AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is inspired by the sword fight between Elena & Alejandro in "The Mask of Zorro." (If you haven't seen it, do. It's a fun movie and Antonio Banderas was just dead sexy in it.)

But as always, I own nothing. Many thanks to Jael for giving this a once-over.


Captain Cold (Sara refused to think of this… impostor… as Leonard Snart) growled as his Cold Gun ran out of charge. He slammed it back into its holster.

"I can't let you leave with that information, little bird," he snarled at her. "It would have been a lot easier on you if you'd just let me freeze you. That wouldn't have hurt as much as this will." He drew out a long knife from a sheath strapped to his left leg.

Just more proof this wasn't the Leonard she'd known. Her Leonard. Knife fighting had never been his thing.

She huffed at him as she slid the data card into the case on her belt. "I don't have time to give you the proper instruction," she said, looking with disdain at his knife.

He grinned coldly under the white goggles. "I got my 'instruction' from al-Saher. I think you'll find it proper enough," he told her. "You want to get out of here, you have to get past me."

He shifted into a fighting stance. "Dance with me, little bird."

Sara forced back a spark of pain at that invitation, uttered in that voice which still haunted her dreams. She drew her long knife and gave him an icy smile of her own. "Show me what you've got."

They circled each other first, studying each other. This encounter on a rooftop was the closest Sara had gotten to the man since Damien Darhk had so sneeringly introduced him as a member of the Legion. He looked so much the same, wearing the same black clothes her Leonard always preferred, and a copy of that damned blue parka she kept in her room.

But he also wore that cold, cold smile she'd never seen on him before. Nothing like the smirk she'd grown to know (and, if she was honest, grown to love).

And those damned white goggles never came off.

This kind of challenge was different, too. The Leonard Snart she knew was the veteran of many bar brawls and fist fights, taught by Mick in a myriad of dirty tricks but only engaging in hand-to-hand combat when he had no other choice. His Cold Gun would always be his preferred weapon.

Captain Cold, however… she had a distinct feeling that he had purposely run down the Cold Gun's charge so he could get up close and personal with her. As if he wanted this fight.

She barely had time to reflect on this when he lunged at her, knife slashing in a vertical attack. Classic League technique, and one she was quite ready to defend against. She knocked the blade aside and took two steps back. "That all you got?"

He chuckled and came at her again, this time with a forward slash and then a reverse. With the second stroke he managed to tangle their blades just long enough to let him grab her other arm and pull her closer to him.

The goggles were too dark. As close as she was, she couldn't see his eyes behind them. "Not bad," she conceded, trying to pull away from his strong grip.

He smirked. "Not bad at all," he answered.

Then he leaned forward and kissed her.

Sara was stunned for just a moment. His words and actions weren't those of her Leonard Snart. Even the smirk was different.

But this man kissed like him, his soft lips slanting over hers. He tasted like him, the flavor of icy mint.

She shoved those thoughts back as she shoved him away with a grunt. He chuckled again and came at her, still slashing. She whirled away from him and then answered with a slash of her own. He parried it neatly, knocking the knife out of her hand and wrapping his arm around her to pull her backward against him when she whirled to retrieve the weapon.

She clawed at his knife hand, and he dropped his blade. But it wasn't enough to make him let her go.

"Like it rough, do you?" he said into her ear, almost sensually. He turned her in his arms and leaned down for another kiss.

This time, it was harsh and demanding. The goggles pressed against her skin almost painfully. As his tongue plundered her mouth, she reminded herself that Captain Cold might look, taste and talk like her Leonard Snart, but he wasn't hers.

She knew that in her head. But her body wasn't getting the message. A frisson of pleasure ran down her spine as his mouth moved possessively over hers.

She managed to work her hands up to his face to shove him away. As she did, she pushed up his goggles and gasped to see what was behind them.

Not the blue-green eyes that would stare at her so intently, that blazed with anger whenever things went wrong, that held his heart in them after she kissed him at the Oculus.

These eyes were completely dead black. No whites, no irises. Like a shark's eyes.

He seemed startled by her move and shoved her away, hard, into one of the rooftop air-conditioning units. She hit her head and saw stars for a moment. When her vision cleared, he had his knife again, and his goggles were back in place.

He gave her another cold smile. "Thanks for the dance, little bird," he drawled, "but I've got what I wanted now." He held up the data card lifted from her belt case, and tucked it into his own pocket. "And I've got a little something to remember you by." He turned his hand to show her the bleeding scratches she'd left behind.

She tried to stand and felt a wave of nausea. Concussion? Maybe. "You're not going to kill me?"

He shook his head as he strode over to the fire escape. "Nah. No need. Just make sure you save me a spot on your card for next time, little bird." He vaulted over the side, and she could hear the clatter of his quick descent.

Sara shook her head and pushed herself to her feet, still wobbly from the blow she'd taken. By the time she got to the edge of the roof, he was on a motorcycle down below. He looked up at her and blew her a kiss before roaring off.

"Sara? Sara! Are you all right?" Rip's voice, coming through the comms.

She nodded, even though she couldn't see him. "Yeah. Where the hell have you been?"

"Thawne was jamming us. We've switched to a secure channel. We're on our way to pick you up. Do you have what we need?"

Sara pulled the real data card from her boot. "Yeah. And I think a bit more," she said, raising her other hand to examine her nails.


Sara carefully scraped under her fingernails, then put the sample of blood and skin onto a slide. She placed it under the Medbay scanner. "What have we got, Gideon?"

A blue light played over the slide. After a moment, Gideon announced, "This skin sample matches the hand I regenerated for Mr. Snart after our visit to Nanda Parbat."

Shocked looks were exchanged around the room. Finally Ray said, "You mean the Legion Leonard Snart is actually our Leonard Snart?"

"It would appear so," Gideon replied.

"How is that possible?" Nate demanded. "I thought you said he was killed at the Vanishing Point."

"Until this moment, that is what we thought as well, Dr. Heywood," Rip answered. "It seems that somehow the Legion managed to get Mr. Snart away from the Oculus just as it exploded."

"The Reverse Flash does have the speed necessary to outrun an explosion," Stein said. "And he can travel through time without a time machine."

"So that yellow-suited bastard got to the Vanishing Point, took my partner and then brainwashed him," Mick growled. "Can't wait to burn that guy."

"We'll help," Jax offered, getting a nod from the big man.

"It may be more than simple brainwashing," Amaya interjected. "Sara, you said Cold's eyes were completely black?"

Sara nodded. "Just like Jax's eyes go all white as Firestorm."

"That sounds like Darhk's work," Amaya said. "He has ways of controlling minds. Sometimes through drugs, sometimes through magic. This sounds like magic."

"That's a bit out of our skill set," Rex observed.

Sara smiled. "I think I know someone who can help. Rip, we need to head to Star City."

Rip nodded. "It just so happens the data you retrieved today indicates that we need to go to Star City. Gideon, set a course, please?"

"Of course, Captain."

Rip looked around at the team. "Apparently Malcolm Merlyn is receiving munitions for something big. We're going to stop him. Dr. Palmer, please contact your friends on Team Arrow to let them know we're coming. Sara, you should rest for a bit after that head injury. You're lucky not to be concussed. The rest of you… suit up."

Ray fell in step beside Sara and Mick as the group dispersed. "I still can't believe you managed to fool Snart into stealing a decoy data card."

Sara shrugged. "What can I say? I learned from one hell of a thief."

Ray snickered at that, then strode ahead to get to the bridge. Mick glanced over at Sara.

"So how'd you get close enough to take off his goggles?"

Sara looked around to make sure the rest of the team was out of earshot before answering. "He kissed me."

Mick grunted. "Good kiss?"

Sara gave him a look, and then answered, "Yeah. Well, if he hadn't been trying to knife me."

He gave her a half smile. "If he had you that close and didn't kill you, then he wasn't really trying. Our Snart is in there, Blondie, and we're gonna get him back."

He put a hand on her shoulder. "That's a promise."