Title: The Definition of Sacrifice
Genre: H/C and Friendship
Cisco was in a generally happy mode, as he practically skipped into the Cortex of STAR labs. The Superhero team had defeated the dominators, and perhaps the triumph from yesterday night's party still hadn't left him. He sighed, content, as he placed his car keys near his computer and looked around the Cortex. Seems like he was here first today.
Logically, they all had agreed on taking the day off, but Cisco never really had much to do outside of his science life and since Dante's death, his relationship with his remaining family was more strained than normal.
And honestly, Cisco was angry about Dante's death. Yes, they didn't have the best of relationships, but Dante was still his brother. He could fight his brother, resent him, envy him for his successful relationship with their parents, but now he couldn't do any of that. Now, he didn't want any of that. He regretted not letting his brother know of the value he held for him, for not making any good memories in their recent years. He blamed any higher power he could for the longest time, until he found out the cause was Barry.
Barry created Flashpoint. A man he considered a friend, a hero, a brother was indirectly the cause of Dante's death. And Cisco hated him, blamed him and pushed him as far away as he could. Barry didn't fight. He didn't explain himself, didn't say any more than the constant string of heartfelt apologies.
And then the Invasion almost happened, and the Dominators were fighting to take control of their world. Despite all of the burdens (which included recently losing his CSI job, Caitlin leaning towards becoming Killer Frost, and Wally recently finding out about his speed powers), Barry still organized a superhero team. And what did Cisco do? Try to make the team distrust Barry, try to discourage Barry's leadership and basically do everything in his powers to sabotage anything that Barry stood for.
Maybe he was sadistic in his own way, but he enjoyed seeing that overwhelming guilt in his friend's eyes whenever he mentioned any of Barry's recent mishaps with Flashpoint. He felt Barry deserved that pain. Yet, in no corner of his brain did Cisco believe that death was the punishment for Barry's actions. It didn't matter what Barry had done, he couldn't die. So when Barry announced that he would surrender himself to the Dominators, that he would willingly give up his life, Cisco went against it.
It also may have helped that Cisco himself had a mishap with altering timelines and being an indirect cause of so many people's deaths. Now Cisco understood what it meant to alter events with good intentions, only to have it backfire so magnificently in his face. And that burden was painful to carry.
Cisco glanced at the keyboard, his happy mood quenched by the depressing speculations. At least, we won, Cisco thought as he flopped into the chair.
A soft snore made its way into the Cortex, and Cisco looked up, his eyes following the sound. He stood up, and made his way into the medical room, where the gurney was currently occupied by the scarlet speedster himself.
For a brief second, Cisco panicked. Did someone attack last night? Why was Barry sleeping in the gurney, still clad in his red suit? (And, on a more minor note, why did nobody inform him?) At a closer glance, the engineer realized that the ex-CSI was sleeping soundly on the gurney. Probably with no real place to go last night after the party, the Flash decided to crash at STAR labs. Although sleeping in his suit would require a better explanation.
Cisco placed the coffee cup on the side table, just as Barry turned in his sleep. He slowly pulled up a chair and sat there. Maybe he should apologize, but a wide-awake Barry would make more sense there. He glanced at the clock. 11:00 AM. He could probably wake him up.
Slowly, Cisco reached out to his friend, gently placing his hand on his friend's shoulder…
And gasped as he felt himself wander into another dimension.
Cisco found himself in a warehouse, and glanced around the dark space somewhat reminiscent of Zoom's lair.
"Having a bad day, Barr?" A haughty voice calls from behind him, and Cisco twirls around to find himself facing the Reverse-Flash. Eobard Thwane. "Oh, if it isn't for the future Mrs. Allen." An almost smug look covers his face, and Cisco felt himself unconsciously step back. This was the man who killed him previously before, so, truth be told, there was still some fear for the yellow-clad speedster.
Eobard, however, was glaring through the bars of his cage. And on the receiving end of the glare, was Iris West supporting an injured and limping Barry Allen. "Barry told me not to listen to anything you say," She said, coldly.
"That's just bad advice," Eobard teased. "Cause I'm the answer man," he said as he watched Iris lower Barry onto a storage box. Barry was panting somewhat, glancing at Eobard before deciding lean on his knees for support. "I'm the answer to all your prayers. All you need to do is ask me, Barry."
The speedster shook his head, dejected and Cisco felt a wave of remorse hit him. What was Barry going to ask?
"We need to go back in time," Barry gritted out through his pain. "To that night." He rocked forward slightly, before looking up at Eobard for a response.
"To do what?" Eobard asked, enunciating every word.
And Cisco understood. This must be Flashpoint. This must have been the scene where Barry reset the time line.
"You know what I need you to do," Barry said as he continued rocking, purposefully looking everywhere but at Thwane.
"Yeah," the Reverse-Flash drawled. "But I want to hear you say it."
Barry stopped, and if looks could kill, Eobard Thwane would probably be dead a hundred times over. "I need you to kill my mother." The defiant shell broke, and the intense pain and sorrow showed through his eyes for that brief moment.
Cisco felt his heart drop, just as he watched Eobard smile. "With pleasure."
And the scene pulsated, and Cisco was out of the vibe, safe in the plastic chair of the medical room in STAR labs. He gasped as he let go of the speedster, a hand automatically making its way to his forehead.
What had Barry done?
To restore a timeline, he practically begged Thwane to kill his mother. And if the first year he spent with Barry since he woke up from coma, since he became Flash, Cisco understood how hard that decision must have been.
He jerked up from his chair and glanced down again at his friend. Barry moaned as he turned again. "Mom… sorry," a soft whisper called out just as a single tear escaped from the corner of his eye.
Cisco covered his mouth as he ran from the room, a desperate desire to get away from the man he had more than mistreated the past couple of weeks. He had called Barry selfish, that he only wanted to fix his life and it didn't matter the countless lives he destroyed in the process. But honestly, Barry was the hero. He had his perfect life in Flashpoint and he decided to reverse all of it, to come back to this timeline for his so-called friends.
Cisco didn't enter the cortex again until much later in the day. The entire team was present, just as the Flash zoomed past him.
"Hi Cisco," Barry called out happily. "Missed you this morning. Just stopped a robbery." Joe smiled as he reached out to high-five Barry. "Where were you?" He asked as he turned slightly towards Cisco. A small amount of hesitance showed, as if questioning if Cisco really forgave him yet.
Cisco smiled softly and walked towards his friend. "Good job," he congratulated softly just as he heard another meta-human alert go off. He was graced back by a wide Flash-signature grin, and any traces of his nightmare this morning were not visible on the lit-up face. Cisco, on the other hand, was simply floored. How could a man smile so genuinely when he sacrificed so much?
Barry pulled his cowl over, grinning all the while. "All in a day's work!" And he zoomed past the exit, leaving papers to flutter back. An exasperated Caitlin started picking up the papers just as Cisco settled into his chair in front of the mike, ready to lead and trust his brother once again.
A/N: This is a story after a long time of not writing anything (what can I say, I'm an engineer), so please forgive me if the characters were to OOC or if I just can't write. I apologize for that. I don't quite know why, but I really wanted to share this with all of you.
I recently got into Flash and I have to admit, I absolutely love this show. I don't think Cisco can vibe into nightmares (regardless of whether they happened or not), but I really wanted him to know how much Barry sacrificed; hence, the birth of this fic. I really liked the theme, but I don't think I did it justice.
Please feel free to leave a comment back as a review. Thank you for reading!