoke up, “I believe we were woken up for a reason?”

“Yes,” Caitlin spoke, voice strained.

“This conversation isn’t over.”

“For now it is.” It wasn’t often that Mick took charge. He didn’t care enough to do so most days, fine with just going along with whatever Len or Barry wanted to do. Watching was more his speed most days, but when he did take charge people listened.

“Right. Right. There have been some robberies and signs that it might be a meta. Nothing too horrible, but the CCPD has been struggling with it on their own.”

“Okay, are we talking, like, Baez's level of threat or Mardon’s?” Caitlin thought, tilting her head from side to side for a moment.

“Somewhere between Baez and Rathaway I’d say.” Nodding Barry finally started to eat his own breakfast.

“We’ll head back to Central today and talk there.” He decided. Caitlin gave a quiet acknowledgement. It wasn’t even a minute later when Barry gave a small sigh.

“Caitlin, I understand if you’re angry at me right now, and I know we have a lot to talk about, and we will talk about it I promise. Just not here.”

“Yeah. I’m going to go find Cisco. We’ll talk later.” It was so reminiscent of the first time that Barry ever spoke to Dr. Snow that it hurt in a way that few things did. It was a bone deep, chest hollowing pain that sat heavy made worse by the fact that it was his fault. Oliver was giving him a look, but when he opened his mouth Ray stood.

“Oliver, a word.” Both were glaring as they left the room.

“So… are you sleeping with them?”

“Thea!” Kendra sounded torn before laughing and disgust. The young woman shrugged.

“What? I wanna know if the dork that poisoned my brother is actually hooking up with two hot older guys.” Kendra covered her mouth as if she wasn’t sure if she wanted to laugh or cry.

“There are so many things about that sentence I… I can’t… I don’t know where to start?”

“Calling them hot? Thea do you have a daddy kink?” Sara asked dramatically, voice a little strained.

“Like you and Barry don’t?”

“I do not!” Barry protested at once, almost choking on his food. Mick snorted a laugh.

“You have a bit of one.” Mick countered. Barry turned to Mick with wide betrayed eyes.

“No I don’t.”

“Barry,” Len sounded so sympathetic, “You had a crush on both Dr. Wells, and your police captain.” The mortification that filled Barry was outstanding.

“Is no one going to question that Thea just said Barry poisoned Oliver?” Carter asked, much more interested in the conversation now.

“He was dying and I had to give him rat poison as a blood thinner. It’s not more interesting than that.” Barry muttered, accepting the plate of toast from Len.

“So… are you guys dating?”

“If we say yes will you stop asking?” Barry groaned in annoyance.

“Depends, would it be the truth?”

“If we were dating, you Miss Queen would definitely not be the first person we told.”

“And who would be?”

“Lisa.”

“Iris.”

“Cisco.” Barry immediately turned to Len with a frown, “You’d tell Iris first?” Len just shrugged as he stole bacon from Barry’s plate.

“There’s no way in hell I’d tell Lisa first. She’s insufferable enough without adding ammunition.”

“And you think Iris wouldn’t be?”

“Yeah, but you’d be the one suffering, not me.” Len gave a frown towards Mick at that who also shrugged.

“ ‘m not hiding shit from your sister. Better her be pissed at you then me.”

“And why would she be pissed?” Sara asked curiously, leaning forward a bit. It made Barry frown a little. Honestly he couldn’t tell if she was still trying to seduce his boyfriends or if he was just paranoid. He’s big enough to admit that after…. Well everything he’s become much more paranoid and, to his embarrassment, possessive. He tries to not let it show because that would be embarrassing.

“ Cus he’d be allowed to date Scarlet. Lenny’s still not letting her go after Ramon.” Barry rolled his eyes at that information. He smacked Mick’s hand away from the final pancake, but allowed him to take the waffle.

“Len, you said you were going to stop that.”

“I did.”

“Did you tell them that?” Len’s stupid attractive smirk made an appearance at that.

“Where’s the fun in that?” Before anyone could retort to that Ray walked back in alone.

“Your brother is an absolute asshole.” He announced to Thea as he sat down, downing his drink as if it were something stronger.

“I’m sorry Ray. I should have set an alarm or somethi-” Ray waved him off, giving a weak smile.

“I am not mad at you Barry. You have nothing to apologize for, except maybe not telling Cisco and Caitlin that you were talking to Len and Mick outside of the hero stuff. You don’t have to tell anyone anything you don’t want to.”

“But you guys are my friends.”

“Did you tell Iris every little secret you’ve ever had?” Ray countered. Barry shook his head. Of course he didn’t. He loved Iris but there were some things that he couldn’t tell her.

“Then why do you think you’d have to here?” That… actually made a lot of sense. Sure they agreed no more secrets about superhero stuff… did this actually count as superhero stuff? Sure he met Len and Mick through being the Flash, and sometimes Barry vented about stupid things but they didn’t talk about shop all the time. In fact it’s become more and more common for them to talk about everyday things. They tried to keep hero things to STAR labs at the least.

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.” He teased, “And don’t worry about what’s going on with me and Oliver. It’s not the first time we’ve had a fight like this. I’m not actually too worried, we’ve had worse and haven’t killed the other yet.”

“He’s right,” Thea agreed with a nod, “One fight ended up in blood. Still surprised they’re together.” With a shrug Ray accepted the plate from Kendra.

“What can I say? I love him. I know he used to kill and in general he can be such an ass, but really I wouldn’t want him to change too much.” Barry wanted to laugh. He understood what Ray was saying easily. It was great knowing that he at least had one friend on his side right now. Lord knows he was going to need it in the following days. For now he settled back into his chair to eat. Everything else could wait till later.