⚡

EARTH-53

Cassidy Snart enters the outbuilding of stone industries. She carries only the most important things with her. A device that interferes with the surveillance cameras and the key card. The security system is designed to close all escape routes to any stranger and immediately inform the security guard across the street. Cassidy, however, is not a stranger. At least not as long as she has her card with her. The system considers her a security guard with special privileges. And that's how it should stay.

It amazes Cassidy that she encounters almost no people. According to the information she got from Gideon and the Internet, most of the employees should be off work today. Still, she feels uncomfortable as she walks through the empty hallways. On her cell phone, she watches the signals that her jammer sends. It seems to be working. In other circumstances, Cassidy would have proudly done a happy dance or bragged about her Succed. But she shouldn't be proud of breaking the law. If anything went wrong, her career would be over before it even began.

In the hallway to her right, Cassidy can make out the cordoned-off area. The construction workers also had the day off, so she takes quick steps towards the half-built elevator. "Gideon, is the ladder in the shaft safe to step on?"

"If everything was made according to the building permits and the company followed the applicable rules during construction, then yes. It should be able to hold your weight."

"'Alright, then. Here we go." Cassidy tears down a small section of the tarp blocking the entrance and slides underneath. The shaft a few millimeters in front of her feet goes down about eight feet, according to her estimates. The elevator has not yet been installed. Cautiously, she peers at the ladder attached to the side of the shaft. About four feet separates her from it. Cassidy reassures herself that all her tools are secure and locked to her uniform before taking the jump. 

Her hands firmly grasp the rungs of the metal ladder. Cassidy is sure that her chest is about to burst. She can hear her heartbeat through her ears. "Oh my gods. I'm never going to do that again."

Carefully, her fingers sweating slightly, she climbs the rungs of the ladder. She stops on the fourth floor.

Just before she is about to jump towards the exit, she notices voices. 

"I don't understand why we need to check the security cameras again. It often happens that a few pixels go haywire." "After all, we get paid per hour. What do you actually do after closing time?"

As the voices grow quieter, Cassidy finally dares to breathe again. "Holy star trek gods, please don't drop me." She whispers before carefully moving onto the thin ledge. Her left hand still holds onto the ladder, whereas the other grips the shaft of the elevator door. After ten tense seconds, she lies on the floor of the corridor. 

"I missed you, ground!" Relief washes over the young Snart. Even though she often worked out with her dads and had parkour twice a week during her school years, she prefers the world of science. And by that she means sitting at home in front of a computer with a hot chocolate á la Snart or helping out at star labs from time to time. Definitely not at playing super spy. 

The 17 year old gets up and walks down the hall. If she has memorized the blueprints correctly, the air vent she is looking for should be in the chamber to her left. With her card, she opens the door as quietly as she can. Who knows when the two persons will return. The smell of cleaning agents awaits her in the room. Cassidy's eyes search for the air went, which is one of the only ones a person could actually fit through. This would allow her to pass through without drawing attention to herself. 

She carefully removes the screws from the grille with a screwdriver that she brought with her. Fortunately for her, the air vent is relatively far down, so she can get in quickly. The air vent is full of dust and Cassidy has to pull her shirt over her nose to avoid sneezing. "I really need a shower after this," Cassidy thinks to herself.

"Gideon, how much longer until I get to the office?"

"In about three minutes, you'll be at your destination."

"Okay. Are you able to take over the room's cameras and play a loop? Or are we still too far away?"

"I'm already working on it. Unfortunately, I'm not able to work at my usual speed on this device. As soon as you get there I expect it to be ready."

The grate in front of the girl slowly loosens from its anchorage as she tries to open it with her tools. The plan was to open the grate somehow to the inside. But often not everything can go according to plan. With a loud clang, the metal lands on the floor of the office. Quietly, Cassidy utters a curse.

Carefully, she tries to get down from the opening in the ceiling. But gravity destroys her ideas. Instead of elegantly jumping down, Cassidy lands on her stomach. The air is squeezed out of her lungs. "Fuck, that hurts," she presses out.

After a few seconds of lying around, Cassidy motions toward the office desk. 

"There must be a secret compartment here somewhere"

Cassidy's gaze keeps shifting nervously towards the door. No one should actually be able to get in here. Because the owner, who is the only one with access to the office, is somewhere on vacation in Hawaii, according to his latest posts.

She runs her hands along all the edges of the furniture standing around. Behind one of the filing cabinets, she finds the lever she is looking for. "Gideon, can you tell me what exactly it does to pull the lever or whatever it is? Is there a secret safe in here somewhere?"

"I'm not able to run any scans. But according to the blueprints, there should be a cavity on the north-facing side. This is where what we're looking for should be."

Cassidy presses the leverand flinches when she notices the voice.

"Authorization code needed."

Without making a sound, Cassidy pulls a device from her side pocket and places it in front of the north wall. She doesn't know where the program for the voice is located, but suspects it has something to do with the hollow room. She waits for the device to make a high-pitched beeping sound and turns her phone to full volume. "The confirmation code is D 1 6 Gamma A 5"

The voice from the cell phone belongs to none other than Leif Stone, the owner of stone industies.

"Welcome, Dr. Stone."

All the windows in the room, the ones facing the hallway and the ones through which one could see the houses of the industrial district a short while ago, darken. Then a door opens infront of her.

Behind the door hides a small room full of strange white boxes. 

Cassidy pays no attention to them and immediately heads toward the giant computer. Somewhere on this computer must be the information she is looking for. 

She pulls out a cable from her pocket and plugs in both the device that already helped her open the door and her cell phone. 

"Gideon, can you find the data and copy it?"

"Indeed."

On the computer, the screen lights up. Gideon has already cracked the firewall and is looking for the right folder.

...open file.topsecret.amne.speed.tach.101...

"Can you delete the data on the computer in a way that no one will ever get this information again?"

"I can install a program that will delete all data related to this. However, I advise against it. This information could be significant in the future."

"This data should never fall into the hands of the wrong people, we-"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Says an all too familiar mocking voice. A voice that doesn't fit the person Cassidy has spent the last twelve years with. Slowly, the young girl turns around.

In the open door stands her father in flash and blood. Or to be more precise, a younger version of Leonard Snart, Cassidy thinks to herself. The younger version of her dad is wrapped in a blue coat and has his hands clasped in front of his chest. He doesn't seem the least bit impressed by the sight of her. 

This version of her father doesn't seem to have his ice powers yet, Cassidy thinks to herself. So he would have to be the same age as when he was part of the Legends.

"Procedure completed." With these words, Gideon brings Cassidy out of her observation.

"Why are you here? Shouldn't you be fighting that crazy guy? I doubt I would have started an apocalypse."

The young Snart unplugs her devices and puts them back in. 

"Listen, kid. I don't know what you hope to gain by breaking in here, but you almost got some people very mad at you."

"Wait a minute... You're here with the Waverider, right? I've always wanted to go on a spaceship! And Aunt Sara- Oh, sorry, don't tell too much about the future, correct?"

The older Snart only raises an eyebrow. The young girl's manner reminded him of an old acquaintance who also had this strange and excited manner about him. Gideon didn't want to give him much information about the girl across him, but he's beginning to suspect why.

"Come on, kid. I'll take you back."

"Uhh, with the spaceship?"

"Don't get on my nerves and I'll think about it."

メ:⚡ .｡. メ .｡.⚡:メ

[A/N]
Cassidy met the younger
version of her father!
It's crazy how time travel
works. How do you think it
would have changed the
timeline if she had erased
the data?
[Btw, there will be a bonus
chapter from Len's point
of view in which we
might find out.]
word count—1699

メ.⚡  THANK YOU FOR READING ⚡.メ