Taking pain away

There was a new meta-human in Central City who could cause the worst nightmares by touching his victim. Parker Fox was a thief and a murderer who belonged to a local gang, he did not disdain even torture. Initially, Francisco Ramon, who came up with nicknames for all meta-people, nicknamed him "The Nightmare Man", but then, deciding that this nickname did not fit, renamed him "Boogeyman" after consulting with Caitlin Snow, who had seen a character with that name in some cartoon.

***

When Flash's team, which included Cisco, Caitlin and Bartholomew Allen, actually Flash, the hero of Central City, asked for help from a brother and sister named Snart, criminals and thieves, Barry could not even think that Leonard, and Lisa after him, would agree to help the hero of the city. But things went awry when Flash got too close to the man. Parker wanted to touch the Lightning, but the elder Snart managed to get between them, exposing himself to the blow. Fox was not upset because the victim of nightmares was not a hero in a red suit, but a criminal, he just grinned and tried to escape with a nasty smile. He tried, because the Flash caught up with him almost instantly. Joseph West was there and Allen helped his foster father handcuff Parker.

***

"You little bastard!" Lewis growled when Leonard, defending little Lisa, punched his father in the eye. "No, Lenny!" The youngest Snart exclaimed desperately when she saw that her father dragged Len into the basement. But the policeman, ignoring his daughter's screams, closed the door to the room...

***

"Snart?" Flash asked, noticing that something was wrong with the man and running up to the unexpected ally. He was holding his head and moaning continuously, his eyes were tightly squeezed shut, as if he was experiencing a terrible headache. Watching a man writhe on the ground, clearly in some kind of seizure or worse, was unbearable, so Allen contacted his friends Cisco and Caitlin. "What should I do?" the guy asked. "The sooner you get him to S.T.A.R. Labs, the better it will be for him," Snow replied. "Understood," Bartholomew said shortly and, picking up Leonard in his arms, rushed to the laboratory in which he "worked".

***

"What's wrong with him?!" This question caused the Flash team to break away from discussing the health status of Captain Cold and turn around. "What's wrong with him?" Lisa repeated, moving closer to Barry, "what's wrong with my brother?" He looked at his friends, and then shifted his gaze to the younger Snart. "He..." the guy hesitated, and then ran his hand through his hair, bringing it into disarray, so he tried to calm down, "he got between me and the "Boogeyman". "Boogeyman"? Like in "Rise of the Guardians"? And who is the "Boogeyman" who is here, and not in the cartoon?" Lisa asked in bewilderment, and when she received an explanation, she only nodded understandingly, "yes, Lenny can do that," the Golden Glider smiled sadly, and then pointed towards the room with the cot, this was the room in which Barry lay after he was struck by lightning and fell into a coma, the cot was removed from there, of course, later, but it was returned back when Flash dragged Leonard to S.T.A.R. Labs, "is it possible there?" the girl clarified. Caitlin hesitantly shook her head and Lisa, shaking her hair, entered the room.

***

"Lenny..." whispered Snart. Her heart was painfully squeezed because she saw her always strong and brave older brother, who constantly protected and continues to protect her, helpless, in need of help. "Lisa..." Leonard muttered through a viscous, incessant nightmare, "I promise, he will never touch you again, I promise, I promise..." he swore almost continuously. The girl sobbed softly and, coming closer, gently stroked the man's hair, which caused him a painful sigh. "Everything will be fine, Lenny, we'll get you out of there, just be strong, please, for my sake..." whispered Snart.

***

"Well done, you've been listening for almost a week," Lewis praised his son. The boy only nodded, accepting the praise and cautiously squinted at the whip held in his father's hands. Leonard's gut told him that there was going to be a "but...". And, as if reading his thoughts, the man added: "But you have to obey me not because you are afraid of punishment, but because I am your father," the elder Snart said admonishingly. With these words, he grabbed the whip more comfortably, and, pulling down his pants from his son, hit him hard on the buttocks, even tears sprang from his eyes from the pain. To be honest, Lenny didn't want to scream, but it was easier than enduring this wild pain in silence, so he screamed, for which he received a dozen more blows and the scream gradually turned into quiet whining. At this time, in another room, curled up and trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, a girl was lying on the floor behind the sofa. She covered her ears with her hands and hot tears flowed from her eyes, watering the carpet that was very expensive for her father.

***

"That's all," the younger Snart finished her story in a colorless tone. The Flash team just froze, no one thought that this was the childhood of these people, did not think that because of this they grew up like this, although this is understandable, given that Lewis Snart was a corrupt policeman, as well as the fact that residents of nearby houses often complained about the screams coming from the Snart house and they went to the policeman to sort it out, but no one did anything. All the neighbors did not say a word on this topic, and when Lewis stole the emerald and the case came to court, only three people confirmed the words of Leonard and Lisa Snart, who accused their father of abuse, but Barry, Caitlin and Cisco found out about all this much later. "I'm sorry," Caitlin squeezed out of herself, and Francisco hugged the girl, spitting on the fact that she was a criminal, because now she clearly needed support, and the only person truly dear to her is tossing around in a delirium in a cot in S.T.A.R. Labs. Golden Glider smiled faintly and felt the guy touch her hand, and then Leonard's sister intertwined their fingers, because even when someone hugged Lisa, she felt lonely. Suddenly, Ramon and Snart's hands glowed with a soft white light. "Cisco..." Snow breathed out in amazement, "she's your soul mate…" "And what to do about it?" the guy asked, puzzled, hugging Lisa, who immediately began to cry, burying her nose in his chest. "I have no idea..." Barry muttered softly, watching Ramon soothingly patting the sobbing girl on the back. The younger Snart pulled away from Francisco, smiling at him, and then took a deep breath and, wiping tears from her face, said: "We need to find soulmate Len, and urgently. Only he can bring him out of this state."