This story is for Tavyn, who gave me the prompts: "My parents are coming over in 10 minutes, so please put some clothes on." and "Our AC is out and it's the middle of the summer." It's set in my "If I Never" continuity, between "Wait For It"/"What the Future Holds" and "Midnight Run." There will be two chapters.

Many thanks to LarielRomeniel for the beta. And, yes, this was written by a born-and-bred WNYer, so I'm aware that the weather described within isn't particularly hot for some. ;)

Central City is Leonard's city. It's his home, for better or worse. Through annoying speedster metas and time-traveling hijinks and near-death experiences and falling for (and hitching his life to) a Star City native, it's still home.

But this…this is a bit much.

It usually doesn't get out of the 80s here, but it's been in the 90s for five days now, with a heat index near 100. One day, the actual temp had hit 100. Most of the city is miserable, minor conflicts are turning into assaults and keeping the CCPD hopping, and there are brownouts due to much higher than usual AC use.

Once, Leonard would have probably picked up and left town, heading to somewhere cooler…like, oh, Antarctica, if he could get away with it. But Sara is here, and so is Mick at the moment, and there are commitments keeping them all in place. And so he merely suffers in relative silence, staying in the AC as much as possible and resisting the urge to fire up the cold gun just to use it as a portable chilling device when he has to go out in the heat. (Although, while he'll admit it to no one but Sara, he's just come from one of the city's poorer neighborhoods, where he'd used up the last of the current charge to ice down the spray of a fire hydrant and turn it into snow in July.)

But this…this is not good.

He stands at the doorway to the apartment, frowning and staring into the open door, which still has his key in it. There's not the usual chill emitting from the space within. Sara's been home; she'd have had the AC on or let him know if she had to leave. No. Not good at all.

"Len?" She'd undoubtedly heard him the moment he'd set foot in the hallway. "Ah." Sara moves into his field of view, wearing nothing but a tank top and very short shorts—which is appealing, but the heat is counteracting it—and looking unhappy. "Honey…"

They don't do pet names "What?"

"The AC's out." Sara shrugs. "All over the building. I'm sorry. The power itself was actually out for a while—and still is, a lot of places in the city—and when it came back, the AC was toast. The building manager's been trying to get to the bottom of it, but no luck."

The apartment, like the rest of the floor, is baking. Len leans within, winces, and gives Sara a look. She smiles at him a little, leaning against the door frame, although there's understanding in her expression.

"North?" he asks plaintively. "Alaska? Nova Scotia? I hear Iceland is lovely this time of year…"

For a moment, longing joins the understanding in Sara's eyes. But then she shakes her head. "You know why…"

"They'd understand…" He hates the whine in his voice, but Sara gets it. And she knows, despite his words, why his sense of honor will keep him there with her. That doesn't stop a teasing and mock-stern expression from crossing her face as she pulls him into the apartment and shuts the door behind him.

"You want to explain to the woman nearly nine months pregnant with speedster twins why you—we-didn't keep the promise to be here when she has those twins, so that there's someone else to help watch the city and Barry can be there with her without being too distracted?" she asks, eyebrows rising. "You want to explain that now, so close to her due date, during the hottest week of the year?"

Leonard winces. Giving Barry grief is still one of his favorite things to do, but Iris—especially now—takes none of his shit. And he's possessed of enough compassion to feel for her right now.

"I made that promise in January," he protests, letting the bag in his hands drop to the floor, but Sara knows he's not going anywhere. She gives him a tiny smile and reaches up to lay a hand on his arm—his bare forearm, because while he hates to show his scars, he hates this heat even more. Hell, he's not even wearing his habitual black because of it, opting for gray instead.

Sara's fingers tighten a little, a show of support. But when Len decides to disregard just how…sticky…the heat and humidity make everything and starts to pull her toward him, she lifts another hand and places it on his chest.

"Mick likes it," she says, with amusement. "This ridiculous heat."

There's a warning in the words. "Mick?"

That's when the bathroom door opens.

"Hey, boss!"

Leonard's oldest friend, brother in all but blood, ambles out, and Sara sighs as Leonard rolls his eyes. It's not like he's not used to Mick's tendency to be far more free in showing skin, but for fuck's sake…he could at least get Gideon to make him some boxers that are a little less…threadbare.

Well. At least he's wearing the boxers.

Sara is less resigned about it, or at least resigned in a different way.

"My parents are coming over in 10 minutes," she says with a sigh, pointing a finger at the Waverider's current captain, who's been couch-surfing among the more settled Legends while he's staying here, "so please put some clothes on. It's tense enough when they're both here without…"

"Even I think it's too damned hot." But Mick stops and throws his hands up at Sara's glare. "But I will. OK? Or better yet…I'll get outta Dodge for a bit. Go visit the professor."

"You still need more clothes, or Clarissa will…"

"Or the kid."

"Just because Jax lives in off-campus housing doesn't mean his roommates won't call the cops, Mick."

"Allen, then. It's his fault I'm hanging around here instead of off in the ship with Haircut and the newbies." He takes a drink of his beer. "I told you we could be back in time. It's a friggin' time ship!"

"Yeah, well, you and I both know shit happens when it comes to time." Leonard winces again at the idea of Mick descending upon Barry and Iris at this point, but Sara's shaking her head.

"Their loft was in the middle of the worst of the outages," she says, "and the power probably won't even be back on there 'til tomorrow at the earliest. I doubt they'll be home. Not that that's ever stopped you two."

Even Mick looks sympathetic at that point, but the words make Leonard pause, brain seizing on a logical conclusion.

"STAR Labs," he says abruptly, getting a grunt from Mick.

Sara eyes him. "What about it?"

Leonard nods to himself, then looks at her. "They have a generator, a powerful one. They'll have air-conditioning. Especially with all that fancy equipment." He lifts a finger. "And I'll bet Barry's got Iris here. Hesure as hell won't let her sit around an AC-free loft in these conditions."

Sara returns his gaze steadily, considering. Mick looks back and forth between the two of them, then makes an amused noise and drops onto their couch.

"They do owe us," she says finally, "for agreeing to do this."

"They do."

"And there's plenty of room there."

"There is."

"It even makes sense for us to stay there, right on site in case we're needed."

"It does."

They grin at each other. "Head on over," Sara tells Leonard, nodding. "I'll be there as soon as my parents leave. I'll even bring our go bags."

He doesn't argue. "Why are they stopping by again? And why is your dad in town?" Quentin Lance may not precisely approve of him, but they get along pretty well now. Dinah Lance is a bit of a cypher, though she's polite enough. And so far as he knows, both of Sara's parents have never been in this apartment together.

"Mom found some things of my grandmother's, wants us to all look at them together. Dad's been doing some consulting work and just got in today." She makes a shooing motion. "Go, Len. Mick, put on some clothes or get out. We said you could stay a few nights and I'm not reneging, but this is going to be weird enough."

"OK, Blondie, OK."

As it turns out, Sara's parents cancel anyway, texting separately only a few minutes later as Quentin confesses that he's stuck just outside of the city because of train issues and Dinah reports that she's helping get some elderly neighbors to an emergency heat shelter. Sara hangs up with relief and she and Len head for STAR Labs, leaving Mick to bask in the heat with a beer and watch golf, of all things, on their TV.

Len's in such a hurry to get into the presumed cool that he doesn't even pause to mess with the labs' security system, actually using the key he'd been given, maybe for the first time. No matter how tempted she is, Sara doesn't even tease him, sympathetic to the misery on his face. He hadn't been kidding, all those months ago in the Russian sauna. He really does despise the heat.

It's a measure, really, of how much he's changed, she thinks, trailing him into the cortex as they both sigh in relief, that he's not leaving despite his promise to Barry and to her. Well, the honor of sorts had always been there—but the man in question has expanded the circle it applies to.

Because Len had used his key, the systems have alerted the usual denizens of STAR Labs to his presence, and Barry and Cisco are already staring at the entryway when they walk in. Barry's wearing the same vaguely happy, perplexed and weary expression he's been wearing nearly perpetually since Iris reached the third trimester. He's leaning against the bank of desks, next to Cisco, who looks slightly amused and slightly harassed.

"Snart?" the speedster blurts out, staring at him a bit blankly. "What are you doing…oh, hi, Sara."

Sara nods to him, concealing a smile at his glassy-eyed expression. No one's been sleeping well in the Allen household lately, she knows. Practice for when the twins get here? Well, she's not going to be the one to say it.

"Our AC is out," Len drawls as he saunters toward them, "and it's the middle of the summer."

Both men nod. Enough said. Cisco grins, though. "What, you can't just ice your apartment down?" he taunts good-naturedly. "You haven't created a setting for that yet?"

Leonard's propensity for tinkering with the cold gun in new and increasingly creative ways is notorious at this point. He gives the weapon's original creator a withering look, but parks his hip against a desk, declining to snark back for once. He really must be grateful for the AC, Sara thinks.

"Where's Iris?" she chimes in, looking from Barry to Cisco. "She must be…"

But Barry's eyes go wide and Cisco starts shaking his head violently back and forth, and Sara lets her voice trail off as she takes in their antics. Leonard rolls his eyes and turns away, wandering off as Barry starts to speak, keeping his voice low.

"Iris is," he says quickly, quietly, "…ah…"

"Miserable," Cisco interjects. "But at the same time, she's getting sick of people asking her if she's miserable. Or commenting that she must be miserable. Or telling her she looks like she's going to pop…" He lowers his voice a little more. "…even though she does…"

Barry lowers his head to his hands. "Doctor appointment tomorrow. She really didn't want to be induced, but if the doc offers, well, I bet she'll take him up on it."

Sara gives him a sympathetic look. "You ready for this?"

Barry gives her a woebegone look. "Parenthood? At this point? Hell, yeah. Once they're, um, out, at least I can do something…change diapers, help with some feeding. Right now, I'm just…running in place."

"Pun definitely intended," Cisco says seriously, then snickers. "Hey, Snart, Bar beat to you to a pun today. You're slipping!" He glances around. "Snart?"

Leonard's nowhere in sight. Sara shrugs, because her husband's propensity for wandering places he's not supposed to go in STAR Labs nearly matches his propensity for breaking and entering the building in the first place. But just then, there's a chime from the computer panel in front of the guys, and Cisco glances downward, mouth dropping open.

"Ooooh, crap, he's in the infirmary," he stammers as Barry makes a pained noise, looking even more horrified. "How does he do that?"

"Sara, you might want to go get him out of there…if you don't want to be widowed just yet…" the speedster says, turning to her urgently. "Uh, Iris is down there, reading in the strongest AC, and…"

"And she isn't really overly polite to men right now," Cisco says, nodding solemnly. "She, well, says it's good they're having twins, because they wanted two, but she never wants to be alone with a guy again."

"Yeah? I could work with that." Sara snickers as they both gape at her. "Joking. I'll go retrieve Len before she does too much damage." She heads for the elevator, pausing to toss a question back over her shoulder. "Any advice?"

"What I said before," Cisco mutters, even as Barry says, "Don't mention her due date or ask if she's sure it's not triplets. And whatever you do…"

They finish in unison: "…don't tell her she's glowing!"

In all honesty, Sara's not overly worried as she strolls down the hallway toward the infirmary. She knows more than most that Leonard can be unexpectedly charming, and he's always had a fondness for Iris. He also has a crook's sense of self-preservation too, of course, and that can't hurt.

She can hear voices as she nears the door, and no one sounds alarmed, or even irritated. Smiling, Sara picks up the pace a little, then slows as she can make out the words.

Iris actually sounds amused. "…if you two ever decide to do this…"

"This? What, kids?" Len sounds amused, too…although Sara's simply stunned to hear that word coming out of that mouth in that tone. She's frozen now, listening, although her sneaky crook of a husband has certainly heard her approach. "Think Sara'd have something to say about that."

The small clatter sounds as if Iris has tossed something at him. A bottlecap, maybe. "No kidding," she retorts. "I'm just saying. Avoid…trying…in the fall."

"TMI, West." His tone is so easy. Seriously?

"West-Allen to you, Snart." Sara hears Iris sigh. "Sorry. I have baby brain."

"Understandable." The drawl is absurdly nonchalant, and Sara strains to hear as Iris says something else, and their voices drop. After a moment, though, she decides she's being silly, takes a deep breath, and strolls in, knowing that Len, at least, will have realized she's there.

Iris is seated on a sort of recliner, sitting up with her legs out in front of her. Sara, who's seen her only a few days ago, feels her eyes widen as she takes in her friend, who's wearing a maternity shirt that, well, might as well be a tent.

She wipes the expression from her face immediately, but from Len's snicker, not quickly enough. Iris rolls her eyes at him, then gives Sara a long-suffering expression.

"Yes," she says with a sigh. "I know. Still growing. Since that means double trouble here…" She affectionately pats her abdomen. "…are staying put, and my blood pressure is still good, the doctors are happy. The closer they can get to the due date, the better."

"Barry said tomorrow…"

"As of tomorrow, I'm at 37 weeks, and that's considered full term for twins. So…we'll see."

Those last two words are delivered in the tone of a woman who's hoping mightily to see some sort of action on the part of labor. Sara shakes her head, smiling, then crosses to give her friend a gentle hug. Iris returns it.

"He brought me cold water so I didn't have to waddle my way across the floor to get it," she tells Sara cheerfully. "I think you should keep him."

"I intend to." Sara throws a look at Leonard, who's slouched against a table looking amused. "How are you?"

"Pregnant. Tired. Warm." Iris shakes her head. "Your power is out too? I told Barry there was no way in hell I was staying in the loft without it."

"Power's back. AC is still gone." Leonard drawls. "Mick adores it. Us…not so much."

Sara rolls her eyes at him. "I was managing, but no, you insisted you wouldn't survive if it wasn't subarctic…"

"Didn't hear you arguing."

Iris snorts. "OK, enough with the flirty banter, or whatever it is you call it." She glances at Sara. "You're welcome to stay here. But I've called dibs on this recliner, because it's the only thing I can easily get out of. And Barry stays in here, too, because the least he can do is be the one to get me ice cream in the middle of the night if I want it." Both women ignore Leonard when he snickers again. "There's a futon in the spare office, the one right outside the server room. The AC is nearly as good there as it is here. Just…" She smirks. "Well, let's just say Cisco still refuses to use the bathroom off the Cortex, the one with the shower. We can't have him refusing to go into the server room. OK?"

They make no promises.