Work Text
Thunder only happens when it's raining
Players only love you when they're playing
“Turn that off please,” Caitlin hisses, clenching her hands to hide the icy tips of her fingersCisco scrambles forward to pause his music and bluster an apology, “You usually love my work jams though?”Caitlin takes a deep calming breath and feels the warmth return to her hand, “I just…hate that song.”“You hate The Mac???” Cisco cries out sounding truly offended.“I – no. I just hate that song in particular,” she tries to explain.“Yeah. Yeah for sure,” Cisco says with a few nods, “How about some Gaga?”“Sounds great,” she manages to say with a smile.The new song swirls around them in the silence of the lab while they track the team’s movements and try not to worry about the silence on the comms. After a few minutes of that though, Cisco can’t seem to bite back his concern anymore, “You know you can talk to me about anything right?”“I know,” she says as she takes a seat beside him and reaches out for his hand, “I promise it’s nothing life threatening.”“So it’s not about KF?”That makes Caitlin crack a smile and roll her eyes, “Since when do you call her KF?’“Since she threatened to put an icicle through my eye if I called her Miss Frosty,” Cisco says, making sure to accompany it with a grin. Killer Frost couldn’t hide the fact that she cared about Caitlin and the people Caitlin loved, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t still throw a threat around for the fun of it.“It’s nothing to do with Killer Frost, Cisco, I promise. She’s been – fine, lately.”“Cool. Well – I’m here for you Cait, whatever you need. Oh – incoming from the Legends.”Caitlin felt the tension spread throughout her body and did the best she could to keep her composure, the team needed her.“Hey Hometeam – we’ve got the situation under control, but we’ve got a few injuries for Dr. Snow to take care of. Flash is giving Team Arrow a ride home.”Caitlin nods at Cisco and turns to prepare the infirmary for what she imagines are minor injuries from the evenness of Sara’s tone. Then again, not much phases Sara any more. In the time it takes the Legends to get back to STAR Labs, Caitlin has entirely too much time for her own thoughts and for that damned song to roll around note by note and line by line in her head. By the time the commotion reaches her, she’s half lost in a daydream.“Told you m’fine, get me back to the Waverider so metalmouth can fix it.”“You’re not fine and you’re getting medical attention while we have it available,” Sara says without leaving room for argument. Of course, that’s never stopped Mick Rory before.“Did this on purpose, know you did-““I didn’t do that to your leg I just saw an opportunity,” she tells him calmly before turning to Caitlin, “Dr. Snow. Mick here’s been complaining about discomfort on one of his arms you know where his third freaking degree burns are – not much Gideon can do about it, so I took the opportunity to bring him to you, ya know, while he needs his leg fixed too.”Mick’s leg is obviously in bad shape but likely not broken given how he can lean on Nate and Ray to get around and isn’t cursing up the storm that a broken leg would elicit. It certainly seems like the kind of thing Gideon’s medical program is equipped to handle, which means Sara thinks Mick’s complaints are serious enough to trick him into seeing her. Mick would never come to see her willingly.Quietly, Caitlin nods and directs the other two men to help Mick onto the examination table.“We’ll be out on the cortex if you need us,” Nate says while Ray lingers at Mick’s side.“Want me to stick around, buddy?”“Screw you traitor,” Mick grinds out, which only makes Ray smile a little and pat Mick’s good leg before following Nate and Sara out of the infirmary.“So which arm has been bothering you?” Caitlin asks, covering herself in a garment of professionalism and denial.“Said it’s fucking nothing,” Mick says, head turned almost uncomfortably away from her.“You know that your scars can become infected years after –““Yeah I know,” he says without turning, “they’re fine.”“Let me take a look,” she starts, reaching for the hem of his shirt before he flinches brusquely away.“Don’t.”“Mick I – “Mick takes a deep labored breath, likely in more pain between the dull pain of his scars and the sharp pain of his leg combined and Caitlin wants to help him. She wants to help him because she’s a doctor and she wants to help him because he clearly needs it and she wants to help him because she doesn’t need the guilt of his physical pain on her consciences on top of everything else.“If you tell them, they’ll understand. They’ll find you another doctor.”“Ain’t their damn business.”“Mick, I’m just trying to help.”“Fix the leg then,” he says, finally turning to look at her. He can see that he’s not giving an inch, that it isn’t the idea of being touched or helped by her that makes him so reluctant. It’s the burns. She sets to work on cutting away his pant leg and treating what appears to be a mostly superficial wound to the left leg that Gideon could most certainly have taken care of. She works on it nonetheless, knowing that as soon as he’s back on the Waverider, Gideon can have the leg good as new. And yet.“You know I’ve seen your scars before,” she says softly, eyes turned to her work.“Not like this,” he mutters. He knows then, that they’re in bad shape – and still the stubborn fool...“Let me look at your goddamn arms,” she finally snaps.“You sure ask nice, baby doll,” he says with a leer, “where’s that girl been?”“Shut up and strip,” she orders, trying not to feel too proud at how easily the small-town drawl creeps back into her voice right when she needs it to.He sits right up as if he were suddenly in no discomfort at all and catches her chin in between his fingers just the way he always did before he kissed her and oh – it shouldn’t still burn in her belly to remember the way he kissed her what felt like a lifetime ago.“There’s my girl,” he whispers without the contrived gruffness that he throws around like so much smoke to distract everyone with.“Your girl’s long-gone Mick,” she says as evenly as she can manage, “but I made a damn good doctor in her place so take off your goddamn shirt and let me fix ya.”They stare each other down for what feels like an eternity before Mick yanks his gloves off and follows them up with his shirt. The scars are in a bad way but nothing that some antibiotics and topical care couldn’t fix. The truth was that Gideon could have taken care of this as well, but Mick was probably grinding his teeth half the time and complaining for the rest of it, so it was no wonder that Sara took the first chance she had to drop him on a human doctor who would set him straight. It was a testament to what she’d just told him that it took her so long to see the glint of silver hanging around his neck. It was true, the girl that would have seen it in a split second and swooned had long gone away, and in her place was a doctor who focused on the task of helping her patient and nothing else. They were nothing else to each other.Still she wasn’t so lucky that Mick didn’t catch where her eyes had wondered and chuckled at her.“Don’t flatter yer self,” he says as he leans back and away from her, “it was Len’s for years. Kept it for me cause I wouldn’t fucking get rid of it, wore it till it stood for him and not you. I wear it for him.”“Never made it official though did you,” she says before she can stop her stupid tongue from running away from her.“Wasn’t like that with us and you know it,” he says, turning his face away from her again.Caitlin takes a breath and remembers herself, remembers that she’s not a confused girl anymore and Mick’s not… Mick’s not who he used to be either.“I’m sorry. Mick I’m real sorry. Len was… Len was important.”“Damn fucking right he was,” Mick mutters, low enough that Caitlin understands that’s the end of it.“You’re going to be fine, I’ll just prescribe you some things and I’m sure your captain will be on your ass about it so I’m not worried,” she says, trying against the tide to turn back to a casual denial of absolutely everything.Infuriatingly Mick seems to be having none of it, “Now why in the hell would you ever worry about me, huh Caity?”She can’t help but laugh at that, bitter but inevitable it bubbles out of her.“Oh hell I don’t know Mick, I left you on a farm with a couple of goats and a broken tractor and next thing I know you’re wanted by Interpol and you’re chasing my best friend around with a flamethrower. But what’s there to worry about right?”“You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, Caity, always thinkin’ you’re so smart.”“I am so smart,” she says, like she’s seventeen and out to prove something again.“For some things, baby, but you don’t know shit about me anymore.”“Maybe I don’t, but I –““What.”“I see what you’re doing with the Legends and I just… wonder if I shoulda seen that back then. I wonder if I was so busy thinking about my potential that I didn’t bother with yours.”Mick’s entire demeanor seems to change in an instant then. All of the biting resentment in him seem to evaporate and then his face was a mask of surprised regret.“No Caity, you did what you had to. It was the right thing too,” he says, soft as she remembers, “there wasn’t anything for your there.”Caitlin lets out a surprised little laugh and drops her gaze, “I don’t know Mick, a lot of girls would kill for a hard-working husband and a couple of goats.”“I hated fucking working and you hated the damn goats,” he says, hand on her chin again, “you made the right call.”’The silence stretches like a heavy suffocating silence between them and isn’t aware of the tears running away from her until Mick erases them with his too-hot-rough-scarred thumbs.“Hey shh, don’t cry Caity you know I can’t stand that. What’s that song you like? Oh yeah… Now here you go again, you say// You want your freedom // Well who am I to keep you down…”The sob she lets out is entirely out of her control, just as the way she throws her arms around his neck is involuntary as well.“I hate that song,” she whispers.His hand on her back is stilted, uncertain.“Ah well, guess I don’t know shit about you anymore either, huh?”She shakes her head into his neck and takes one deep of old ash and sweat before stepping away.“Mick what happened? How… how did you end up here, how did you and Len become world class criminals when I left you two on a farm with a forge and some goats – how…”“How the hell do you think, Caity. I was trying to bring my wife home and Len was followin’ me trying to make sure I didn’t do anything stupid. By time I figured out you’d made the right call leaving my ass I’d taken a liking to the city. Not much for a couple of farm boys to do out here so-““So you embarked on a life of crime to hang around the city I chose to go to college in,” she deadpans.“Was nice knowin’ you were close, doll,” he whispers, soft and gentle just like she remembers. Just like he’s been hiding away from everyone for over a decade.“I –““Hey Doc, sorry to interrupt but we’ve got a bit of an emergency to deal with,” Sara calls out from the doorway, “does Mick have a green light?”Caitlin keeps her eyes on Mick but she can feel herself folding back into the mask she’s perfected, putting away the childish things of her past.“Gideon can handle his treatment,” she calls back to Sara, “just make sure he gets on it.”“Awesome, meet us at the ship in five, Mick – it’s a big one,” she notes, before turning back to gather the rest of her team.“You got it boss,” he grunts out, even though there’s no one there left to pretend for.“Guess it’s back to work, huh?”“Workin’s your business,” he says as he hops off the cot and throws his shirt back on, “I’m just gonna steal some shit and punch some assholes.”“Watch yourself Mr. Rory,” she says, wrapping her arms around herself in an effort to keep in all the old stirrings bursting from her, “country boy like you in the big bad world oughta watch out.”“Small town girl like you should take her own advice, Mrs. Rory,” he says as he backs towards the doorway, “you ever gonna sign those papers by the way?”She can hear him singing shamelessly and off key down the hallway, “Say women they will come and they will gooo.."She wants to answer, she wants to tell him to stop singing that song they’d danced to the night before she left, she wants to tell him to stay. But before she can find her voice he’s already gone away, somewhere she can’t follow, just the way she thought she’d done to him all those years ago when she’d slipped out of their decrepit farmhouse with an acceptance letter and his last name.