Author's Note:

Takes place between "Legends" 02x15 and 02x16. I can't be the only one who wishes that we got to see a little more of Doomworld.

...

Eobard Thawne, CEO of S.T.A.R. Labs and world-renowned genius, had everything that a man could possibly want in life.

Except for patience.

He blamed it on the fact that he was a speedster. When your mind and body could process information in a fraction of the time it took for everyone else to "get" things, it was often difficult (read: incredibly annoying) to wait for others to catch up. And, worst of all, unpleasant situations that would normally pass in the blink of an eye could feel like they lasted forever. In those instances, he was treated to slow-motion discomfort with razor-sharp clarity, and it was very easy to let his emotions get the better of him.

That was why, when he saw Leonard Snart in Cisco's office at S.T.A.R. Labs, he didn't want to stop to assess the situation. Instead, he wanted to either open his mouth and vomit or simply rush in and snap Snart's neck. Maybe both? Probably both.

Because most of the office walls in the building were made of glass and steel, Eobard could see them without being able to hear what they were saying. And, to be fair, they almost certainly weren't discussing anything nefarious. They were in each other's personal space; Cisco had come around so that he could be right in front of the other man, while Snart was leaning against Cisco's desk with one leg crossed over the other and his hands bracing himself against the polished wood.

Cisco was grinning and gesturing wildly with the same enthusiasm that usually made Eobard smile, too. But when that attention was focused on a suave, cool customer like Snart instead of a piece of tech or Eobard himself, it made an ugly feeling bubble up in the pit of his stomach. Plus, his speedster eyes couldn't help but take in the way Cisco's expression turned bashful when he met Snart's gaze for more than a few seconds at a time, or the way Snart was pretending (only pretending!) to be absolutely enthralled by what Cisco was saying. Eobard definitely did not miss that, when Cisco motioned for Snart to hand him his cold gun, Snart let his hands linger on Cisco's as he forked it over.

Snart wasn't a meta-human, but there was absolutely no way that he hadn't seen the ring on Cisco's left hand. It was made out of black tungsten, with strips of gold on the top and bottom and a red carbon-fiber inlay in the middle. That piece of jewelry was practically visible from Ivy Town, and Eobard had been wearing an identical ring on his own left hand for the last few months. While he was planning to get them plain wedding bands for when they finally tied the knot, he'd wanted them both to have something flashy (no pun intended) to wear during their engagement—mostly so people would know that Cisco was officially off the market.

So much for that.

Mick Rory was in Cisco's office, too, and he'd apparently busied himself with inspecting some of the books and knick-knacks that decorated Cisco's storage shelves. The room was large enough to have a reading/napping nook, and it was easy enough to disappear into the space. But Eobard had to wonder if Mick had opted to remove himself from the conversation or had simply been ignored into doing so.

As Eobard watched on in disgust, Cisco said something, and Snart's response was to lean in a little closer and gently drag his fingers along the barrel of the cold gun. That motion, on its own, might not have been too big of a deal, but when Snart began to fondle the tip of the firearm with his thumb and forefinger, the gesture seemed downright obscene.

Enough was enough. Eobard threw the door open abruptly, letting it smack against the plastic stopper on the floor with a distinct thud . A small part of him was disappointed that the door didn't just collide with the glass wall and shatter both structures into slivers.

The sudden noise caught Cisco's attention, and he whipped his head around in surprise. When he saw who was standing at the threshold, though, his eyes lit up. "Oh, Eobard! What're you doing here?" Mick and Snart looked up, too, but neither of them seemed particularly happy about his sudden intrusion.

"I came to see you, of course," Eobard said, smiling sweetly. He took a step forward and let the door fall shut behind him. "It's such a nice day, and we've both been working hard lately, so I was wondering if you wanted to go out to lunch." His eyes fell on Snart. "Though, if you're...busy...right now, I could just—"

"Oh, no, I'm not busy. I was just showing Snart some ideas I had for modifying his cold gun." He returned Eobard's smile as he handed the gun back to Snart.

Snart smirked. "As usual, Ramon had some pretty brilliant suggestions," he said in his trademark drawl. "It's so easy to see WHY he's your head of R&D."

Cisco giggled, shyly avoiding Snart's gaze as he tucked a lock of hair behind his ear. "Hey, now: I already told you that if you keep complimenting me like that, I'll get a big head."

"It IS true, though," Eobard said, not to be outdone. "I'm lucky that he takes such great care of me, both in the labs and at home."

"Alright, that's enough," Cisco said with a grin. There was a pink tinge to his cheeks. "You said you wanted to get lunch?"

"Yes. I'm in the mood for steak, so how does Ariana's sound?"

"Awesome. Lemme go get my jacket. Oh, and I should tell Hartley that I'll be out of the office for a little while."

As Cisco exited the room, Snart made no effort to hide the fact that he was checking out Cisco's ass—he even tilted his head a little to get a better look. Again, the word "obscene" came to Eobard's mind. However, when he turned his gaze back to Eobard, he had the audacity to feign surprise at the man's expression. "Something wrong, Thawne?"

"Whatever you're trying to accomplish, here…knock it off," Eobard said, curling his hands into fists.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about," Snart said as he frowned in mock concern. He turned to Mick. "Mick, why did we come up here, again?"

"You said you wanted Ramon to look at your gun while we were at the labs," Mick grunted, flipping through an old copy of I, Robot that he'd found on Cisco's bookshelf. Eobard was surprised; he'd always just assumed that Mick couldn't read.

"Well, there you go," Snart said. "I had a perfectly legitimate reason to swing by after our meeting this morning."

"So you weren't ogling Cisco just now?" Eobard practically spat. "I imagined all of that?"

That cool smile reappeared on Snart's face. "You made me come all the way to S.T.A.R. Labs. Can you blame me for wanting to enjoy the scenery while I'm here?"

Eobard gritted his teeth. "Get this through your head, Snart: you can have anyone in this city—on this goddamn earth—except for Cisco Ramon. Don't you even think about making a move on him."

Snart raised his eyebrows. "If you're really THAT threatened by a little flirting, then maybe your relationship isn't as strong as you think it is. Just something to consider."

"It's the disrespect that I can't stomach," Eobard snarled. "You come into my labs and throw yourself at my fiancé right under my nose? I've killed people for far, far less than that."

"Hey..." Mick growled, starting towards Eobard with an angry look on his face.

Snart, however, held a hand up, signaling for Mick to stand down. "You really should lighten up a bit, Thawne," he said, narrowing his eyes and upping the intensity of his gaze. "It's not good for your health to be so tightly wound. And we wouldn't want for anything to happen to our fearless leader, now would we?"

"Listen here, you little—"

"Alright, I'm ready!" Cisco sang out, sliding his jacket over his arms as he re-entered the office. After he fluffed his hair over his collar, he glanced at the three other men in the room, and a look of concern settled over his features. "Everything okay in here?"

"Peachy," Snart said, flashing Cisco a crooked smile. Eobard wanted to zip across the room and deck him with the force of a freight train when he saw the corners of Cisco's mouth turn up ever-so-slightly in response.

"Yes, we're fine," Eobard said. "I'm hungry, though, so let's get going."

"Definitely." Cisco gave Snart one last glance. "I guess I'll start on those updates tomorrow? I'm booked solid today, but Saturday's clear enough. They'll be done by Monday for sure."

Snart shrugged, that crooked smile still on his mouth. How did he manage to look so predatory without ever showing his teeth? "Monday, Tuesday…no rush. I can always make time for you to play with my equipment, Cisco."

As Mick—that obnoxious, crude mouth-breather—snorted with laughter, Eobard grabbed Cisco's hand and led him out of the room. "Come on, Cisco. I'll have Mardon bring the car around."

As usual, Cisco chattered the whole time they were walking through the building and to the car. He wanted to tell Eobard all about the ideas he had for Snart's gun. Mainly, his objectives were to make it more powerful but less dangerous, because really, what was it but a toy for the man who owned half of Central City? It didn't need to be lethal, it just needed to be effective. And Cisco had had a dream once that Snart used the gun to commit real crimes and actually hurt people, and while he knew that it was just a dream, he'd probably feel guilty if someone was injured in one of those pretend heists that Snart liked to pull off with that partner of his. And by-the-way, did Eobard know that Mick Rory was actually a big fan of old-school science fiction? Cisco was fairly sure that Mick was working on a sci-fi novel of his own, even if he wouldn't admit to it. The signs were all there and if Cisco's suspicions were correct, he really, really hoped that Mick would let him read the manuscript…

Eobard tried to pay attention and be a good listener, even as he and Cisco got into the car, gave Mark Mardon (their regular chauffeur) instructions to head to Ariana's, and buckled themselves in for the ride. But in truth, his mind was elsewhere. He was still angry at Snart and half-hoped that the gun would malfunction and give the man third-degree frostbite on his genitals. It could take out Mick, too, for good measure. The only reason Eobard hadn't used The Spear to turn those two thugs into goldfish was professional courtesy…and because they'd make good attack dogs if he ever found himself in need of extra muscle. Between Snart's flippancy and Malcom Merlyn's relentless attempts to contact him (How many of that man's calls had he ignored? It had to be at least six at this point), he was more determined than ever to wipe The Spear off the face of the earth before any of his former teammates could get their hands on it.

"Eobard? Did you hear me?" Cisco said.

"Hmm?" Eobard replied, snapping back to attention. He found himself immediately reacquainted with the scent of the car's interior, the noise of the city traffic, and the image of his fiancé looking over at him. His musings were important, but real life had an appeal all its own.

"I asked if you remembered whether Ariana's has sweet potato fries available year-round, or if they're just a seasonal item." Cisco gestured to his STARphone, which he had clutched in his hand. "I don't see them on the menu, but I remember having them last time we went there, and they were really good."

"Oh. No, I don't know," Eobard replied dully. "You'll have to ask the server when we get there."

Cisco frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he said, avoiding Cisco's eyes.

"Babe, you've barely said a word since we got in the car. You were fine this morning when we left for work, so what happened?" his face was screwed up in genuine concern, and he set down his phone to put one of his hands over Eobard's.

Eobard exhaled. "Oh, it's just…Leonard Snart."

"What about him? I thought that you two were friends."

"Well, 'friends' might not be the right word for it," he said, locking eyes with Cisco. "Look, when I walked into your office earlier, it was very obvious to me that Snart was coming onto you. And I think that that's extremely inappropriate, considering that he KNOWS about our engagement. But when I confronted him about it, he acted like the whole thing was a big joke."

"Wait, what?" Cisco said, frowning in confusion. "I…I really thought that Snart was just being friendly. I didn't realize that he was flirting."

Eobard sighed. "Of course you didn't; you're so sweet and sociable with everyone that his behavior probably seemed completely innocuous. But, as someone on the outside looking in—there was really no mistaking what was happening."

"Aw, jeez. I guess Hartley was right, then," Cisco said, running the fingers of his free hand through his long hair in aggravation.

Eobard raised an eyebrow. "About what?"

Cisco exhaled. "He said something the other day about Snart being my 'boyfriend.' As in, 'Your boyfriend hasn't been around here lately; what did you do to scare him off?' And I thought he was just salty because he's got a HUGE crush on Snart and Snart only ever wants to talk to me, but—"

"Hartley likes Snart?"

"Oh, God, yes," Cisco said, rolling his eyes. "Poor guy's got it BAD. Every time Snart shows up in our department, he makes every excuse he can to hang on him and chat him up. Snart took the long way around to my office today just so he wouldn't have to pass by Hartley's workroom! It's kinda hard to watch, honestly—I'd feel really bad for Hartley if he wasn't such an asshole all the time."

Eobard chuckled, but he really did consider Cisco's words. "So, in addition to annoying me, Snart's creating a distraction for my two best engineers. I'll have to speak to him about staying away from R&D, then. He doesn't really have any business being in that area of the labs, anyway, since I always speak to him in the cortex."

Cisco shrugged. "Maybe that would be for the best." After a moment of silence, he frowned again. "Eobard, you don't think...I mean, you KNOW I would never cheat on you, right?"

"Of course I know that."

And he did know that, because in this life—in this perfect, ideal world that he had created for himself along with the rest of the Legion of Doom—Cisco Ramon was absolutely devoted to Eobard Thawne. The Cisco sitting next to him in the car would never keep secrets, would never side with the Flash against him, and would never, ever so much as entertain the idea that Eobard might not be exactly who he said he was.

This Cisco was still the handsome, playful, brilliant young man that Eobard had come to know and love years ago…just "tweaked" ever-so-slightly to make him an even better partner.

Cisco, of course, had no idea that there had once been a version of him who'd actively tried to thwart Eobard's machinations, as well as a version who had given the speedster no choice but to kill him. As far as he knew, he was lucky that Eobard would have him—not the other way around. "Good," Cisco said, and he placed his hands on Eobard's cheeks. "Because no matter who tries to steal me away...I'm yours, and only yours."

Eobard put his hands on Cisco's, lacing their fingers together. "And I'm yours, and only yours." He brought his face down for a kiss, and Cisco eagerly closed the gap between their lips.

"I love hearing you say that," Cisco said, sounding a bit dreamy.

"And I love everything about you." He planted another kiss on Cisco's lips. "With the possible exception of your eating habits. Really, Ariana's is one of the best steakhouses in Central City, but you're concerned about sweet potato fries ?"

Cisco pulled away, snorting playfully. "Oh, shove it!" He grinned at Eobard. "Hey, we should play hooky."

"Hmmm?"

"You know..." Cisco wrapped his arms around Eobard's shoulders. "We should just go home after lunch instead of going back to the office. We've both been putting in so many hours lately that we really do deserve some time off."

Eobard laughed, shaking his head. "You, Cisco Ramon, are the little devil on my shoulder. I can't play hooky today."

"Of course you can," Cisco said, smirking. "You OWN the company. Who's going to give you crap for it?"

" I am going to give myself crap for it," Eobard explained. "I've got too much work to do today; I just can't afford to fall behind."

"But—"

"I'm sorry. I really can't." His voice had grown firm.

Cisco pouted. "Okay, fine. I guess I've got a lot of stuff to do back at the office, too."

"Now, now, don't get mopey. When this fusion reactor project is up and running, I'll have plenty of time to play hooky. We could even take a vacation."

"Really?"

"Yes. And we can go anywhere in the world you want. Okay?"

Cisco smiled. "As long as I'm with you, it doesn't really matter where we go."

Before Eobard could respond (or offer to buy Cisco another amusement park in the meantime; he was pretty sure there were still a couple out there that they didn't own), the car came to a stop. "Mr. Thawne, Mr. Ramon? We're here," Mardon announced.

Eobard glanced around. Sure enough, they were currently in the parking lot of Ariana's. "Ah, so we are. Thank you, Mark."

"Yeah, thanks!" Cisco said, eagerly undoing his seatbelt. "Do you want anything?"

Mardon smirked. "Any chance you can get me a draft beer in a to-go cup?"

"I bet they could do that if I asked!"

"Cisco…" Eobard said, raising an eyebrow at him. Central City didn't have open container laws, and even if it did, there was no way in hell that a cop would hassle Eobard Thawne's driver. Still, he expected a certain degree of professionalism from his employees.

Cisco grunted. "Ugh, fine. How about a cup of tomato basil soup?"

"That would great, thank you," Mardon said, laughing.

"Alright. Got it." And, right before Cisco stepped out of the car, he leaned over the seat and said in a mock whisper, "I'll see what I can do about the beer."

They ate lunch. They talked about work and everything else. Eobard stole sweet potato fries off of Cisco's plate, despite the fact that he'd made a big show of rolling his eyes when Cisco ordered them. Cisco asked Eobard again —or maybe it was for the first time; rewriting reality meant that his memories were a little fuzzy on occasion—when they could get a pet. Cisco wanted something fun and exotic, like a fennec fox, while Eobard thought that, with their hectic work schedules, a cat was probably a better choice.

By the time they got back to S.T.A.R. Labs, Eobard was feeling refreshed and reinvigorated. The whole nastiness with Snart earlier was just a little hiccup in an otherwise good day. He decided that he'd put their less-than-pleasant interaction in the category of "Things Not Worth Worrying About."

Eobard had barely crossed the threshold when his phone buzzed in his pocket. He took out the phone and glanced at the screen to find that it was an alert from the labs' internal communication app. Apparently, he had a new direct message from Jefferson Jackson, one timestamped from about 20 minutes prior.

Cisco noticed. "Duty calls?" Eobard had set his phone so that "low priority" internal messages only went through while he was physically present at the labs, which helped prevent interruptions while he was off-duty. However, that also meant that it wasn't uncommon for Eobard's phone to light up like a Christmas tree the moment he got into work.

"Looks like it," Eobard said, swiping on the screen to read the message. "Apparently, Mr. Jackson is ready to update me on the status of the fusion reactor project. I hope it's good news."

Cisco pursed his lips. "Me, too."

"Hey," Eobard began, gripping Cisco's chin in one hand, "I said no moping. As soon as the reactor is done, we'll take a trip." For good measure, he added, " And we'll start talking about finalizing a date for the wedding. Okay?"

Again, Cisco got a dreamy look on his face. It was probably the 'w' word that did it. "Okay."

"There we go. Now…lips, please."

Obediently, Cisco stood up on his tippy-toes so that he could plant a single, chaste kiss on Eobard's mouth, and they both took a second to savor the moment before Cisco lowered himself and took a step back. They could have done so much more; Eobard wanted to do so much more, but they were in public—and, more importantly, they were at S.T.A.R. Labs during business hours.

Some behavior just isn't appropriate for the workplace, SNART, Eobard thought. He then scolded himself internally for giving that cretin more time and energy than he deserved.

"Alright, go save the world, sweetie," Cisco said. He glanced down at his own phone. "Huh. Looks like Brie wants me to come watch while she tries the new software update on her drones. I guess I'm headed to the test floor?"

"I'll see you this evening," Eobard said. "Check in with me before you head home; I might actually leave on time tonight."

"Sure thing." With that, Cisco headed off in the direction of the Testing Lab.

Eobard, for his part, headed towards the express elevator. Rather than simply meet Jax at the younger man's office, he thought it would be preferable to go to his own office in the cortex and then summon Jax to his side—give himself a home field advantage, as it were.

As he boarded the lift, his phone buzzed with a text message. When he glanced down to check the device, he couldn't stop the chuckle that escaped from his throat.

Cisco had sent him a photo of a baby fennec fox, one with shiny eyes, a button nose, and ears that seemed far too large for its head. He'd added the caption: I'm thinking 'Padparadscha' for a girl and 'Topaz' for a boy. Y/N?

It took Eobard a second to figure out that Cisco was talking about names for the fennec fox he was determined to obtain. Eobard quickly found an equally adorable photo of an orange tabby kitten online and sent it to Cisco with the caption: Y on the names, N on the species .

As he stepped out of the elevator and walked towards the cortex, Cisco sent him a message consisting of a laughing cat emoji, a heart emoji, and a kissy face emoji.

Again, Eobard couldn't help but chuckle. He felt a bit foolish doing so, but he also felt truly happy, and not at all angry or afraid, for the first time in years.

More than anything else, though, Eobard felt resolute. The life he had now was "right;" things were exactly as they should be. On more than one occasion, fate had seen fit to tear him and Cisco apart, but that was the old world. Nothing—not Leonard Snart, not the other Legion members, not Black Flash or any other force determined to set history back to normal—would ever separate them again. And once the Spear of Destiny was destroyed, he'd be able to live this life absolutely worry-free.

He paged Jax, telling him to come to the cortex for a status update immediately. After all, Eobard Thawne had everything a man could possibly want in life…except for patience.

...

Originally published on AO3 in October 2018