AUTHOR'S NOTE: This was supposed to just be a bit of fluff of how Leo might make things up to Ray. Then it got a bit out of control. Many thanks to Jael for the beta!

General Schott squinted at the wormhole forming in the middle of the Resistance settlement. "Steady, everyone!" he cautioned the gunners aiming their weapons at it. "Let's wait for the code. We don't want to shoot down our allies and start an interdimensional war. We've got enough to deal with, mopping up the Nazis!"

"Got a signal coming through, General!" shouted a comms tech as he tapped furiously at his tablet. "The code checks out - it's from Earth-1!"

There was an audible whoosh of relief from the Resistance fighters as they lowered their weapons. "Send the countersign!" Schott ordered.

The tech nodded, his fingers flying over the tablet. Then Citizen Cold strode through the breach, holstering his gun and nodding to his comrades. "Take it easy, General. I'm still a friendly. And speaking of friendlies…"

More people followed Snart through the breach, each carrying a small metallic case. Schott recognized some of the Earth-1 heroes who'd helped turn the tide for the Resistance.

"Leo's back!"

Schott couldn't keep from grinning as the children dashed from their hiding places to mob Snart. He got down on one knee and opened his arms to them, giving back as many hugs and kisses as he got.

The blond woman at the head of the Earth-1 group watched Leo for a moment with a bemused expression, then turned to Schott. "Merry Christmas, General," she said. "How goes the Resistance?"

"You missed Christmas by a little bit, Captain… Lance, isn't it?" Schott replied, reaching out to shake her hand. "We've made a lot of progress since you and your friends took out the General and the Fuhrer, but there are still too many people who are afraid to turn away from the Reich. They think it's the only thing preventing economic collapse and worldwide starvation."

"We may have an answer for that, General," Snart drawled, rising again with little Talia in his arms. "But first... what have you done with my boyfriend?"

"I sent him with the other Freedom Fighters to clear out a Reichsmen nest in Hub City," Schott answered. He held up a finger at Snart's disappointed look. "But we've made it S.O.P. to notify them whenever a breach opens and…"

"LEO!"

Terrill must have set a new air speed record, Schott mused as he watched The Ray land and pull off his helmet. Terrill sketched a quick salute and reported, "The rest of the team is en route, General," before turning to Snart with a semi-stern look.

"I told you I was coming home to you," Snart said as he gently set Talia back down.

"Well, it took you long enough!" Terrill mock-scolded.

"Let me make it up to you?" Snart asked. It was a question Schott had heard him ask before, but this time there wasn't any trace of the seductive drawl that usually went along with it. Instead, it was soft and a bit apologetic.

The sternness fell away from Terrill's face. "Okay," he said quietly, with a nod. Then the two men fell into each other's arms.

Schott turned back to Lance to see her watching the other men with a smirk. She met his eyes. "Leo doesn't waste any time in making up with Ray, does he?"

Schott didn't quite smirk back. "We've all learned not to waste time when it comes to the ones we love," he answered. "So what brings all of you back to this corner of the multiverse?"

"Leo wanted to bring some souvenirs back from Earth-1, and we offered to help play Santa," she answered, pointing to the row of cases she and her team had set down on the ground. "Ray, would you do the honors?"

"Sure!" A tall, dark-haired man nodded and, with a huge smile, held up a device, pointing it toward the cases. He pushed a button and the cases… grew, about ten times larger. Schott felt his eyebrows go up in surprise.

Earth-1's Ray chuckled. "You know, I could probably make a fortune with this resizing ray. Well, another fortune. Figured this was easier than using a forklift for all this stuff."

"All this… what is this?" Schott asked.

"Thought I'd bring home a little Christmas cheer," Snart said, finally disentangling himself from Terrill. He reached into his parka and pulled out a computer drive, handing it to Schott. "Starting with this. The art and literature of a non-oppressed world, General. Consider that a bit of hope."

Snart moved to open one of the cases and pulled out a fuzzy blue… thing. He knelt down again and beckoned to Talia before rubbing the toy's middle. The thing giggled and said, "Beebo loves you."

"That is a bit of comfort," Snart said, rising again while Talia cuddled the toy. Some of Sara's crew began distributing more toys to the children who were now crowding around them. Then, with a smirk at Terrill, he opened yet another case. "And this is a bit of joy," he finished, pulling out a blue and white plastic bag and waggling it.

"No way!" Terrill exclaimed in delight, grabbing the bag and staring at it as if it was something precious.

"And that's not all," Snart purred, jerking a thumb over at the case. "Take a look."

Terrill's eyes widened as he looked inside. "Whoa. Dr. Pepper… Oreos… Moon Pies?"

He tossed the blue and white bag over at Schott before turning back to his boyfriend, clapping his hands on either side of Snart's face for a series of quick kisses. "You… are going… to make… me… fat!"

Schott rolled his eyes before glancing down at the bag Terrill had tossed at him. The words Almond Joy were blazoned across it. He looked up at Lance curiously.

"Leo said Ray's always complaining about the rations you guys have, so we brought you something a bit better," she said with a smile. "It's all genuine Earth-1 junk food, not stuff from the replicator."

Schott blinked at the unfamiliar word. "Replicator?"

"A little bit of Earth-1 future tech. It can create things from matter," Lance explained, waving her hand at the toys her crew had just finished passing out. "Toys, clothes, food…"

"Fake food," grumbled the Earth-1 double of Mick Rory, in a voice far more gravelly than the one Schott remembered from their own lost fighter. "But it'll keep you alive."

"You have something that can feed your people?" Schott asked, his eyes widening.

"Well, not exactly," Lance corrected. "We do have it on the Waverider, which is from the future. But it's not standard equipment anywhere else on Earth-1… yet."

"But something like that, here, could…"

"Could eliminate need and hunger, all over Earth-X," interjected one of Lance's people. The man who could turn to steel, Schott recalled from Terrill's mission debrief. "From what Leo's told us, the Third Reich first got power here for the same reason it did on our Earth: because the Nazis claimed to have a solution to economic chaos and the food riots that resulted from the reparations Germany was ordered to pay in the Treaty of Versailles." The man - Heywood, Schott now remembered - spread his hands. "You just said people were afraid of another depression."

"A machine that makes food from matter… something like that could change everything," Schott breathed.

"That's what we thought," Heywood grinned. "So…"

"We brought you one of your own," Lance concluded, gesturing toward the last unopened case and nodding to the two women now standing on either side of it. "Amaya, Zari, show him."

The women grinned at each other and opened the case, revealing some kind of machine. "It may not look like much," one of them said.

"But what it does is pretty impressive," the other added. "I've been eating like a queen since I came on board. Think I've gained five pounds!"

"Which reminds me, Z. I'm scheduling some long-overdue sparring time with you when we get back to the ship," Lance said, grinning when the other woman groaned. Lance turned her attention back to Schott. "Now, the Time Bureau wasn't exactly keen on putting 24th-century technology on an Earth still fighting a 20th-century war," she said, rolling her eyes. "We did some arm-twisting-"

"With some help from the Council of Wells," added Heywood.

"And we finally convinced them that this would be an anachronism worth creating. The Bureau itself ended up supplying that replicator." She drew a small flash drive from her pocket. "And they sent you complete specs to build more."

She held the drive out. Schott reached out for it… and saw his hand was shaking. He looked back up at her, opening his mouth to say something - but couldn't find any words to express the hope that was suddenly flooding through him.

The dark-haired Ray… Palmer, Schott now recalled, said, "I can give your people some pointers on setting up the manufacturing. And if you need help once we've gone home…"

He reached into one of the cases and pulled out another device. "I was able to adapt the communicator Professor Stein created to talk to his family across time. This one can make calls across dimensions, without having to open a breach first. You guys blew up the breach generator here, right?"

"We did, after your people went through," Schott confirmed. "We weren't taking any chances of the Reichsmen coming back."

"Don't blame you," Palmer replied. "Anyway… I programmed this with contact information for the Waverider, Team Arrow's bunker, STAR Labs, Earth-19's Collector Command, everyone on the Council of Wells-"

"Even the Time Bureau," Lance added. "Everyone agreed that Earth-X has been going it alone for too long."

She glanced over at Snart. "Someone recently pointed out to me that that's not a good thing. You're not alone anymore, General. If you need us, call."

Schott stared at her for a moment longer, then looked around - at the cases full of offerings from Earth-1, at the children playing with their new toys, at Snart and Terrill standing arm in arm, watching him. "I'd given up on believing in miracles," he finally said slowly, letting out a stunned laugh. "But this… this is better than Christmas."

"I'd say this calls for a celebration, General. A shakedown run for our new gadget," Snart suggested, indicating the replicator. "Despite what Mick there says about the quality of the food, it's really not that bad."

Schott smiled and nodded. "Yes… yes! We're overdue!" He turned back to Captain Lance. "And it's a small way for us to thank you."

Something in the sky behind her caught his eye, and his smile grew wider. "And we may have another way to thank you as well."

The rest of the Freedom Fighters were returning. Black Condor and the newest Red Tornado had been a bit slower than The Ray, both of them burdened with passengers. Condor landed gently with Phantom Lady, but it was Red Tornado's leather-jacketed companion that made the Earth-1 visitors gasp in shock. And that companion seemed to be equally shocked, pulling down his dark goggles to stare at them with wide blue eyes.

With a chuckle, Schott told Lance, "I think we have something that belongs to you?"