Notes: I had an anon request on Tumblr - "i don't really have a prompt, but i would give my heart and soul for a hartley x cisco x harry fic 🙏"
My first time writing this trio, but I rather like how it turned out.
(For notice, if you want to request a fic please do not do so in the reviews/comments of my stories. I'm pretty much guaranteed not to accept those requests. Instead, head over to kitkatt0430 on tumblr and send an ask there. I won't guarantee I'll accept the story request, but if I turn it down I will let you know why. I do not respond to reviews on ffnet at all due to the site having a spam problem with the messaging system.)
Where Home Is
They're both handsome. Harry recognizes this objectively at first. Attraction isn't something he experiences often himself, but he's good at identifying when people are considered to be attractive, conventionally or otherwise. And Harry has to be aware of every little detail no matter how insignificant it may seem. With his daughter kidnapped by Zoom and no indication of what Zoom plans to do with her, Harry has to use everything to his advantage while he's alone in another world with people who don't trust him and who he cannot trust in turn.
He's so very far from home.
But Harry mostly notices their attractiveness because he picks up on - surprisingly quickly for him - that Cisco and Hartley are involved. And they're good together. Happy and... not carefree, but there's something there that reminds Harry a bit of himself when he still had Tess. He watches more than he should, perhaps. But they're smart and they're pretty and who could blame him?
Hartley's the more conventionally attractive of the two. But there's a slightly wild edge to him. His hair just a bit too untamed, his eyes a little too manic. His smile shows a little too much teeth. He's dangerous and Harry remembers all too clearly the damage Hartley's gloves were capable of when the younger man was provoked. He'd wanted to scare Harry when they'd first met.
Harry'd never admit it, of course, but Hartley had succeeded. Just a bit. And he'd liked it just a little too much, afterwards.
Cisco's attractiveness is less conventional. He's softer in so many ways, starting with that beautiful hair of his. Soft waves in long hair, but it never really makes him look feminine. Just… non-conforming. His smile is soft too – it reaches his eyes and makes his expression radiate warmth.
Of course, Harry knows he's in trouble when he thinks to himself idly one day that he wonders if that smile tastes as sweet as it looks.
Together, Hartley and Cisco are kind of the personification of spicy-sweet. And Harry's always had a preference for that category of flavors. Well… when he wasn't seeking the comfort of a Big Belly Burger special, anyway.
Harry's not really sure when it happened – when noticing that other people probably found Hartley and Cisco attractive turned into noticing he himself found them attractive. He knows why, of course. They're brilliant. On the rare occasion Harry's ability to experience romantic and sexual attraction rears its head, it's always for people who are brilliant and who can match Harry sarcastic quip for quip. And, oh, that's Cisco and Hartley to a T.
It's not just Cisco's sweet smile Harry wants to taste, to know what the sunshine is like as Cisco lights up when someone praises him. (And if Harry's thoughts slide to the praise kinks and wondering if Cisco likes to be told he's a good boy, well… who could blame him?) He wants to know what that edge to Hartley feels like, if he'd bite Harry's lips to bruises and make him feel those kisses for days afterwards. (Make Harry feel more than the kisses for days after…)
But Hartley and Cisco have each other and even if they were open for a third body in their relationship, they weren't going to go for a man twice their age. A man who looked like an ex-lover to one and a tarnished father figure to the other.
And much as Harry knows he needs some kind of stress relief to hold it together while Jesse's still… missing, he can't afford to get involved. Harry can't afford risking sex turning into affection and giving Zoom more people Harry cares about to use against him. (Not that Harry can hide how fond he's becoming of these two. Or the others either, really.)
It'd be easier to let the fantasy go, though, if they'd stop taking him home with them.
The first time is after an all-nighter. Harry's asleep on his feet, but won't admit it. He'd thought he was on to something with closing the breaches and he had been. Just… not nearly as close as he'd thought he was.
Harry had intended to just drink more coffee and power through the day, but Hartley and Cisco arrived together in the morning. They took one look at Harry, dragged him out to their car, and… Harry fell asleep on the drive to their apartment. He vaguely remembered them waking him up in the parking lot, guiding him into a very lovely loft conversion, and shoving him onto a hideaway bed in their at home office. The desk tucked itself neatly beneath the twin bed that appeared from what Harry's sleepy brain had thought was just a regular wall with a whiteboard on it.
He'd crashed hard and woken up sometime in the evening still feeling fuzzy brained and slow. Cisco and Hartley hadn't been there – presumably they'd gone back to STAR Labs, trusting Harry alone in their home. He'd poked around a bit, though he wasn't awake for too long before the duo returned bearing Italian takeaway from a nearby restaurant. And while Harry had wanted to go back to STAR Labs and get back to work afterwards, he'd started yawning again – like he hadn't slept practically the whole day away already – and ended up going back to the hideaway to sleep again. In the morning Harry finally felt refreshed and ready to go back to STAR labs.
Afterwards, Hartley and Cisco started offering their guest room up more and more often. Sometimes Harry accepted. Sometimes he didn't. Sometimes they weren't offering, they were telling. And if Harry said no they would, gently, corral him in their car somehow anyway. Harry was never quite sure how they managed to talk him around every time. But he was sleeping better, even if he was dreaming of the two men upstairs from him more often than he was comfortable admitting even to himself.
And then Zoom… well, he made his terms clear.
Harry never should have let those two get so close. But he had no choice but to betray them – betray Barry more specifically, but all of Team Flash was going to be hurt by Harry's actions. He had to tell himself that Jesse was worth it. If he could buy her more time, if he could…
He knows when they find out, there goes the nice nights at their apartment. There goes their goodwill towards him. There goes any quiet hopes Harry might have that maybe one night it won't just be their apartment he finds himself in but their bed.
For Jesse, though… Harry may not have a future. But Jesse damn well will.
So Harry takes a step back. He stops agreeing to stay the night at Cisco and Hartley's place. He ignores their worried looks. And he tries to pretend that it didn't kill him just a little bit every time he said no and held firm.
Harry's resolve is tested when Cisco's powers act up in reaction to Eobard Thawne's presence. Cisco nearly vibed right out of existence and Harry... looses it a little. But not so much as Hartley.
"If you let him out he'll kill you. It has to be Barry," Harry insisted, wrapping his arms around the younger man at hating how vulnerable the usually sharp and irascible Hartley Rathaway had become.
Hartley sobbed. "I can't lose him. Harry. I can't... I can't lose him."
"You won't. I promise, you won't." Harry rocked them both gently, but he doesn't breathe easily until Barry drags Eobard Thawne out of STAR Labs and lets him run away to a timeline already erased.
When Cisco recovers and they ask Harry to go home with them, he can't help himself. He needs the first thing he sees in the morning to be both Cisco and Hartley, happy and alive and in love with each other. Just for one night, Harry lets himself seek just a little self comfort.
"You weren't doing Zoom's bidding at first. But I bet I can guess when that changed. When he finally started using your daughter as leverage against you," Hartley said, standing alone in front of the pipeline cell where Harry sat.
The door was open. Joe and Barry had let Harry out earlier. But the trip to Earth-2 wouldn't happen until the morning. So Harry had come back not to his room – which was rather ascetic as it was – but to the even more spartan cell. It was what he deserved.
Worse, maybe. Iris could have been killed because Barry had been slowed down and hadn't known it. If she'd died… if he'd traded someone else's daughter for his own…
Harry's not sure what he would have done to himself. Assuming Joe didn't kill him for it first.
"Do you have a point, Rathaway?" Harry asked quietly.
"You started pushing us away. Cisco thought maybe we'd done something wrong and upset you. But you were protecting us and yourself by putting up walls." Hartley smiled, all sharp edges. "We're very similar, you and I. You know, I started off in a cell too. When I came back to STAR Labs after the accelerator blew. I planned to kill Barry."
"What?" Harry straightened sharply, frowning. He had not heard this story.
"Harrison hurt me. Barry was the only thing that mattered to him." Hartley's gaze went distant. "My life's work was turned into something to kill people and destroy lives. I was supposed to be helping make the world a better place. But if he was going to make my work hurt people without my consent, then why shouldn't I play on his level? He destroyed my dreams, I destroy his."
"Barry's still alive. You must have changed your mind," Harry observed. Hartley'd managed to hurt Zoom the night he broke Barry's back. In fact, Hartley and Cisco were the only ones who'd managed to touch Zoom that night. Hartley with his sound waves and Cisco with the tranq gun.
From what Harry had seen during that fight… if Hartley had wanted Barry dead and had truly worked for then he has no doubt that Hartley would have, eventually, succeeded.
"I saved Cisco and Caitlin from a Time Wraith. Because Cisco, reluctantly albeit, trusted me with my gloves." Hartley ran his fingers along the open pipeline door. "When I looked at Barry afterwards, I just felt sorry for him. For all of them. They were so hopeful and naive. They thought he was their friend. Just like I used to. How could I hurt them for making the same mistakes I did?"
Hartley heaved a sigh. "So, as you said. I changed my mind." He paused for a moment and then said, "I'm sorry. We all knew that eventually Zoom would use Jesse against you. We were fooling ourselves to think otherwise. And we should have protected you better so that Zoom couldn't get to you the way he did."
"The only person at fault for this is me," Harry retorted.
"Pretty sure the person responsible sounds like a bad Mazda commercial." Hartley snorted and then added in a whispery, childish voice, "Zoom, Zoom."
"Don't," Harry muttered, looking away. Not sure if he was protesting the mockery of Zoom's name or Hartley's attempts to shift the blame away from Harry. Where it belonged. "Zoom exists because of my failure. Because of my hubris."
"Zoom may have his powers because of you, but his choices are his own. You aren't to blame for that, Harry. And I do understand why you made the choice you did when he threatened your daughter's life. If it were Jerrie," Hartley laughed. A sharp, fragile sound. "Well, like I told the others. If it were Jerrie's life on the line, I'd screw everyone over without the slightest hesitation. Pretty sure Joe didn't appreciate me saying that. But it's true."
"If this is your way of saying you don't hate me for what I've done…"
"It's my way of saying come home with me and Cisco tonight. Sleep on a real bed. Or try to sleep. Even just resting will be better than nothing." Hartley shrugged and then offered Harry a hand up.
He didn't take it. "I doubt Cisco wants me there."
"Cisco wants you there," called Cisco's voice from the other end of the pipeline entrance. "I was just giving you two time to talk." He popped into view. "Unlike Hartley, I've actually been in a similar position to yours. Give up Barry's name or watch my brother be tortured. Possibly to death. I hated myself for it after – I still do, to be honest. But I gave Leonard Snart Barry's name.
"I was angry at first, yes. But… I know, Harry. I do know. And I forgive you. So, please. Come home." There's a gentleness to his voice. And… steel behind it. This was Cisco brooking no arguments.
Harry accepted Hartley's hand and let them take him home.
Harry gets Jesse back. He gets Jesse back and… Jay dies. And it's all a mess, but…
But Jesse is okay. She sleeps on Cisco and Hartley's guest bed that night while Harry takes the couch.
The truth, though… Hartley and Cisco might be able to forgive Harry for his sins. But Jesse couldn't.
Once Jesse knows the truth, she runs away.
"You're coming home with us," Cisco told Harry that night.
"I have to find Jesse," Harry said, feeling sick with desperation.
"She asked me a lot of questions about charities and homeless shelters before she ran," Hartley said. "I have contacts in Freespace and that's the one she's most likely to use. In the morning, I will reach out to them and they will reach out to other facilities in other cities. They won't tell me where she winds up and I'd lose their trust if I asked them to. But they will tell me if she's safe."
"I…" Harry felt tears on his face. He couldn't lose Jesse. Not again.
"Harry." Cisco's voice is surprisingly… not sharp, but certainly commanding. "You are going to do as I tell you. You are coming home with us. Where you belong."
"Where I belong?" Harry echoed, uncertainly.
Cisco nodded. "You belong with us, Harry. Will you let us show you?"
Harry nodded. And then he let out a startled, breathless noise as, unbelievably, Cisco kissed him. His eyes slid shut and he let himself feel it. And when the kiss broke after, Harry could see Hartley watching them with a rather smug smile.
The first time Harry sleeps in the same bed as Cisco and Hartley, he's cocooned with blankets and curled up between the other two men. Cisco spooned up behind him and Hartley tucked against his chest. And it occurs to him that he may have gotten a few of his assumptions about these two wrong.
Hartley's sharp angles, yes. But with a soft center.
Cisco's outwardly soft, yet underneath is the strength to take charge.
Harry rather suspects that reality is going to be so much better than fantasy.
He wakes up when Cisco gets up to put on the coffee. Harry attempts to get up, but Hartley is latched on to him like a limpet.
"He'll be less clingy once the smell of the coffee reaches the loft," Cisco assures Harry with a kiss and an amused smile. "Just enjoy it for now."
So Harry does enjoy it. He enjoys the way Hartley slowly comes awake as the coffee scent fills the apartment and the way Hartley brushes a sleepy kiss against his mouth. The way when they settle all together on the couch downstairs, Cisco's fingers tease the collar of Harry's shirt at the back of his neck.
Eventually Hartley wakes enough to make his promised call to his contacts at Freespace. And tells them Jesse left to keep Zoom from using her as leverage again, which isn't true. Or maybe there was some truth to it; he knew it was a concern for her when they'd discussed the likelihood of Barry eventually returning to their Earth. But, ultimately, Harry knows his behavior is the real reason she left.
She wanted him to stop valuing her life above all others, but how could he stop? She was his daughter. How could he ever see her as being just like everyone else?
"They'll be checking with some other charities and shelters too," Hartley says when the call ends. "They won't tell us where she winds up. But we'll know she's safe as soon as they do."
"Thank you." Harry hesitated and then asks, "can we just stay here today?"
"Yes," Cisco answers firmly. And then he's the one calling them all in 'sick' to work. Caitlin pretty clearly doesn't buy it, but she tells them to stay home anyway.
So Harry sleeps in that comfortable bed in the loft again that evening, after a lazy day with the two men who've been apparently trying to, subtly, get him into their bed for a while now.
It really doesn't take much for them to convince Harry that he should just sleep there, curled up with them, every night from now on.
When Barry loses his powers, Harry reassures himself that Jesse is fine. She got help from Freespace to land on her feet after all and has been volunteering on the weekends after getting a job and a roommate. She'd even talked to Harry once over the phone. Nothing has been resolved yet and Harry doesn't know where she is.
But if Harry doesn't know then Zoom likely doesn't either.
He still itches to go find her. They both create cellular dead zones, but the range of the field was too small to track. He might manage using the STAR Labs satellite, but she'd have to be in the satellite's range for him to find her. But Zolomon doesn't even have access to that.
Harry distracts himself from Jesse with working on fixing the accelerator. He's not ready to make the offer to Barry yet – he's not sure he can actually repair what's wrong with this Earth's accelerator yet – but that's his plan. They know how Barry's DNA reacts to dark matter. So re-exposure to both the dark matter and the chemicals he was covered in the night of the original accident should, theoretically, restore his powers.
It's a major gamble, though, and Harry wants to be more sure of the odds before he speaks up about it.
However, he's gone out to make the lunch run – it's his turn and he's picked Big Belly Burger, of course – when someone steps out in front of the van. Harry tries to avoid him, but it's too late.
The van reacts like it just slammed into a brick wall and the last thing Harry's really aware of is the air bag going off in his face.
He wakes up someplace he doesn't recognize and informed that he's being held captive by a man called Griffin Grey. A nineteen-year-old whose enhanced strength has also been artificially aging him. And, of course, he thinks Harry's the Harrison Wells who did this to him.
Harry suspects that Cisco's Boot technology can at least halt Griffin's aging by preventing him from accessing his powers. So he sends Griffin to steal it from STAR Labs since Harry's cuffed to the table. He's hoping what will happen is that Team Flash will be able to capture Griffin somehow and then rescue him.
What happens is Griffin returns with the Boot prototype after making a mess of things at the lab. But Harry is able to cobble together some bracelets that restrain Griffin's abilities. He doesn't know how to reverse the artificial aging, though. And he keeps thinking about how this kid is only a year older than Jesse. Is his doppelganger on Harry's Earth suffering the same fate? Just because this kid's problems weren't Harry's fault didn't mean there wasn't an entire city suffering because of him.
When Team Flash does, finally, show up to rescue Harry, Griffin Grey can't remove the bracelets thanks to Harry's 'teen-proof' designs. So he's in no shape to really fight back against Harry's rescuers and winds up a pipeline guest.
"We reached out to Jesse," Cisco told Harry, running his fingers through Harry's hair while Hartley was busy playing Caitlin's assistant. In turn, Snow had taken over Harry's work in trying to return Griffin to his true age.
"You should let her know I'm okay now," Harry muttered, leaning tiredly into Cisco's touch.
"She's on her way back. Apparently she's been in Opal City all this time." Cisco's fingers scratched lightly along Harry's neck. "She's worried about you."
There's something a little hilarious about that. Harry's been so worried for her and now she's worried for him.
"She shouldn't be. That kid could have gotten himself killed trying what he did. If he'd gone after the person truly responsible for his condition…"
"Thawne would have killed him without a thought," Cisco agreed. "Come on. I think you need a nap."
Harry hated to be coddled, but… being kidnapped by an angry, super-strong teenager was a traumatic experience. He was tired and just wanted to be taken care of for a little while.
Conveniently, it seemed Cisco liked to take care of people.
But some things couldn't be fixed. Like Harry's culpability in the suffering of so many people. And how many were children?
How did Harry even begin to make up for what he's done?
Caitlin successfully finishes Harry's work, determining how to repair the myostatin in Griffin's cells. His age begins visibly regressing almost immediately and the kid appears to be in his twenties by the time he's allowed to walk out of STAR Labs, a free person once more.
Griffin will have to take a dose of Caitlin's medication at least once a week, more if he uses his powers too much. But he'll never truly have a normal life again and will be managing what is effectively a chronic condition for the rest of his life. And if he's not careful or STAR Labs stops being able to supply him with Caitlin's new drug, then the possibility of him aging to death prematurely could easily become a potential problem again. But between the medication and power suppressants… Griffin has a chance.
He walks out the door and, minutes later, Jesse walks in.
Harry wrapped his daughter in his arms and breathed a little easier.
It's only afterwards that Harry, finally, broaches the topic of restoring Barry's powers. He's not exactly surprised when the idea goes down like a lead balloon.
That should have been the sign Harry needed, to know he was making another mistake. But it isn't. Because he's Harrison fucking Wells and he's always right because he's a damn genius and…
And now his friend – best friend to… to one of the men Harry's sleeping with and involved with and devoted to – is dead. Jesse's in a coma. There's no one left who could stop Zoom because everything Harry does is wrong and bad.
He retreats to the dusty room where he used to sleep. The room that he supposes he'll be inhabiting again, now. Cisco and Hartley won't want a screw up like him. Someone who gets the people they love killed. If it weren't for Jesse still needing him, Harry's not sure where his mind would be at.
Eventually, Harry will have to go back to that room and figure out how he fucked up. And maybe Joe will shoot him and put him out of his misery when he does.
But Cisco arrives first, sitting beside Harry and taking Harry's hand in his. Hartley shows up moments later and sits to the other side of Harry, leaning against his shoulder. Three men sitting on a bed that could barely hold one laying down.
"Everything I do turns to shit," Harry finally said. "I don't know why I thought this would be any different. Why are… why are the two of you here? I got… I got…" his voice choked. "I got him killed."
Cisco handed Harry the charred patch off Barry's suit. Possibly the only thing remaining of the dead speedster.
"I vibed this when I touched it," Cisco said. "Barry's not dead. Or not totally dead, anyway. He's still alive in the Speed Force and… I think I can get him back. But… it's okay. We're not on a time crunch just yet. So let's take a little while to breathe before we jump back into things."
"Harry," Hartley said, quietly. "Even if Barry was dead, 100%, no Miracle Max's need be consulted," and Cisco sticks his tongue out at Hartley for that one, "we wouldn't abandon you over this."
Cisco squeezes Harry's hand in agreement. And the world hurts a little less.
When he goes to sleep that night, Barry Allen is back from the Speed Force. Jesse is sleeping, but it's a natural sleep in the guest room at Cisco and Hartley's apartment. The place that's become Harry's home too. And he sleeps, nestled between the two younger men, his subconscious mind puzzling over the possibility that he's found a place where he can be happy and feel loved…
And Harry isn't sure he'll get to keep it.
When Jesse's headphones don't work to block out the sound that targets anyone from Earth-2, Harry doesn't hesitate to swap with her. And he passed out secure in the fact that his daughter was fine.
He'd just gotten her back from a coma and he wasn't letting her get hurt again. Not even from something ultimately benign.
He wakes up with Hartley snuggled with him on the cot. Cisco sitting beside them.
"The plan worked. We stopped the riots with our special noise and Barry mopped up the rest," Cisco said.
Harry started to sit up but Hartley made a sleepy, muffled noise. "M'comfy," was the barely audible complaint that had Harry settling back down and holding Hartley a little closer.
"Jesse's okay?" Harry asked, voice raspy.
Cisco nodded towards the other side and Harry looked over to see Jesse asleep on the spare cot.
"We love you, Harry." Cisco took Harry's hand in his. "We don't like seeing you hurt. Any of us. Don't do it again. Please…" Cisco's voice cracked, just a little.
Harry flushed. "I... I'm not very good at saying how I feel."
"We've noticed," Cisco replied, dryly amused.
"And if it isn't science related, I'm terrible at asking for what I want." Harry swallowed against the lump in his throat. "I... I shouldn't, you know. Love you and Hartley. You both deserve better than me."
"I'm pretty sure that what we deserve is up to us, Harry. Not you." Cisco stood up and leaned over, pressing a kiss to Harry's mouth and then brushing another against Hartley's forehead, earning a sleepy smile for it.
"I love you both," Harry said softly, feeling like something was changing as he did. Like this was a choice he'd never take back.
He'd never want to take it back.
"Love'ya too," Hartley mumbled. "Keeping you."
Harry chuckled softly, enjoying the way Hartley was so warm in his arms and the heat of Cisco's gaze as he watched them. But his happiness slipped away as reality set back in. "I'd like that. But when Zoom is taken care of… I'm responsible for his powers. I owe my Central City, my world, a debt. I can't…" Harry looked back over at Jesse. "I can't stay."
"We have devices for jumping realities and my powers will eventually reach a point I can open breaches on my own. I've seen it. Just have to figure out the how," Cisco squeezed Harry's hand. "It's not an either-or choice, Harry."
"Won't be easy," Hartley said, clearly increasingly awake against his will. "Nothing worthwhile ever is. Harry. We're keeping you."
"You're telling me you two haven't gotten sick of my grumpy-ass attitude yet?" Harry asked.
"Never." Two voices speaking as one.
"They're good for you." Jesse is the one who finally speaks up.
Largely because Harry has no idea how to explain to his daughter that he's fallen in love with two men who are both so much younger than him. And, well, it has to be obvious. With her sleeping in the guest room and Harry in the loft with Cisco and Hartley, there's no explanation except that he's involved with them.
"They really are." Harry hesitated and then said, "I know I'm terrible at saying how I really feel, if it isn't expressed as annoyance or sarcasm. Unless it's telling you how much I love you and am proud of you, my Jesse Quick. But I… I love them. Cisco, Hartley… I don't deserve them, but they make me feel like… like I've gotten back something I didn't realize was missing."
"You should stay here on this Earth, with them," Jesse told him.
"I want to," he admitted. "But I have so much to do on our world. I can't just abandon my responsibilities there. Not permanently, anyway. I have amends to make. But, as Cisco pointed out… that doesn't mean I can't spend at least some of my time here, with them."
"Well, I approve. Though you could have said something."
Harry just sighed and drew his daughter into a hug. "Thank god you got your emotional intelligence from your mother because there's not much to inherit from me."
Jesse snickered. "You're better than you give yourself credit for, dad."
Barry's father is nearly killed by Zoom, but he survives the internal damage by some miracle. It'll be a long road to recovery.
In turn, Barry stops Zoom from committing genocide on a multiversal scale by siccing the Speed Force's enforcers on the man. But Barry's time remnant pays the price and only time will tell how that affects Barry himself, to see his exact duplicate die in front of him.
But the time had come to go back to Earth-2. So Harry did. He got STAR Labs back in order, had a series of very painful press conferences regarding the origin of Zoom and the other metas, helped Jesse get back into college… it takes him slightly over a month before he's finally at a point where he can take a weekend through the breach to Earth-1.
It's a long month and every night he promises himself that, soon, he can go home. And when he sees the welcome and the love on Hartley and Cisco's faces when he finally returns to that quieter STAR Labs on the other side of the breach in the basement, Harry knows…
He's home.