Sorry it's been so long, I've had writer's block and am still figuring somethings out with this story, so just a little short chapter for now. Enjoy!
I own nothing except Alyssa, so don't touch her or sue me.
Chapter 10:Ronnie:
It was to cute, Joe thought; the way kids thought they were being secretive. Felicity and Alyssa at least weren't even trying, snuggled together on his couch talking about computers in language that sounded something like what Barry used in his lab; they were starting to grow on him. Eddie and Iris, he did not even want to know what was going through their heads when they glanced at each other from their positions in the kitchen watching dishes. He was pleased though, he had believed for the longest time that Iris and Barry would get together despite the continued white of their soulmarks, but the blue on his daughter's wrist and the light in her eyes when she looked at Eddie prevented him from being truly upset. He could see in Barry's eyes as he watched them a mix of sadness and acceptance, he could only hope that his son's soulmate was as good to him as Eddie was to Iris.
Hartley and Cisco on the other hand, if they got any closer they'd be sitting on each other's laps, which they didn't seem to notice. This stunned Joe, and from the looks of things, amused Alyssa to no end. The two boys were sitting at the table, looking over plans for something Cisco was making. They worked around each other well; Cisco had started talking to Hartley about something to dampen Meta's powers during dinner and the two hadn't stopped since. They hadn't noticed when Barry had started clearing the dinner plates except to pull out paper and start sketching. But when Cisco was focused on outlining their design Hartley would watch him with a soft smile, and when he talked equations the joy in Cisco's face was so clear it was a miracle the other did not notice.
"They're so sweet." Iris cooed softly, hugging her father.
"And not subtle at all." He replied. She chuckled and sat next to Felicity and Alyssa whose conversation changed from computers to dresses and soon the girls were deep in discussion. Joe smiled. They would need to bring clubs to keep men away the next time the girls went out if they kept on like that.
A phone rang out; Barry. He answered, eyes wide, then turned to look at Cisco. "We may have found Ronnie."
It was a while before they actually managed to bring Ronnie to S.T.A.R. Labs, and once they had Cisco wasn't sure whether they could really say they'd brought Ronnie back, since Martin Stein seemed to be in control for the most part. But it was still Ronnie's body walking around S.T.A.R. Labs again, weird.
Then they discovered that nuclear energy, which Cisco had worried about once Hartley had told him everything he knew about the transfusion project, which was admittedly fairly little, was engrained in his cells and that it was likely to go off in just a few hours. Wonderful.
"Wait the suit readings are normal." He said into the microphone.
"That means there's no radiation." Barry replied. He picked Caitlin up and raced back to the explosion site.
A couple seconds later, Cisco was embracing Ronnie. "Man I shouldn't have sealed you in there."
"Hey. You did what you had to, what I told you to do. Thank you." Caitlin pulled Ronnie away to check his vitals, Stein followed, and the other three men walked back to the Cortex, Cisco smiling the whole way. It was like Hartley had said, Ronnie was family. They all were, and in many ways he felt closer to them than he did to his own flesh and blood. There he felt isolated, disregarded, here he was accepted. And the green on his wrist proved that his family was growing, and cared.
He stopped suddenly. Caitlin's wrist was blue, it had never turned black. Ronnie's wrist was blue as well. So why did they think he was dead?
"Cisco, everything okay?" Barry asked. He looked at Caitlin.
"Why did you think he was dead?"
She sighed, turning a pen over in her hands. "I thought I heard him die. And when I looked, and couldn't find him, I thought that something released by the accelerator must have messed with my soulmark." She smiled at Ronnie sadly. "I sort of, pushed it to the side. Some days I forgot it was still blue." Ronnie hugged her tightly.
"Well I'm back." He whispered. "And I promise you, it'll stay blue."