A/N: Hey Everyone! How did you all enjoy that cross over? Myself…I say an A as I found it entertaining and very well put together. So, I wrote a couple of epilogues for Part the Clouds. Remember, my timelines are not exactly cannon and therefore certain results of Flashpoint are not included! You'll see what I mean when you get there! Also, per a pm request that I received…I'll be posting a more 'private' Kanco moment to this story as well. There will be plenty of Tags and 'warning rated M' before that chapter in case that isn't your thing. You guys have been great! I'll still take prompts too! Let me know if you dig this chapter!
-Lex
Epilogues-Post Coma
Two months
I landed on top of the roof with in a silent crouch. The flying thing had gotten much easier but I didn't use it often, only when I needed to keep up with Flash…or if I was in a rush.
"I would like to go on record saying that I think this training is a waste of time and resources." I growled, jumping up to the ledge Flash was balancing on. "I can back you in the field without all of this."
Luckily, Nimbus wasn't really seen as the Flash's sidekick. I would follow Flash right into Hell. Because I believed in him. Because I thought he was a hero.
Hell…I was starting to believe I could be one too. One day.
"This isn't about Nimbus backing me." He corrected, barely looking over at me. "This training is about Nadia learning the balance between mercy and force."
After waking from my coma, I started to piece my life back together. Operating under the identity of Nadia Beauvias. My middle name and my mother's maiden. Tajsa and I got a nice apartment in down town. I had even bought a Ducati…like the one I had barrowed in central city.
Second, I decided to stop the self-medicating. I had to find better coping mechanisms than drowning my issues with alcohol. It wasn't even that I ever had enough to become inebriated. Just enough to stop the storm clouds from rolling around in my head. The next thing I did was talk Tajsa into therapy. After Cisco had told me about the 'sin eater' conversations...I became more aware of my sister's coping mechanisms. Tajsa had a habit of bottling things inside too. Attending Therapy with Tajsa turned into the fourth thing. Admittedly, I was not as open as my sister was to the idea of therapy…especially because a large part of my story had to be edited.
"I know mercy, Flash." I snapped. "I just think it would be more useful to break a knee if the felon is fleeing."
"That's a crime."
"So is breaking and entering but you are pretty soft on that."
Flash rolled his eyes and zipping from one rooftop to another.
"That is not the same." He answered when I caught up. "And you know it."
"I know that we could be stopping a lot more people if we just bend some of these rules you…"
"Good Lord you two bicker like children." Joe groaned over the comms.
"I really don't see how they get anything done." Caitlin sighed.
Flash chuckled before speeding off to another rooftop. I sprinted to the edge and dove, willing the air current to shift. It hosited me higher and futher to I could attempt to keep up with the fastest man alive. Even flying he was always around 25 yards away from me. And I had a sneaking suspicion that he was taking it easy for the training session.
"Don't go easy on me speedster," I grunted, landing on another rooftop.
"The first thing you need to understand is that force is on a continuum." Flash ignored me. "the amount of force you use should be proportional to the situation."
"So by this logic breaking bones of a mugger is extra."
"Exactly," Team Flash agreed as a whole.
"Fine, I apologize. I'm listening." I conceded, turning my head as the wind carried a scream to my ears. Roughly ten miles away. "Sounds like we got action."
"What?" The man was fast, not supersonic.
"Ten miles away, screams."
"East? North?" Flash asked, ready to spring into action.
"Hell, I don't know." I pointed to my two o'oclok which made the hero smirk. "That way."
"How is it that you don't know your cardinal directions?" Flash asked, already speeding off as I leaped into the air.
"Personally, I don't give a da…"
"Guys, break in at Central Way apartments." Cisco interrupted. "There is a midnight showing of Top Gun at the dollar theater and barring a hostile takeover, I plan to be there."
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To complete the new life…I had to get a day job. Some how a resume of snooping and picking fights turned into me interning for Central City Picture News. One guess as who had picked me as a mentee.
One month later, I finally understood that Iris was truly an accomplished reporter. Before, I doubted that she put any labor into her profession as she was a vital part of Team Flash. Turned out that she could do both. As we did research and went on adventures for her articles, Iris and I formed a solid bond. That meant working together, that meant letting my guard down around her, that meant talking…
My big mouth landed us in an interview room inside of Central City Mental Hospital.
"I cant believe I let you talk me into this." I grumbled. "Do you realize that should this go south I'll have to fight a pissed off speedster and a 'Dad of the year'?"
"Do you realize that your worrying is making me anxious?" Iris asked.
I rolled my eyes and continued unloading things from the bag I carried.
"You said that the idea that you were the cause of Ricky's mental break has you stressed. And you wont talk about it, not even to Cisco."
"Cause I don't know the protocol for talking to my current boyfriend about being worried for my ex-boyfriend…"
"Cisco would understand." Iris pointed out. "Kane, you allow your sorrow to slip through when you think nobody is watching. When you think Cisco isn't watching."
"Because I don't know where to start, Iris. I'm mourning my mom and dad, deciding if it's right to mourning my abuser, raising a teenager when I'm not someone she should even look up to…
"Surrounded by people that adore you including: a boyfriend that would bend time and space for you…literally, a sister that thinks you can hang the moon, not to mention that you are a vigilante."
An orderly knocked on the door and I shuffled to the back of room. Trying to blend in with the wall. Iris and I had changed my entire appearance so Ricky wouldn't notice me. Straightened hair that hung in my face as it flowed past my bra…a pair of high boots for height…a baggy jacket and glasses over my brown contacts.
Ricky sat in a chair across from Iris as she interviewed him about being kidnapped. He seemed…normal. An easy smile, relaxed shoulders and even a chuckle. Ricky answered questions her questions without much issue…sounding a lot like he when we met. Yeah, normal…except for the deep scratches on his face, neck and arms. Plus, the slight mania in his brown eyes.
"Last question, Ricky. Then I will be out of your hair." Iris grinned professionally after ten minutes of questions. "You told the police that you were kidnapped because…."
"Because of Kane. She ordered me to be kidnapped." He answered as if that was an obvious statement.
As he uttered my name, Ricky shifted in his seat. Leaning forward as if he would pounce, his broad shoulders curling angrily and his face countering into pure…hate. An electric shiver ran down my spine but Iris remained profressional. Taking an uneasy breath, she pushed through.
"Why would she do that?" Iris asked. "Why would she want to hurt you?"
"Because that is who she is! Kane had always wanted to hurt me. Always!" Ricky slapped the table angrily but laughed. "But I get it now. God, ha! I finally understand."
Ricky grinned wildly, showing all his teeth.
"Ya, See. Kane had a rough childhood. Battered kid Syndrome, you know. When we were together, I tried to be the best possible boyfriend. To show her how much I loved her. But nahhhhh." He bounced like an excited child. "Kane doesn't know mercy, or gentleness. She knows pain and suffering and…and…that kinda stuff. That's why she kidnapped me and had them torture me."
"Sorry, I don't think I…"
"Of course you don't. You look like the kind of woman that wants candlelight dinners and puppies. No offense but so…not my type." Ricky had the good grace to look apologetic even as he started to scratch and tear at his skin. A laughed bubbled out of his chest as the orderly attempted to restant him. "Kane loves me. That's the only way she could finally say it."
Shame, I hung my head in shame. How had a been able to do this to him? To take a man…good to the very core and twisted him. To take something as innocent as his need to be loved and…use it as a tool until I could no longer. Ricky hasn't done any wrong to me. Not even once. His only fault was loving me. I blinked harshly, wondering how I had managed to kill a mockingbird. The orderly ushered Ricky out of the room but I didn't lit my eyes to see him as he passed. I did deserve too look him in the eye.
"Kane," Iris started but I waved her off.
"Don't bother prom queen." I groaned weakly pushing at the motion that was threatening to overtake me. . "Don't say this is not my fault."
"This isn't Kane. Taking Ricky for leverage was always a part of the hydrate plan…regardless of your involvement." Iris assured. "You didn't cause this."
"Iris," I called, allowing the fear to seep in. "Lets say this is my fault. That I was able to take a man that wanted to love me and drive him insane. How can I possible love Cisco?"
Clamping her hands on my shoulders, Iris forced me to look into her deep eyes. Brown on Green, I had never seen her so serious.
"You need to talk to Cisco. About all of this." She implored, her words low and slow as if she needed me to understand.
And…maybe she was right.
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4 Months
It should have felt like a heavenly night. He had popcorn on his left, beer on the right, his hot girlfriend sprawled across his lap and I am Legend playing on his big screen. It should have been a first class night in with Kane but…Cisco couldn't even focus. He hadn't glanced at the movie or touched the popcorn in over twenty minutes. No, the genius was far too busy looking at the girl with her head in his lap and wondering why.
It was his fault really. He just had to do remote updates on the team flash phone trackers. The blue blimp that indicated Kane position just had to have an address on it. and he just had to look up that address. It was a tattoo shop on the southside of town. The hour she spent there implied there had been work done. And Kane only had tattoos of nines that represented a traumatic event. It had been months since the coma. Why had she gotten another Tattoo?
Equally important…where in the hell was it? On nights that Kane stayed over…she didn't wear much and she did it to terrorize him. Such as tonight. A mid-drift top with the super skinny straps…a garmet so small that Cisco could almost see all of her tattoos. A tiny black fabric that dared to call themselves shorts. Honestly, those where his favorite. Cisco scanned her body…where could she hide a tattoo.
It was tormenting him really.
A smack to his chest brought him out of his deduction.
"How fucking dare you not tell me that he had to kill the dog?" Kane whined. "Why would you just let me watch that?"
"Mi Vida, he had to kill the dog." Cisco let a hand drop to Kane's curls. "That part gets me too."
"I mean Sam was given to him by his child! It's the end of his family!" Kane grumbled, pressing pause on the movie and wiping a stray tear.
"Why did you pause it?"
"A-this is emotional terrorism and I wont watch the rest." Kane readjusted to laying on her back to see him better. "B- you aren't even watching."
"I am wa…"
"Baby when we watch a movie together you always point out specific things I should pay attention to. You have said nothing." Kane took his hand and started to play with his fingers. "What gives?"
"um…I did some updates on the Team Phone Trackers. Remote updates." Cisco started. "And Well, it tracks. So while I was doing the updates today I could see where everyone was. Not that I was looking but the way the security is set up it gives me the address of the team member. For…panic purposes."
"Cisco you are stalling." Kane sat up. "Are you telling me that you were tracking me all day today?"
"Technically, it tracks you all the time. I mean, social media tracks us and you have two Instagram pages.…"
Kane scoffed and pushed herself off the couch. Her face that eerie calm that Cisco knew was a clear sign of entering the danger zone.
"Kane, I'm sorry." Cisco apologized. "It's the way the app works. I wasn't initially trying to track you."
"No just unintentionally ruining my surprise." She sighed.
"You said surprise as if you going to tattoo shop is a good thing."
"It was. I got another Nine."
"Nubacita? Kane, how is that a good thing?" Cisco hummed. "You told me what each of your tattoos meant. Everyone of them was something bad."
"This one is different. Genius. I got it for you." Kane huffed. "This one represents YOU. And ME loving YOU. I had this entire mushy speech prepared about being in love with you and finding my Nine."
Cisco could have been knocked over with a feather. Kane loved him. After just four months, Kane loved him. Enough that she had gotten a Nine for him. A tattoo, a scar…something that would be with her no matter what time, place or space. He needed to make sure Kane understood that he felt the same and more for her. That he loved her.
However, he couldn't collect his thoughts.
"So…" He started. "Can I see it?"
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Five months
He was late. I set five alarms, laid out his outfit and he was still late. Rather than glance at my watch for the fourth time… I sent him a text.
"Are we still meeting at Jitters?"
Totally, I just got hung up. I'm on my way!
Your coffee is getting cold.
And Mi Nubacita only gets hotter.
I rolled my eyes but couldn't help the smile on my face. If he made me late to the first meeting with his parents in thirty minutes…Cisco was a dead man walking. It wasn't that I was nervous. I just wanted to make a good impression. Never had I been the kind of girl to bring home to your mom but I had assumed that I would meet his folks at some point. I just wasn't expecting it to be so soon…if four months was soon.
I flexed my fingers, not knowing what to do with my hands. The weight on my right ring finger made me smile into my tea.
To be fair, I was appalled at first…even furious, when Cisco put the little red box on my counter right after Tajsa left for her swim class. I opened it and could immediately tell that Cisco made the ring himself…modeled from my mother's ring.
"No." I had said and shut the box.
"No? You haven't even heard the question yet." He had scoffed. "it's my delivery, right? I should have bent the knee."
"Look, Jon snow, it's not my birthday, Valentine's day or Christmas. So this feels like a proposal." I turned away and continued to load the dishwasher. "it feels like a reaction to yesterday and so help me, Cisco, if this has any thing to with…"
"I'll have you know that I have been working on your ring for 3 weeks. This has nothing to do with Mick Rory claiming that you were bound to leave me once you realized a was just another nerd nipping at your heels. Which would have sucked less if he hadn't said it over comms to the entire team-up. But I digress." Cisco turned me around by the waist.
"Cisco, I love you." I promised. "but you don't need to give me a ring to keep me. I'm already yours."
"I know that. Which is why this is not the proposal. It's just a promise."
"You have my curiosity."
"I'm just promising that I love you completely and irrevocably. That all my things are yours too." Cisco shrugged with ease. "And that when you are good and ready…my last name is yours too."
I was brought out of the memory by a plate of breakfast muffins being sat before me.
"This place is crowded, mind if I sit." The tall, dark and handsome stranger asked although the place was not that crowded.
"Have at it."
"Two cups? Either it's a hell of a morning or…"
"I'm waiting for my boyfriend." I filled in making sure that my ring was in plain view as I sipped my coffee. I hardly ever flirted with guys outside of the Nimbus persona.
"Lucky man," he smiled undeterred. "Well, a stupid man really. For you I would be on time, always."
I shrugged, unimpressed by his sentiment.
"Tell me, does this boyfriend of yours…"
"I'm here, I'm here." Cisco dashed over to the table in a whirlwind. He tilted my head up and kissed me lightly. " Hello, gorgeous. Are you ready to go?"
"Cisco?!" The stranger snapped in surprise.
Cisco whipped around and gasped, "Dante?!"
"Dante?" I asked, realizing the stranger never told me his name. "Youre Dante?"
"Youre Nadia?"
"whoa, whoa…do you two know each other?" Cisco gasped, whipping his hair as his head turned while looking at us. "Cause this just got really weird?"
"No, hermano. I just sat down!" Dante said at the same time I answered with…
"Your brother was hitting on me!"
Cisco took some time to rearrange his features to neutral before grabbing my hand and ushering me out of Jitters. I couldn't decide if he was smug or horrified.
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"What's wrong?" I asked my sister as she caught her breath.
"Nothing, Kane." She gruffed, meeting my eyes.
Tajsa had been in a sour mood all day. I had assumed it was because of the shots Caitlin was giving her. Apparently, bad days were a side effect of a drastically changing body. Tajsa had been working hard on her health. She had a diet for muscle building from Caitlin that ran three weeks. The Fourth week of the month was the 'vegan diet' for detox. Not my thing but I supported her and tried not to cook bacon in front of her. Also, Taj had taken up jogging and had even asked me to each her some self-defense.
I had tried to give her space and let her work through her mood on her own. Tajsa asked me to jog with her. Being that I had super powers…I was naturally much faster than her. However, it wasn't a chore to bite pride, trot beside my sister and offer encouragement when she slowed.
"Nah," I hummed, looking over to the dog park near the trail we decided to run. "Talk to me?"
"I'm selfish." She said through a few slight pants.
"Why do you say that?"
"You wear it everyday now!" Tajsa started but stopped again.
"I wear what?"
"See, you don't even notice it anymore." Her words started to pick up speed. "And I'm your sister! I should be happy for you! I should be helping you plan the wedding and looking for your dress and all of that! But…but I'm so damn upset because it means loosing you all over again. And I know it wont be really loosing you but things wont be the same anymore! I should be happy but all I can do is worry because…"
"Slow it down! Breathe!" I bounced on my feet and grabbed her shoulders. "Is this about me and Cisco?"
"Your marrying Cisco! You wear his ring everyday and you didn't even tell me his proposed!"
"Tajsa, he didn't propose. This is a promise ring, not an engagement ring! Cisco and I haven't even really discussed marriage. We've only been together a few months." I assured her. "And you wouldn't lose me Taj. Why would you say something like that?"
"Kane a marriage is literally a union between two people. Where does the bride's little sister fit in that?"
"She fits right beside me." I brushed a hand through her
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A YEAR AND A HALF LATER…
Our wedding had been in an indoor garden and was small…relatively. Superfriends Team Arrow and Team Legends were in attendance. Cisco's family was on the other side. Barry was the best man. Tajsa was my maid of honor. Joe gave me away as if I was really his daughter. Cisco's parents had insisted on the priest that married us. When I saw Cisco waiting for me under the alter…with tears in his eyes…Joe had to clear his throat to remind me not to sprint toward him.
"I do," Cisco had boomed proudly.
"I do." I had answered as quickly as possible after the priest asked. Cisco smiled smugly.
I didn't like to kiss in front of family…. so Cisco laid the biggest, sloppiest, happiest kiss against my lips. Our families laughed as his fist thrust in the air in triumph.
The entire day had been so hectic and we hadn't seen each other in 24 hours. A ridiculous tradition upheld by our friends. After pictures, we stole into the limo that would take us to the reception. Cisco gave the driver 70 dollars to take the very scenic route.
"Nadia Ramon." I hummed, breaking away from making out in the back seat like a teenager. "You almost slipped up and called me Kane during our vows."
"Can you believe that I practiced only using the name Nadia and still almost messed up." Cisco laughed, crushing me against his chest. "I meant what I said Kane. I am so lucky that a woman as loving, dauntless, and clever as you would ever and could ever let me earn the privilege to hold your heart. I promise to safeguard it with my life."
"I meant what I said too, Francisco." I held his jaw tightly as I spoke. " Youre the best thing I never knew I needed, the man I couldn't have anticipated and the person I refuse to live without. How lucky am I that such a brave, honest and intelligent man could look past every single bad that I've done and still see the good in me. I promise to keep you safe with me. I promise to love you with all my considerable strength. I promise to stay."
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7 months after the wedding
I saw him in my dream first. He had butter pecan skin. Mossy eyes like me. A contagiously bright smile like Cisco. Curls that managed to be thick like mine while loose like his. A little boy. A son. My heart ached and I wanted to fall to my knees with love for a tiny little human that had yet to even form.
However, when I really thought about it…my lungs clasped and a chill ran through my blood. For lack of better words…I had the shit beat out of me for about ten years. I had been struck with dark matter. I had been drugged, shot, burned and even electicuted. I had absorbed a bomb that was meant to blow up a major portion of a large city.
My point. My body was amazing. It could handle so much pain. It could bounce back from that pain. But…could it conceive a child? Could it carry a child?
The crippling fear stopped my heart almost every time I played with the West-Allen Twins. And I hid it well, except from my husband. There was no hiding emotions from Cisco and it was a fool's errand to try. And…I was apparently a fool because when he asked I waved it off as excitement. However, On anxiety attack number six…after I took the twins to the park…Cisco all but forced me to tell him the reason.
My husband was a smart man. He had also begun to wonder if I could conceive. We shared those fears with Caitlin. She ran her test but I knew the answer…even before she came into the room with tears in her eyes.
"Never?" Cisco had asked, squeezing my hand.
"The chance is slim. Very very slim." Caitlin toyed with her bottom lip. "I wouldn't say never but…you would need a miracle."
I don't think Cisco and I had ever been so quiet. Could we mourn someone we didn't know? The silence stretched on throughout the day. Over dinner, with a Taj that graciously didn't question, and well into the night. Neither of us pretended to be sleepy and still milled about the downstairs even as Tajsa went on to bed.
"I'm Sorry," I finally broke the silence.
"Kane." Cisco shook his head tiredly. "Don't."
"Cisco you are the smartest, most caring, gentle, courageous man I know. You deserve a family. You deserve a wife that can give you children."
"And you? What do you deserve?" He asked.
"Very little probably." I chuckled darkly with gained cisco full attention. "Once you end so many lives…I guess you arent qualified to…"
"Stop it." He demanded, crossing the room and turning me by the shoulders. "I wont have you talking about my wife that way."
"Your wife." I repeated, surprised at the tears dropping from my eyes and clouding my vison. I slid the ring Cisco made me off my left ring finger. "You gave me this ring with the expectation, the intention that you could have a family with me."
"I gave you that ring with the intention and expectation that I would get to spend the rest of my life with you." Cisco sat with me on the couch. " I wont lie to you, this hurts. I want children. I want children with you more than anything. The idea of a tiny person with half our DNA…it's beautiful."
"Yes." The little boy with butter pecan skin, my eyes and his smile.
"But it's not the only way we can have a family." Cisco pulled my chin around to face him. "We've been through comas, timelines, dimensions, gorillas, aliens and a whole lotta bad guys. We'll get through his too."
It took me a minute of searching his eyes but I finally nodded. Agreeing that we could get through this too.
"Oh and if you ever take this off again while you're not in uniform, I'll be forced to vibe you to Earth 50." He quirked an eyebrow of challenge as the ring slid back onto my finger.
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9 months after the wedding.
The clank of the plastic on the floor, brought him out of his self-loathing. Well, kinda. It was more so the woman kneeling between his knees that brought him back to the present. That was something his wife could always do…reach him like no one could.
Cisco realized just how cold and hard the floor of his lab was. However, he wasn't sure how long he had been sitting there…in the dark, on the cold ground. Kane pushed his hair out of his face before pressing a warm wet cloth to his temple. It stung and he could feel her cleaning away the dried blood. From his temple, above his eyebrow, his check and bottom lip. Wordlessly…she didn't push, she didn't question. Hell, she didn't even look disappointed or angry. She should have been.
"Kane," His voice was thick with unshed tears. "I'm sorry. I failed. I had one job and I…"
She cut him off with a kiss of silence as she unzipped his suit jacket. His limbs were limp as he let her remove the item. A warm cloth on his hands, which forced Cisco's unfocused gaze downward.
Dried blood. On his hands.
"Oh God," Cisco gasped. "OH GOD!"
"Cisco…"
"I couldnt save her. I couldn't protect her. It's my fault she is dead!" Cisco yelped, tears welling up in his eyes.
It should have been simple.
"I should have never went out there alone. I should have gone without you." Cisco watched as the blood coated the washcloth. "I'm not a hero, I…"
"Stop it." Kane curled her tiny hand around his fingers. "Nobody talks that way about my husband and gets away with it."
"Your husband failed."
"Baby, there was nothing you could do. Tracy was already a dead woman walking. Caitlin found traces of poison in her blood." Kane had started to focus more on his finger nails. "Even if the gunshot didn't kill her…she would have been dead in 24 hours."
"That's not comforting." Cisco sniffled. "What was I thinking? Going alone?"
"You were thinking that you were setting out to do the best you can. You were thinking about how to protect your friend. You were thinking that Barry is off in Star City. You were thinking that since it was such a late call and I was already sleep that you would let me rest." Kane rested her hands on his knees. "You were thinking that you only needed to protect her from one meta. Not two. Cisco, it sounds terrible but…sometimes, no matter how hard you try. Sometimes, you lose."
That wasn't good enough.
"Kane, how?" Cisco asked helplessly. "How do you live with the blood on your hands?"
Her beautiful face dropped and she let out a sigh. Her nails raked over his scalp for a few silent minutes before answering.
"The same thing you do with scars, baby." She squeezed his hands and laid one against her abdomen…where her tattoos marred. The other against her sternum…where she had gotten the tattoo that represented him. "You let them stay and use them to motivate you. Make sure Tracey doesn't die for nothing."
Cisco pulled his wife to straddle his hips as he hid in her neck. He wouldn't cry…no, no mourning until Tracy's killers were brought to justice. But he needed a minute to center himself. To push away the thoughts that told him he wasn't good enough to protect this city, his friends, or his wife. He wasn't fast like Barry. He wasn't strong like Kane. Cisco was smart, Cisco was relentless. He needed to believe himself if he was subbing in while Barry was off with team arrow. If he was going to be any use to his team.
So, he breathed in Kane's scent. She smelled like soap, coconut oil and roses. She smelled like warmth, hope and strength. Greedily, he breathed Kane in holding her absoultly flush against his chest. A silent plea for her to balm the brand-new wounds on his heart.
"And you were wrong, Cisco." She held Cisco around the shoulders. "You are a hero. Hell, you've always been my hero."
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If anyone asked, Mr and Mrs Ramon spent their free time trying new restaurants, going to parks and planning for their big yearly getaway. Technically, all of that was true. They did try out new restaurants, go to parks and plan for their getaway. But if anyone asked, they would never tell the complete truth. The places they went were not in Central City. Sometimes not in America. Some times not even in his hemisphere.
If they weren't busy (Kane's illustration deadlines, new tech, someone trying to destroy the city, family things) then Cisco would open a portal to a random city. The couple would then set out to find a restaurant that had great reviews on Yelp. If they were suddenly needed, Cisco could always vibe them right back to Central City. As far as parks went…it depended on your definition of 'park'. Cisco found it to mean an area used for recreation. So, beaches totally counted. Kane had giggled and called that cheating…until he took her to Playa Pariso in Cuba. Also, Harry Potter World was absolutely a park.
The two managed to keep their adventures a secret for two years. Even from the completely healed Tajsa, who was now seventeen and part of three honor clubs, two sports teams and had a weekend job at the movie theater. Cisco wasn't sure how the girl even kept her head on straight, let alone her Grades high.
Now the secret had been theirs alone until a certain speedster just paid too much attention.
Cisco had been patching up the Nimbus suit after a fight with Firestorm.
Darth Firestorm, Earth 14…a very long story.
"St. Lucia?" Kane had asked from her position on the edge of his work bench.
"We've been there. We've been the last four beaches you named."
"Baby a few hours in the sand is not enough to say we have been there."
"Fine, Philippines?"
"No, remember you got sick after you ate that street food." Kane folded her legs under her.
"Oh right, I almost couldn't Vibe us back." Cisco looked up from his work. "Ibiza? Yeah! We loved our night in Ibiza!"
"Do you think we can still get that villa we stayed in? What was the guy's name that let us stay for that one night?" Kane had adored the view from the porch.
"The Dj or the 'bussiness man'?"
"Ew not the pervy DJ! The…" Kane started but whipped her head to the side. "How long have you been standing there?"
"Uhm…" Barry slowly emerged from the shadow of the entry way with a look of rightful shame on his face. "Long enough to know that Iris and I shouldn't bother with a travel agent for our next anniversary."
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three years after the wedding
I should have stayed on the ship. I knew it. I could feel it in the air before we left. I should have stayed on the ship. But the team…and I meant the entire Team Arrow, Flash, and the Legends needed me. It was some lady named Queen B. She could make any man do anything she wanted. So the field Squad was made up of ladies. White Canary, Black Canary, Jesse Quick, Speedy, Frost, Vixen, SuperGirl and Nimbus. Felicity and Iris were in the field too, running as a distraction.
Cisco had called us the Birds of Prey…I wasn't sure why.
Cisco, Curtis, Steel, and Rip Hunter were on the ship. Running comms and such. The other guys were off trying to kill the Queen B's hold on the city.
But when the Queen's soldiers attacked the ship. I heard the line go dead. Nobody had to tell me my husband was being a hero. I already knew.
"Go!" White Canary yelled at me in the middle of fighting the guards. "Take Frost and Speedy."
We got to the ship as fast as possible. Caitlin skating on Ice with Thea and me flying ahead.
I nearly tore the limbs off the first solider I saw. The second I stopped from choking Rip hunter. The third…I don't know what happened to him after I put him through the wall. I stormed my way into the main room blowing a few soliders away. There he was…crumpled on the floor. His midnight hair coated in blood. His body discarded like a piece of scap.
"No," I screamed, dashing toward him at the same time as Rip. "Cisco!"
The steel guy wrapped his arms around my middle as a few of the other guys took my husband to the medbay. It wasn't until later that I had wondered why my body ached so…whose blood was on my hands.
"Yours," Rip had answered, "You beat your hands bloody on Nate's chest during attempts to get to Cisco."
Then they should have let me go. They shouldnt have made me wait in the main room as Gidean and Caitlin worked on my husband.
Caitlin's voice broke through my spinning thoughts. "Whatever blast he faced severally burned his chest and hands. It appears that he hit a wall which broke, broke his left shoulder and cracked his skull completely open."
"Is he stable?"
"For the moment. I've done all I can do, Kane." Caitlin put a hand on my shoulder, the tears were in her eyes.
"Cait," I called, my voice sounding haunted and hollow, cracking as her name when down. "I…cant. I cant lose him. Not like this."
My knees shook under me, threatening to give out under my love for him. For my husband, for my best friend, my love, my partner. The man I had given my heart to less than four years ago and the very second I met him. Was four years all I got? Would he be taken from me this soon?
I lost track of time in the medbay. His face was singed and swollen…his arm in a cast and the other treated for burns. The smooth chest I had always admired was wrapped tightly in guaze to help heal the burns. Caitlin had cleaned the blood off Cisco, making him look half alive as he laid in the chair. Gidean had him in status and I was careful not to disturbed any of the wires. A few heroes dropped by but I didn't pretend to notice them. I did pretend not to notice the bowl of pasta Iris put on the table beside me.
I was busy, trying to will Cisco to open his eyes…twitch…anything that gave me an indication that my husband was still here.
Sara had come in at some point. Her hovering making me nervous.
"The rest of the mission?" I finally spoke.
"Successful." Sara rubbed her hands through her blond hair. "Kane, I need to ask you an uncomfortable question."
"Shoot."
"When was the last time you and Cisco…ya know."
It took me a second to process that.
"Not that it's your business. But last night." I answered almost cracking a smile. Cisco had started whispering Spanish in the darkness of our tiny room. The way he rolled his R's should have been against the law as it was absolutely coercion.
"That what I thought." Sara sighed. "Kane there is no easy way to say this but I had Gideon scan everyone on the ship for injuries and such. That's standard. Youre pregnant."
"What?" I blinked at the captain of the ship. "that isn't possible. I…I…"
"You were on the ship when we time jumped. You puked and we thought it was the only side effect but…there is this thing called temporal uterus alteration. This kind only happens to 1% of women that time jump."
"So your telling me, I'm pregnant because I was intimate with my husband after a time jump."
"I'm tell you that your body is special. That the child that you are gonna have is the product of a miracle."
I wasn't sure if the tears on my cheek were because I was happy to have Cisco's child inside me…or because my husband might not ever know that child. Sara squeezed my shoulder but otherwise left the room without a word.
"Do you hear that Cisco?" I cried angrily to him. "I'm pregnant! Our spawn is taking form."
I took his good hand in mine and laid it against my stomach. As if the feel of my stomach, the home of our child for the next nine months, would jar him awake.
"So you have to come back to me, baby. Our child is going to need you and I am going to need my husband." I implored him. "Stay. Remember, you asked me to stay. You cant leave, Cisco."
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Years Later
I had lost him.
I took my eyes off him for two seconds and I had lost him.
I dashed around a corner, frantically yelling his name. This could not be happening. It just couldn't.
Skidding to a halt, I took a deep breath and attempted to sense him. My connection to the air around me had only gotten better with age and well…I was always going to be able to sense him. Always.
He was somewhere toward my five o'clock. Ruefully, I thought that I still didn't know my cardinal directions and I was never going to learn them at this point. I turned on my heels and ran in the direction the air was pulling me. I didn't have to go far when I spotted him
On a jungle gym with the Twins.
"And then there was a big blast. Like from a rocket!" Don told as he hung upside down. "So the Flash and Vibe teamed up and followed it. It was a bomb that went off right outside keystone! Posion gas was being release from the wreckage and…"
"I don't think there was poison gas." I hummed, recalling that day. It had been a long ass day too.
"I told you!" Dawn accused her brother as she continued to climb to the top.
"Aw, how do you know Aunt Nadia!" Don grumbled.
"Yeah, mommy. How do you know? You weren't there or nothing!" My son, Armando giggled, climbing alongside dawn.
"No but I believe I do remember it was a great day for Flash and Vibe." I hummed. It was true, I wasn't there because Frost and I were securing the military facility out in keystone.
"Aunt Nadia, will you take us to the Hall of Justice again?" Dawn asked. "It's so much cooler when you take us than Daddy."
"Well, I would be inclined to say yes if you three hadn't run off! I told you to say up in the front playground." I tutted, hands on my hips because I had turned into my mother.
"Told you so!" Don accused his sister with a savage point.
"Mommy this one has a better…climbing thingy." My six year old son appealed to my reason.
"Don't care, get back to the picnic table, Joe has chili dogs for everyone."
"Yes!" The twins simultaneously pumped their fist and flipped to the ground. Dawn always landed gracefully, more Iris than Barry. Don landed with a slight skid but was easily the better runner…like father like son.
"Mommy?" Armando was climbing down now, not quite as fearless as the twins. "Why do you always get sad when we talk about Heroes?"
Caught that did he? I squatted down to his level. Armando had butter pecan skin. Mossy eyes like me. A contagiously bright smile like Cisco. Curls that managed to be thick like mine while loose like his. A little boy, the son I had seen in my dreams…but in my dreams, Cisco was there.
"I don't get sad, bud. Not really." I promised him but I could tell he didn't by it.
"Is it cause of Daddy? Because Daddy was your hero?"
"Yeah, yeah he was." I answered honestly. There was no use hiding things from him, he was Cisco's kid.
Four years. I had my happy family for four years. Cisco had Pulled through his accident on the Waverider and was an excited mess of a man to find I was pregnant. I would always remember the look of pure wonder and adoration after I told him. We had both pulled away from physical team missions and Vibe took on my regular Nimbus duties while I was pregnant. Childbirth…sucked, full stop. But, then he was here, Armando was just as I had envisioned him.
Cisco had been worried about parenthood but took it on as fearlessly as he had everything. And he was a fantastic parent. Effortlessly, he balanced frustration and tenderness. Honestly, I had been a little jealous that Armando just didn't light up when I entered the room as opposed to his father. But I couldn't really blame him.
And then there was a mission, Barry came back…without Cisco.
It wasn't that he was dead, he was just lost. Lost to the multiverse through a portal. I didn't understand the particulars…I only knew that I had to find a way to explain it to our son.
"You know your Daddy loves you." I had started. "But Daddy is going to be away for a while. I…I don't know just how long."
Armando had blinked twice before bursting out in tears. Shaking and crying out for his father. And I…I pretended to be strong.
"I miss him." Armando said in a small voice, bringing me back to the present. It had only been a year since Armando had stopped throwing coins into fountains and wishing for his dad's return.
"I do too, and I love him. And we both love you very, very much." I promised, my son's eyes lit.
"I love you too." He assured. "So did daddy. Daddy loves you a lot."
"Why do you run along and get you chili dog…before Uncle Barry eats it."
"Uncle Barry eats Everything!" Armando laughed and ran back in the same direction as his kids.
I rose to my full height and took a deep breath. Years ago, when I was in ARGUS cell, I had assumed that my life would be no more than pain and clouds I couldn't see through. I had never imagined this much in my life: family, purpose, love. There was so much love in my life that I would be ungrateful to be unhappy.
But…my heart would always cry out for Cisco. Always.
I took another deep breath and willed the wind to continue to part the clouds. That was when I felt it. It was subtle but present. A reaching vibration slid across my skin like a caress. One that I had reached out to in battle. One that I had let comfort me in dark hours.
Whipping around, my eyes landed directly on him. Cautiously, he had barely snuck out from the trees lining the park. I blinked harshly…once, twice and three times before I could believe my own eyes. I had dreamed about this reunion…about seeing him and running into his arms and gushing intangibly. However in this moment my legs were weakly frozen under me and words caught in my throat.
His hair was a degree longer with blunt ends as if he had chopped it himself. His russet skin lacking luster but matching the exhaustion obviously burning him. I caught his gaze…happy to see that his eyes still held that same energy that I fell in love with. Unnamed emotions swirled around in my head and heart, rendering me unable to know just how long we stared at each other.
I loved him with all my heart.
I was furious. Livid with him for leaving us without a goodbye.
I was close to bursting with all the hope I had been holding onto…wishing he would return to me.
"Cis-cisco." I finally found my voice but didn't take a step forward. "Hey."
"Kane." He breathed, his voice sounded rougher than I remembered. "Hey back."
"