Summary: Cisco's life feels like a mess and he can't remember why he wanted to leave Central City or his friends in the first place. He wants to go home.
But now he's afraid there's no place left for him there.
(For Make it Poly! Week Day 7 (July 10) - New Addition to Established Relationship)
Homecoming
Cisco checked his phone one last time to be sure he had the right address. The house was nice looking and also lavender, which was probably Iris' decision considering Barry had no design taste whatsoever. Very pretty though.
Barry and Iris had moved here shortly after the twins were born, right after Cisco's last visit to Central City. He'd still been dating Kamilla then, though he'd already stopped working at ARGUS and moved to a small research lab that was primarily investigating something they'd nicknamed boom tubes.
Seemed like forever and no time at all.
The job with ARGUS hadn't suited Cisco from the start, though it took him seven months to admit it and another two to find a job worth leaving ARGUS for. The lab he'd eventually settled on had reminded him of a smaller version of STAR Labs back in it's pre-super heroing hey-day. The man in charge wasn't as charismatic or mysterious as EoWells had been, but he still had a strong vision of how studying boom tubes could revolutionize science. And, as their research had necessitated licensing several STAR Labs patents, he'd been excited to hire the mind behind those patents actually working on the project.
It had been overall a much better fit for Cisco. Unfortunately, finding a place of work he enjoyed acted as a counterpoint to his relationship with Kamilla falling apart.
The arguments started small and ended with laughter. The laughter stopped. The arguments did not. The arguments got bigger.
By the time they'd taken a long weekend to visit Central City and meet babies Nora Dawn and Donovan 'Bart' Bartholomew (which Barry'd still protested over despite having already met future Bart and knowing that was a losing argument), Cisco had known his relationship with Kamilla wasn't going to last much longer. It felt a little like they'd stayed together for appearances' sake, to keep the focus on the babies. They ducked questions about when they'd finally get married and what it'd be like when they had a baby of their own and, well…
The others were pretty wrapped up in the miracle of new life and thanking god that the babies' powers were currently dormant since the amount of formula they'd need for baby speedsters was, well… ridiculous.
They'd gotten a few curious looks from Frost, who'd commented on how chilly things seemed between the two, but otherwise? Cisco and Kamilla left Central City again with none the wiser to the fact that Cisco was considering breaking up and moving out.
Which was what happened two weeks later, to little fanfare.
At least things were going well at work. Until they weren't. Until Cisco, suspecting he now understands Hartley a lot better than he used to, finds evidence that someone's been taking shortcuts in the boom tube research. Dangerous shortcuts.
Cisco tries to get the research shut down, but the threat of an audit only causes the person responsible to push forward faster. The whole thing blows up in Cisco's face. Literally.
He wakes up in the hospital with Kamilla sitting next to him because she's still his emergency contact in the area. But they're still friends, despite the awkwardness since their break up. So it's good to have her there. She keeps him calm during that initial panic from waking in an unfamiliar place and holds his hand for a while until he needs it back to sign forms to leave the hospital.
Unlike Cisco, the lab can't recover from the explosion. Which means that Cisco finds himself without a job. And having vivid dreams that are painfully familiar.
Cisco pretends they're nothing until he accidentally throws vibrational energy instead of a punch during his usual workout routine. He can't pretend after that. His powers are back and as stress inducing as ever.
And he just… gets in the car and drives all day and all night because it's not like he's got a job to worry about in the morning. Drives until he's pulling up in front of a lavender house and it takes all his strength to get out of the car, walk up to the front door, and knock.
Because… because Cisco's life feels like a mess and he can't remember why he wanted to leave Central City or his friends in the first place. He wants to go home.
But now he's afraid there's no place left for him here.
Barry answers the door and knows something is wrong the instant he sees Cisco's face.
So with zero hesitation, Barry stepped forward and wrapped his friend in a hug, ushered him inside, and promptly stuck a baby in Cisco's arms.
Bart started playing with Cisco's hair and Cisco immediately looked more relaxed.
"So, do you want talk about it now or wait for Iris to get back from work?" Barry asked.
"I'd rather wait," Cisco admitted. "I should probably get a room at a hotel…"
"Nonsense. We've got a guest room. You can be the first to break it in." Barry smiled down at the baby in his own arms. Little Nora Dawn. "And that's totally not because I intend to use you to hold babies the entire time you're here or anything."
Cisco snorted with disbelief. "Right. Don't you have work soon, though?"
"I, uh, I quit." Barry shrugged, seeing Cisco's incredulous look. "Being a dad, a CSI, and the Flash was just way too many full time jobs. So I cut back. Being a CSI turned out to be the least important. Unsurprisingly, being a dad was the most. And since Wally promised to stick around for the next year or so, xe's taken over being the Flash for the most part. I'll still go out there with xem every now and then, but… I'm really liking being a stay at home dad right now."
And damn if Barry didn't look happy too. Not that Cisco can honestly say he's surprised. Barry's always been the more.. domestically oriented one while Iris was the more job oriented and driven.
Cisco can't help but feel a little jealous. He left Central to move forward with his life and instead it feels like he's gone backwards instead. Everyone else is still moving forward with their lives and he's more lost than ever.
"Being a dad suits you," Cisco finally said. "Honestly, I don't think I've ever seen you this happy before."
Barry beamed.
"So who's replacing you as CSI?"
"They've got a temp right now, but Julian may be coming back. It's not a done deal, but his fiancé is American and they're planning to move back to the US after the wedding. So they're considering Central City. Julian doesn't want Ben involved with super hero stuff, so I doubt Julian'll be involved much with STAR Labs this time if he does come back. But he did promise to be our team's contact on the force if he does. Which we need now that Joe's made his retirement permanent."
Cisco grinned. "It'll be good to see Julian again. Even if he doesn't come back here, I'll have to make time to go visit him. Have you heard from Ralph and Sue lately?"
Barry nodded and launched into a story that the two had apparently related to him – with Sue correcting Ralph's exaggerations – involving underground casinos in Louisiana and a near escape from death by alligator. And while it's a funny and well told story, Cisco's starting to crash from the long drive. He's trying, and failing, to stifle yet another yawn when Bart starts wailing for a diaper change.
"Here, lets swap babies…" Nora is dropped into Cisco's arms while Barry takes Bart. Then Barry comes back – baby-less – and scoops Nora back up. "Nap time sweetie," he coos at little Nora and…
Honestly, a nap sounds wonderful.
There's a blur of lightning through the front door and back and then Barry's standing beside Cisco looking a touch sheepish. "I put your duffels in the guest room. Looks like maybe you could use a nap too, dude."
Cisco nodded and let Barry give him a hand up before following the speedster – at a much more sedate pace – to a comfortable looking blue and gray bedroom with its own en suite bathroom.
"The master and two other bedrooms are upstairs," Barry said. "Nora and Bart share a nursery right now, but when they're older they'll get to have separate bedrooms. Iris is using the spare room as an at home office for now, though that'll probably migrate in here later on."
"Looks comfy," Cisco said, sitting on the edge of the double bed and kicking off his shoes.
"Cisco?" Barry hesitated a moment and then hugged him again, muttering, "I'm glad you're here," before heading to the doorway. "Have a good nap. I'll be in the living room or the kitchen mostly if you need anything."
Once the door shut, Cisco slid out of his jeans and found a pair of pajama pants in one of his bags. Then his shirt came off before he slid under the covers. He's asleep almost the instant he lays down and, for the first time since the boom tube re-exposed him to dark energy, his dreams are just dreams.
Cisco wakes up and spends the rest of the afternoon chatting with Barry about tv shows and taking care of babies. It's ridiculously relaxing, a nice mix of old and new and…
And Cisco wishes he could stay here. Not for a few days or a week, but just…
The feeling only gets stronger when Iris gets home and the first thing she does is hug Cisco. She tells him "welcome home" with a hug and it makes Cisco feel… loved.
It's been a while since he last felt that way.
Things with Kamilla fell apart and it was neither of their faults. Maybe they hadn't tried hard enough. Maybe they'd tried too hard. Maybe nothing they could have done would have kept things from coming to an end. Regardless of the answer, their shared apartment hadn't been home for a while by the time Cisco moved out. And while he liked his current place… it wasn't home either.
This house, though, with Barry and Iris and Nora and Bart… it really did feel like home already.
Cisco joins Barry in making dinner while Iris feeds the babies. Iris mock complains that Barry never lets her help in the kitchen and teases her back about being Barry's favorite.
Barry's response to this is to cut in with a dramatic hand over his heart and the with the words, "I've got room in my heart for both of you," which stains Cisco's cheeks bright red because…
Well, Cisco never really did get over his crush on Barry. Or Iris, for that matter.
Dinner conversation is more of the easy stuff. Iris talks about how the Citizen is fairing – she's got a new writer and a photographer on staff since Kamilla left and is angling to lure Linda Park back to Central to join her. Barry talks about his decision to leave the CCPD a little more in depth.
Afterwards they each settle onto the couch with a glass of wine and, finally, Cisco explains why he showed up out of the blue.
It's a rambling thing, full of tangents and side bars and it reminds Cisco that not everything over the last year and a half has been awful. There were coworkers at ARGUS he misses even if he's glad to be away from the moral quagmire the place turned out to be. And he genuinely loved working at Air-Tech Labs right up until the explosion. He'd made some good friends there too. They just weren't…
They weren't family, like his friends here in Central City were.
Then he gets to the part where his powers are back and Cisco's voice just… fails him. There were aspects of having powers – of being Vibe – that he'd loved. There was a reason Cisco had made the Mecha Vibe tech, after all. The visions, though. Those had taken a bigger toll on him than he'd been willing to admit until suddenly there'd been a way to get rid of them.
A cure that only worked once, though.
Which meant Cisco was stuck now.
Iris plucks the mostly empty glass of wine from Cisco's hands and places it on the coffee table before taking Cisco's hands in hers, offering him comfort. Barry's glass joins theirs on the table and he slides closer, pressing gently against Cisco's side.
The warmth from them gives Cisco the strength to say, "once I realized I had my powers again, I just wanted to come home. That's when I threw my stuff in the car and started driving back here."
"I'm sorry, Cisco." Iris said quietly. "Will you be able to use the cure again?"
"Most likely not," Cisco, leaning against Barry and giving Iris' hands a light squeeze. "I, uh… I guess I should check with Caitlin to be sure and to make sure everything's okay. But. I think my powers are here to stay this time."
"Are you thinking of moving back?" Barry asked, distractedly toying with Cisco's hair in a manner not unlike his son had pretty much every time Cisco held Bart that day. And the way in which Barry was avoiding looking at Cisco as he asked told Cisco that he wanted the answer to be yes and was trying not to get his hopes up.
"I, uh… yeah. I mean. I think this is where I belong." Cisco gave a shaky laugh. "I think leaving was good for me, but… I missed it here. With all of you." He doesn't want to go back to STAR Labs, though, which is another conversation entirely. But maybe Mercury Labs…
Caitlin gives Cisco a check up and he runs through the familiar tests on his powers, pulling his old Vibe gear out of storage. Barry's there too, for support, bringing the twins with him, though Chester and Allegra both quickly claim a baby each to play with.
Allegra's got a girlfriend now. A meta with limited telekinesis who works in an ER. Chester's met someone through a dating site, though it's new enough that he's still being a little cagey about it. Wally's identifying as nonbinary these days, using they/them and xe/xem pronouns. Caitlin's got a small demiromantic flag pinned to the wall behind her desk, which was something she'd been struggling with accepting the last time they talked. And apparently Frost's figured out she's a bisexual lesbian.
They've all changed or learned new things about themselves... and Cisco hasn't. The very thing he was afraid of – ran away to avoid – and it still wound up happening anyway.
At least he knows what he doesn't want. "I mean… if we have another big crossover event, then Vibe'll totally come out of retirement for that, but I just… I'd rather leave the gauntlets hung up, as it were."
Chester looks disappointed, but Nora boops him on the nose and that has him grinning widely again.
Barry and Caitlin, though… they get it.
"I was thinking of sending my resume to Mercury Labs," Cisco said when Allegra and Frost took the hint to drag Chester off with the babies into another room.
"You'll love it there," Caitlin tells him. "I don't regret coming back to STAR Labs and Team Flash, but if that hadn't been an option I'd have been very happy to have kept working there."
"And Dr. McGee's wanted to recruit you for years. Pretty sure if you emailed her directly, you'd get your pick of jobs," Barry said, half teasing.
"So it doesn't bother either of you that I don't want to… come back to STAR Labs?" Cisco's voice sounds smaller than he'd like.
"Do what makes you happy, Cisco," Caitlin tells him. "Not what you think would make us happy."
"Caitlin's right. Though… I know you used to want to go back for your PhD. Is that still something you're interested in? Because… this might actually be a really good time to go for it."
"Yeah?" Cisco hummed thoughtfully. He hadn't really thought about getting a doctorate in a long while. He's gotten so caught up in the super hero side of things that it just… dropped off his plate. But now would be a good time to go for it. "Decisions, decisions…" he muttered.
"Well, you don't have to make any of them right now. A few of the tests won't finish until later, but everything looks fine. I'll let Iris know Frost and I will be joining the three of you for dinner tonight." Caitlin gave Cisco another hug – one of many he'd received since showing up with Barry at ten that morning – and a kiss on the cheek. "I've missed you, Cisco."
"I've missed you too, Cait."
Cisco spends the next few days just relaxing at Barry and Iris' house and pretending the rest of the world doesn't exist. He helps with the babies, absolutely doting on them while getting to know their personalities a little better.
Bart's fascinated by Cisco's hair, always twirling and playing with it. Occasionally gumming at his hair too, which is a little gross, so Cisco takes to pulling his hair back into a braid to keep it out of the way. Nora's got a thing for booping noses and she's fascinated by her own feet. Once her powers start coming in, nothing's gonna stand in her way. Bart's the more impulsive of the two, which is fitting given his future moniker of Impulse. He reaches for everything, wants to do everything now, now, now. Nora is a little more watchful, waiting to see what happens to her brother first before trying something for herself.
They're both already crawling, which is a little on the early side, but by too much. Cisco suspects they'll be walking early too, though it'll be more down to their precociousness than anything stemming from their speedster genes.
And he knew he loved these two long before the first time he held them, the day after they were born. Knew he loved Nora the first time her time-displaced self called him Uncle Cisco; the first time he met Bart when Mecha Vibe came to help the Flash one more time in the fight with Godspeed. Bart's exclamations over how cool Uncle Cisco's tech was in action was imprinted on Cisco's memories forever.
But now, after a few days of babies, babies, babies? Cisco loves these two tiny creatures with every fiber of his being. Even if he hadn't already decided to move back to Central, these two would have made up his mind for him. He can't bear the idea of being without them. Of going days and weeks and months without seeing their faces. Of missing out on growth spurts and their first words and first steps and…
And conversely, they're why he's putting off apartment hunting. Because if Cisco's being honest with himself, it's not just Central where he wants to live. It's this lavender house with the four people in the world he loves most. Because it's not just the twins he's fallen over himself for. He's gone and fallen in love with Barry and Iris all over again.
Cisco does grocery store runs with Barry and walks in the park with Iris and visits the library with both of them, the three trading off babies as they listen to story time Thursday afternoon. It's domestic and perfect and everything Cisco's been missing in his life. And it's not his. Not really.
He's just the cool uncle. And somehow that's got to be enough.
So when Friday rolls around, Cisco settles onto the couch that morning with a cup of coffee and his laptop open for apartment hunting. Notes down a few he likes, gets Barry's unsolicited but highly amusing commentary, and points out a few that are near good parks and other fun, kid-friendly activities that cool Uncle Cisco could totally take the kids to sometimes.
The soft look Barry gives Cisco makes him feel all melty inside. He gets a matching look – and equally melty feelings – from Iris that evening when Barry gets Cisco to discuss some of the places he's considering looking at.
On Saturday, Cisco spends the morning with Iris, while Barry sleeps in. She's been keeping her hair more natural lately and Cisco winds up complimenting her on how gorgeous she was looking.
"Careful, Cisco," Iris had teased, twirling her hair mock flirtatiously at him afterwards. "Girl could get all kinds of ideas from compliments like that."
"Wouldn't want to make Barry jealous," Cisco had replied pausing a beat before adding, "I guess I'll have to compliment his hair too at some point."
Iris had cracked up and pulled Cisco into another hug – really, when had these two become so huggy anyway – and murmured, "I'm glad you're back, Cisco. So glad."
So was he. Even if his crush on these two was back too. And stronger than ever.
"Hey Kamilla," Cisco said, stretching out on the guest room. It was late Sunday evening and, well, though they weren't dating anymore, they were still friends and they still spent time together on occasion. She deserved to know he was moving back to Central before the next time she called him up to see if he was free for lunch.
Not that he couldn't breach there now, but the point still stood.
"Cisco." Kamilla's voice was warm and it made Cisco miss what they'd had together.
Her voice would probably always have that effect on him.
"How are you doing? We've barely spoken since the explosion. All recovered?"
"Yeah. But… turns out I was re-exposed to dark energy. So… got my powers back. Not really thrilled about that." Kamilla hadn't seen much of him with his powers before Cisco had ditched them, but she knew what his nightmares were like post-powers. And he'd told her that with his powers, they'd been worse. So… she knew this wasn't a positive for him.
"Aw, Cisco…" Kamilla sighed. "I'm sorry. What are you going to do?"
"I, uh… I'm actually back in Central right now. Had Caitlin give me a check up. Everything seems stable, which is a good sign. But, I… I'm going to move back."
There's silence on the other end of the line and Cisco doesn't quite know what to make of that.
"I just… spending time with Barry and Iris and the twins this week has made me realize I don't want to miss out on Nora and Bart growing up. And while I don't want to go back to STAR Labs or be Vibe again, being the guy who wrote the book on meta security tech means I've sort of got my pick of jobs here... but Barry also reminded me that I used to want to get a PhD and that sort of... fell by the wayside because of all the Team Flash stuff. So I'm trying to figure out if I'm going to apply for a job right off or go back to school for a while first."
"Are you sure this is what you want?" she asked.
"Yeah." He was a little surprised by how steady his tone was. But, no, he really did feel like this was the right call for himself.
It really was time to come home.
"Good. I always felt a little like… you'd left part of yourself behind with Barry, Iris, and the others," Kamilla said.
Cisco opened his mouth to ask what she'd meant and then closed it. He probably didn't want to know.
"There's, uh… there's something I wanted to tell you too, so the call was good timing," she continued. "I've started seeing someone."
And there's an ache in Cisco's chest at those words. But it's like poking at an old wound that's scarred over. Mostly he's happy for her. And he says so.
"What's he like?" Cisco adds and then settles back, letting Kamilla have the floor.
She sounds happy. Happier than she's been in a while.
Cisco hopes he'll get there too.
After looking at two apartments and feeling lukewarm about both of them – they were nice, but more expensive than his current place, less square footage and… just didn't feel right – Barry and Iris took Cisco to dinner, leaving the twins with Caitlin and Frost to babysit.
"You could move in with us," Iris offered. "Not just because having an extra set of hands has been wonderful but because…" she glanced at Barry and he took over.
"Everything feels more right with you here with us." Barry ducked his head and blushed.
Cisco wonders what he'd see if he vibed them right now. Can almost feel his power coiling tensely inside him at the idea.
He wonders how different their kisses would taste. If he'd be able to tell the answer from a vibe.
"I'd like that," Cisco replies. He'd also like to move into their bedroom. But he probably shouldn't say that. Shouldn't say that this feels almost like a date.
He can feel the emotions streaming off them, though, and he knows he's not projecting this. None of them are ready yet, to take that next step forward, but… Cisco thinks he knows what his best future is going to look like.
Cisco dreams in shades of blue that night. Not nightmares, but good dreams.
Iris' mouth on Cisco's as they tumble into bed together, her stomach slightly rounded beneath Cisco's hands. They don't know if it'll be another speedster or if they'll have a viber on their hands yet…
...
Nora calls him Papa Cisco, not Uncle. Bart just calls him Papa. It makes Cisco's heart so happy, knowing they're just as much his kids these days as they are Barry and Iris'. This is his family.
This is the family he's always wanted.
...
"I was more interested in you than Patty," Barry's voice said in Cisco's ear, "but you asked out Kendra so I figured I didn't have a chance anyway. Then Iris and I started working out and you met Cynthia. But I was still in love with you. If you hadn't started dating Kamilla, Iris and I were discussing the possibility of me dating you…"
...
They name their third child Dante. Cisco kisses the guilty look off Barry's face. "It was never your fault, Barry. I needed someone who was safe to lash out at and I hurt us both in the process."
...
Iris tucks herself against Cisco's chest as they sit out on the patio furniture, watching the kids play with the dog. "I love you, Cisco," she murmured as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. They had such a beautiful family…
...
The snippets of where his life is headed are pretty much everything Cisco's ever wanted. And he can't wait to fill in all the gaps in between. And maybe it all starts that morning, as Cisco settles at the breakfast bar while Barry makes breakfast and Iris absently kisses both of them on the cheek before snapping up a cup of coffee.
"I've decided to apply for CCU's graduate program and get a PhD in physics," Cisco announced. "Might see if I can get a position teaching there too." There were a few openings and it wasn't uncommon to have PhD students teaching undergrad courses. And, well, it's funny how Cisco's fear had been that he'd stagnate at STAR Labs, teaching the future generation of heroes without achieving anything for himself...
And it all seems so silly now. Passing on what he's learned seems like maybe it's one of the greatest gifts he has to give.
Before he'd given up his powers, the visions of the bad future where he'd lost his hands to Killer Frost and haunted STAR Labs like a ghost had never quite left him. And he thinks, now, maybe that's what his fear was really getting at. A future alone without his friends and loved ones there to support him. One where he stagnated and never learned to move forward with his life.
"You'd be an amazing professor," Iris assured him, giving him a hug.
"Definitely," Barry agreed, coming around the counter to wrap Cisco in a hug... and plant a kiss of his own on Cisco's cheek.
Cisco felt warm all over, even as Barry went back to stirring the food before it burned and Iris rushed off to check on a crying Bart. He waited until he could hear Iris back on the stairs, nearly on the landing by the kitchen before saying, "you guys realize we're gonna have to talk about the kissing."
"You don't like?" Barry asked, worried.
"I like," Cisco refuted cheerfully.
"Do you want to kiss back?" Iris asked, settling back down at the counter with Bart content in her arms.
Cisco kissed her cheek in answer. "I've got an idea of where things are going," he told them. "I just... want to talk things out later. Make sure we're all on the same page before we really start anything." Nora wailed at a distance and Cisco stood up. "I've got this one, you two stay put." But he still took a moment to go kiss Barry on the cheek too before heading out of the kitchen and up the stairs to the nursery.
Yeah... this morning was definitely where his future began.