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It all started with Len slipping on a goo covered floor that wasn't intended for him.
He lay there in the sticky substance for a good ten minutes before Mick came strolling up to the scene.
"What the hell happened?" Mick asked. The way he said it told Len that he was faking concern. It didn't surprise him though, it wasn't like Mick to show that he cared.
"Oh you know. I just got myself into a sticky situation." Len smirked, proud of his joke. He could be so clever.
Mick grunted. It was too early for horrible puns.
Len frowned, aware of his friend’s apparent dislike for humor.
"Are you going to just stand there? Or are you going to help me?"
Mick didn't reply. Instead he made his way over to the supply closet, grabbing the bright yellow caution sign that leaned against the wall.
When Len saw what he was doing he couldn't believe it. "Mick!"
Mick only grunted as he positioned the 'Caution! Wet Floor' sign over his partner. Taking a step back from his work he retrieved his phone from his jacket pocket, snapping a quick photo before continuing down the hall. This will be good blackmail, He thought.
"You are an asshole!" Len shouted from his spot on the ground.
"I know!"
~oOo~
Eventually he was saved by Barry, who had been sent the humiliating picture of him sprawled out on the ground with the caption: Someone needs a hero.
Barry then felt the need to save his boyfriend from the hands of the evil goo. He was grateful for the rescue, but now the kid wouldn't stop fussing over him. Len knew how much of a worrier Barry was and he didn't have time for it. Right now he needed to get back at whoever spilled that goo.
And that is how the prank wars started. All because someone named Caitlin Snow spilled a little goo on the floor of S.T.A.R. Labs.
~oOo~
Len now sat in one of the many chairs in the Cortex, debating on what to do with little Cisco. Yes, he had discovered that the nerd had spilled the goo after finding a whole vial of the stuff in the lab connected to the Cortex.
He let his eyes wander, hoping it would help spark an idea. Within a moment or two his gaze found its way to Cisco's favorite rolling chair.
He smirked. Perfect.
Grabbing the vial of greenish brown goo, he carefully poured it onto the seat. Len took a step back, checking to see if he missed anything before quickly placing the vial back where he found it, just as a murmur of voices came within earshot.
Len leaned back in his seat, right leg crossed over his left. The former criminal hid his smirk as Cisco entered the room. He was balancing a tablet in his left hand, eyes captivated by whatever was projected on the screen. Len kept quiet, watching Barry and the rest of the team slowly trickle into the room.
The corners of his lips twitched down as his impatience's grew. He wasn't an impatient man by nature, but waiting for Cisco to fall into his trap was starting to get boring.
Then something unexpected happened. He sat down... in the wrong chair.
Nearly seconds later Len's eyes widened as Shawna 'Bamf'ed into existence right before sitting in the goo intended for Cisco.
Shawna go up with a shriek, startling everyone. She craned her neck to see what she had sat on, her face bright red.
"What the fuck?!" She exclaimed, pointing at the goo. "Which one of you shitheads is responsible for this?!"
Cisco had now long set aside his tablet and was now investigating the greenish brown goo. His brow furrowed as he poked the substance with his pen. "That's weird. I thought I put this away," he mumbled and Len could have swore he saw Cisco look at him.
Cisco reached for his tablet, his fingers just a blur of movement as he pulled up his messages. He smiled, turning the tablet around so everyone could see.
There on the screen was the picture that Mick had took of Len earlier that morning. "I think it’s about an 80% chance that our culprit is Leonard."
Everyone turned to Len who was now cracking up.
Shawna's face contorted as her anger grew to rage. "Snart! What did I ever do to you?!"
Len smirked, his laughter now under control. "Nothing, Shawna. It was Cisco I was aiming for, you just happened to be collateral."
Cisco gasped. "Why me?!" In all honesty, he didn't actually know why he was being targeted.
"Because you spilled goo on the floor and ended up making me lose my balance."
Cisco appeared even more confused. Caitlin, on the other hand, was now sporting a guilty look.
She gave a hesitant smile when she met his gaze. "T-that was my fault. I was moving some of Cisco's stuff and I guess I didn't notice the spill. Sorry."
Mick gave Len a warning glare which he calmly shrugged off. He wasn't mad at Caitlin. It was only an accident, but he was still going to blame Cisco for it.
"You can chill, Snow. I'm still blaming Cisco for this."
Caitlin's shoulders seemed to relax as the words reached her ears. Beside her Barry snickered at Cisco's appalled expression.
~oOo~
As the day went on the harmless pranks began.
Following the aftermath of the 'goo debacle'. Shawna decided to get her revenge on her boss, with the help of her boyfriend Mark.
They hid behind the kitchen counter. Shawna knew that the Captain came in here everyday to grab a quick snack. She smiled devilishly. This is going to be awesome!
With a dip of the head Shawna signaled Mark to start the magic.
Mark flicked his wrist, a whirlwind of snow appearing out of thin air as it blew through the kitchen and into the break room, enveloping each surface in a crystalized frost and powdery snow.
Proud of their work the two metas made a hasty escape out the door, taking their place around the corner where they waited in anticipation for their boss’s reaction.
~oOo~
Caitlin was definitely not expecting to walk into the kitchen and find that it had been transformed into a winter wonderland.
She took a deep breath in an attempt to calm her mind. She wouldn't let her anger consume her.
Carefully she made her way over to the fridge, pulling at the handle with no luck. Caitlin frowned, this time using both hands to pull. Gripping the handle she tugged, the frost sealed door releasing and sent her staggering back as she tried to regain her footing.
Catching herself on the edge of the counter the doctor righted herself. She sighed peering back at the fridge where she discovered all the food to be frozen solid.
Her eye twitched.
So that's how they wanted to play? Huh?
~oOo~
Around the corner, Shawna and Mark's eyes widened when they heard a very angry roar of someone that was definitely not their boss.
"MARK! SHAWNA! YOU'RE BOTH ABOUT TO BE DISSECTED!"
Shawna peered up at her boyfriend, terrified. "We fucked up."
~oOo~
Len glanced at the bathroom door and then back at Caitlin. A look of confusion on his face. The icy doctor had asked him for a little help with punishing Mark and Shawna. Shawna being the first victim. Except he didn't really see what was so 'evil' about Caitlin's plan.
"Let me get this straight," he drawled. "You want me to freeze the bathroom door closed?"
Caitlin nodded. That's what he had thought. "You’re even worse than Barry," he sighed.
Caitlin huffed, hands on her hips. "Well sorry. I'm still kind of new to this whole revenge thing, Cold."
Len fought the urge to laugh. He had always found it amusing whenever the doctor acted all sassy. The way her eyes would light up with this fiery aura. No wonder Mick liked her so much.
He aimed the Cold Gun at the door in one fluid motion. "Whatever you say, Snow." Len held down the trigger, releasing a stream of ice with a crackling hum; like music to his ears.
~oOo~
A few minutes later Shawna teleported down the hall toward the bathroom.
But instead of a door she found herself staring at a thick layer of ice. Her lips formed a tight line. She knew who did this.
"CAITLIN, YOU BITCH!"
~oOo~
Hartley didn't really understand what had drove everyone into acting this way. He just knew he liked it.
Today he planned on messing with Cisco. Sure, he did that everyday, but this time he wanted to be a bit more extreme.
He was going to organize the basement lab. It was where Cisco kept all his special experiments and it always had the appearance of as if a tornado had come through recently with the way everything was scattered around. Cisco liked to say that it was the only way he could find anything. As if anyone would believe that. Hartley thought with a roll of his eyes.
Wading through the mixture of electronics and miscellaneous parts Hartley began his painstaking mission of organizing the hellhole; separating it into sections depending on the experiment.
His goal was finally achieved an hour and a half later. He wiped his brow in exhaustion, imaging what Cisco's reaction might be as he admired the cleanliness of the workshop.
Hartley just knew he was going to be pissed.
~oOo~
Cisco stood in the doorway of his lab, mouth agape. Everything was put away, lost. His brows knitted together as he scanned the room.
Who would do such a thing to his precious toys?
He paused, realization dawning on him.
He didn't even need to think about it. Of course he knew who did it!
"GOD DAMMIT HARTLEY!!!"
~oOo~
Meanwhile, upstairs Barry chuckled. They could hear Cisco's outrage from the Cortex.
Lisa was beside him, kicking back in her boyfriend's favorite desk chair- which was thankfully clean now. "Sounds like Hartley's joined the fun," she smirked, something that she and her brother had in common.
Barry nodded, showing her that he agreed. The two of them had formed a sort of alliance in order to protect themselves against a greater foe.
Pranks.
In their own way the harmless actions could be as mind numbing as Len's puns. Or worse, Cisco's thoughts on time travel.
Even though they had both decided to not take part in the craziness it was beginning to get harder to refuse as boredom snuck up on them.
Lisa’s manicured nails tapped an unconscious rhythm against the table top. "You want to go steal some of Mark's vinyl records?" She asked lazily.
That peaked Barry's interest. Everyone on the team knew that the only way to calm Mark down was to have him listen to music. Barry had always thought that he used an iPod or mp3 player not some old record player. Learn something new everyday.
Barry wasn't sure if he wanted to steal them, though. It didn't feel right. "I-I don't know," he stuttered.
Lisa groaned. "Come on, pretty boy! When are you going to learn to live a little?"
Barry eventually gave in. He was still unsure about stealing from Mark, but what's the worst that could happen.
~oOo~
Lisa was in a brisk walk as she led Barry toward Mark and Shawna's bedroom. Most of the Rogues, with the exception of the Snart's and Mick Rory, lived at S.T.A.R. Labs. It was the safest place for them and let Barry and his part of the team keep an eye on them.
Lisa came to an abrupt halt in front of one of the doors on their left. "This is it," she breathed. The former thief knew Mark wasn't in, the bedroom wouldn't be the safest place to hide if Caitlin was hunting them. She reached out to grasp the doorknob, carefully turning it until it gave way under a small push of her weight.
She held open the door, gesturing for Barry to enter. "After you, newbie."
Barry was speechless as he stepped through. He had never seen so many records in his life besides the occasional music store. His attention drifted to Lisa as she scooted past him to one of the various shelves.
He watched her finger through the different albums. Looking almost disappointed.
A frown found its way onto her face when she pulled out a record cover labeled 'Christmas Classics'.
Barry snorted. "I was expecting him to like something a little more... dark. But really, Christmas music?"
Lisa seemed to share his opinion. "Mark's really got to branch out in his music choices." She grimaced, putting the 'sinister' record back where she found it.
Barry moved over to another shelf, eyes sorting through the various record labels in seconds before landing on something that surprised him even more.
"Frank Sinatra?" He said aloud, plucking the record free of its shelf place.
Lisa shrugged, "Why not." She tilted her head to the right. "Players over there."
They never did get to listen to the melodic voice of Frank Sinatra before Mark suddenly came bursting into the room. His eyes glaring daggers at the two intruders.
"Out."
Lisa sighed in defeat, shoulders sagging. Taking the record from Barry’s grasp she handed it back to the Rogue as they retreated out the door; eyes following them until they were finally out of sight.
"Well that was a bust."
~oOo~
The last prank of the day ended up being Len stealing all of Mick's matches.
Something that no one should do.
Ever.
Fire and ice were shooting up the break room. Heating and melting the room and themselves for what felt like and eternity. Until Barry put a stop to it. Thankfully.
Len and Mick now lay in the med-bay, each getting an earful from their lovers.
"I told you, I'm fine, Scarlet!" Len drawled. He was too tired to listen to Barry's constant rabbling at the moment. "You really need to chill."
Barry's mouth stopped running for a second. He glared down at Len. "Not funny."
Meanwhile, on the other side of the room Mick felt as though Cait was being rough on purpose; but in reality it was actually his fault.
Caitlin gritted her teeth, struggling in her fight to bandage the fire-obsessed patient. "Stop moving Mick! I can't wrap these cuts if you don't keep still!"
Mick grumbled an apology. "Sorry, Snowflake."
~oOo~
Cisco watched the spectacle in front of him from the entrance. Lisa's arms wrapped around him, her head resting against his shoulder.
"I think prank wars are banned now," she said.
Cisco nodded in agreement.