Well this update has been long overdue. 3 months has been a long time and I apologize but nonetheless, the next chapter is here. This chapter will be centered around episode (5x02). I had quite a bit of fun with this chapter and I hope it is a pleasant read for you all.
TheLifeSturggleIsREAL: Thank you for the review.
Paige: Thank you for the review. Are you liking S6 so far?
Roswellostcause: She's so fun to write.
All characters, story, plot lines belong to the writers, producers of The Flash and The CW. I do not own the rights to any of them, just the idea of this story is my own.
Feel free to write a review on your thoughts.
P.S. How many of you are tuning in tonight to Part 3 of Crisis on Infinite Earths? What are your thoughts so far? It's so exciting to see the accumulation of years of planning.
Chapter 18: Whatever the Future Brings.
*In Cisco's apartment*
Cisco is situated in his living room with his at home karaoke machine belting his soul out as he sings, unashamedly, We Are Never Getting Back Together by Taylor Swift.
"We are never, ever, ever getting back together. Nooope Gypsy, we're not, nu-uh. We are never ever, ever getting back together. Nope. You go talk to your father, talk to my friends, talk to me but we are never ever, ever, ever getting back together…Like ever….no….never…." Cisco released a loud sigh. Cisco shook his head to collect his emotions before the verse began. "I'm really gonna miss you picking figh—" Cisco's voice is cut off as his vision of his apartment vanishes before his eyes. "—ghtAAAHHHHH!" Cisco found himself clutching onto his microphone oh so tightly while screaming towards a teal coloured ocean.
"SURPRISE!"
Cisco whipped around and was greeted by Barry and Caitlin sporting wide grins.
Cisco remained silent as he blinked rapidly at the two of them. Caitlin frowned. "What did you do to him, Barry?"
Barry raised his hands. "Nothing I swear. You told me to surprise him so I figured that just bringing him straight here would be the best way to do that. Plus, you know me. I not good with planning surprises so I thought being extremely unsubtle would be the best approach."
"Barry. I think you could have used a little subtlety. What would have happened if he was in the bathroom? That would have been awkward." Caitlin scolded.
"Trust me. Whatever he was doing was way more awkward than me catching him in the bathroom. Well awkward for me anyways."
Caitlin looked at Barry with confusion. "What?"
Barry shook his head. "Don't ask." It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Cisco's solo concert was meant to be a private concert.
Caitlin squinted her eyes but let the topic go. Besides, she could always get it out of Barry later. Caitlin approached Cisco slowly and waved a hand in front of Cisco's frozen face. "Cisco? Are you okay?"
Cisco took a quick glimpse at their nearby surroundings. "Caitlin? Barry? What in the world?" Cisco could sort out that they were on a large, empty beach. His hair moved with the warm sea breeze as the sound of soft waves crashed behind him. It was the perfect temperature and Cisco closed his eyes with content as he took a whiff of the slightly salty air.
"You wanted to go on that Fiji getaway, remember?"
"So, Caitlin and I decided to sneak a quick trip in. What better way to take advantage of my powers, right?" Barry grinned but when Cisco continued to remain silent, his smile dropped. "Or not? Caitlin and I were worried after we saw how you have been acting this past week and we thought a pick me up would be a nice change of pace. Was this too much? Should we have asked? Oh gosh, you hate the surprise. You want to be alone? Are we being too intrusive? Don't hate me." Barry rapid-fire rambled on as Caitlin stood awkwardly on the side.
Caitlin finally stepped in, deciding to save Barry from the rabbit hole he was diving into. "Uh, what I think Barry is trying to say is that we wanted to cheer you up because we know how rough it has been after your break up with Gypsy but if you are not up for it, we can head back to Central City. Whatever you want." Caitlin said in a calm tone with a warm smile.
Cisco returned her smile with his own. He continues to be surprised at the lengths his friends will go for him. "I can't believe you guys would go out of your way to do this for me."
Barry peeked out from behind Caitlin. "So, you're not angry at us for invading your personal space?"
"A little stunned, a little embarrassed from screaming so loudly in public but I can't exactly be angry when you brought me to Fiji. Heck yeah, I'm in Fiji baby!" Cisco fist pumped gleefully. "Although, I'm no way prepared."
"Well that's why it is always handy to be the prepared one." Caitlin noted as she gestured to her tote bag. Caitlin proceeded to open her bag as she pulled out masses of items. "I have sunscreen, towels, sandals, sunglasses, water, snacks, swimsuits and a change of clothes for all of us."
Cisco frowned as an item caught his attention and grabbed onto it. "Hey this is my favourite graphic tee; I have been looking for this for a week. When and how did you take this?"
"A magician never reveals his secrets."
Cisco directed an accusing look at Barry and Barry looked away as swiftly as he could.
"Note to self, get home security." Barry and Caitlin gave sheepish looks at that.
"Well let's not waste precious time while we're here in Fiji. What do you want to do first? We could explore the different islands. They have this wildlife section where we can check out their local species of lizards and birds. I saw online that they have neat hot springs that we can check out. We could also go snorkelling or scuba diving. Ronnie taught me a lot about scuba diving so that would be pretty fun." Caitlin listed out different options as she pulled out different pamphlets she had prepared beforehand.
All that Caitlin had said fell on closed ears however since Cisco didn't hear a single word. His attention pulled by the soft waves on the shoreline. Cisco turned from Caitlin and walked as close as he could to the water without touching it and sat down. Barry and Caitlin gave each other confused looks.
"Did he even listen to anything I said?" Caitlin questioned Barry.
"I did." Cisco answered before Barry could. "All those sound great Caitlin and I'm sure they would be fun, and I would enjoy it but right now I'm content with just sitting here on this beach with my best friends."
Caitlin and Barry sat down, keeping Cisco in the middle of them. "You really okay with just doing this?" Barry questioned.
"Mmhmm. I know it might seem like a waste because after all it's not everyday we get to be in Fiji, but I would like nothing more than just to enjoy the sunshine and scenery."
"Then we're happy to do it with you." Caitlin declared as she reached towards her bag. Silently, she pulled out a large beach towel and fanned it out. Not long pasted when the three were now sitting comfortably on the towel passing a bottle of sunscreen around. No words were needed as the team, for the first time in a while, let their guards down and allowed themselves to have a moment of peace. Time pasted as they watched the waves approach closer to them and then pull back.
"If only time could freeze here." Caitlin spoke up softly.
Cisco smiled. "Would be pretty nice. I don't think I have been so carefree like this in a long time. Forgot for a minute the responsibilities we have and man I really wished that minute would have lasted longer."
Barry nodded with agreement. "We haven't really gotten a chance to really let ourselves relax. I think we're just used to being in a constant state of attack mode."
"We don't really have a choice. This is the way we chose to lead our lives." Caitlin drew her knees closer to her chest and rested her chin on her knees.
"The unavoidable truth when it comes to this gig. I would be lying if I said that I am used to being on edge all the time. I must put my guard up all the time. I must be uneasy with trusting new people. It would make things a whole lot simpler if that wasn't the case."
Cisco and Caitlin nodded, understanding completely where Barry is coming from.
"Look at the bright side. At least we can let our guards down around each other." Caitlin said with a soft smile.
"True, we could have it much worse." Cisco affirmed as he leaned back onto his arms. "Maybe we should make this a yearly tradition between the three of us. Something to look forward to every year amidst any of the havoc we may be going through. Mission Lay on the Beach for Team…Fliji…"
Caitlin winced at the awkward mash up between Flash and Fiji. "Not your best work. Cisco."
Cisco shrugged. "I'm sun drunk right now. I'll think of something better later."
"I think it sounds like a swell idea despite the horrid name." Cisco shot a glare at Barry as Barry smirked back. "Hopefully I'll be able to squeeze at least a couple of trips before…my impending doom."
Tension flooded the air as reality sunk in. The calmness of the scenery no longer providing any numbness from the truth. Caitlin bit on her lip as she and Cisco shared a look.
Cisco cleared his throat. "That's not 100%. Like Iris said, we've changed it before. We're the experts at that. Don't you worry about it Barry. Right Caitlin?" Cisco prompted at Caitlin, looking for her support but found Caitlin biting her lip even more as she remained mute on the topic. "Caitlin, your silence is not helping."
"What if it is 100%." Caitlin spoke quietly.
"Caitlin-"
"No Cisco, it's all great and dandy to be to be hopeful but I can't ignore the facts and the potential that Barry disappearing is a reality."
"It won't." Cisco said adamantly, refusing to believe in the end of his best friend.
"It already did. Nora grew up in a very real world where Barry was gone. She's not making that up."
"Iris dying was a very real reality that Barry saw in the future and looked what happened. We changed that, we altered reality." Cisco reminded, arguing for his side.
"We're not gods. We must stop thinking that we are. What happened with Savitar and Iris was different. She was the original journalist of the newspaper report. We knew that a future with her alive was possible. But even when the writer changed, or small details of the article changed: the one thing that remained consistent was-"
"-the headline." Barry finished.
"Remember what Wally said about changing the timeline? How some events past or future could be considered as "soft" or "fixed"."
"That was just a theory."
Caitlin sighed, her irritation showing. "Come on Cisco."
"What? So, because of some potential theory, we're suppose to just accept our best friend's sentence to death?"
"You think I'm okay with this? You think I want to accept this? How do you think I feel when I'm told that one of the only people that still matters in my life is going to fade into non-existence and that there is nothing that I can do about it?" Caitlin's eyes start to water as her composure starts to break. "Nothing about this is okay with me."
Barry's eyes softened as he quickly moved next to Caitlin and placed an arm around her and rubbed her arm.
Cisco felt his defensiveness drop immediately as soon as he saw Caitlin begin to crumble and arranged himself closer to Caitlin. "I'm sorry."
"I want to believe and stand with what Iris is saying. I would be the first one to sign up for that mission but…just like how your mom's death was set in stone. What if you are fated to vanish?" Caitlin said as her voice shook.
Barry's jaw clenched and Cisco frowned.
"Have you guys ever read any Greek tragedies in English courses?"
Caitlin and Cisco nodded.
"The one theme that I took away from reading those plays were: those who chose to run away from their fates end up running towards them. Oedipus, Agamemnon, King Laius: they had their fates laid out in front of them and they chose to flee only to tragically become the catalyst in their own ends. Now I'm no Greek hero or whatever but if I have learned anything from personal experience: running away from my problems is not the solution. If anything, it has caused me nothing but trouble. Till this day, we are all still living with what happened when I created Flashpoint. Trust me, it is something that I will live with for the rest of my life. That is a burden I would never wish upon you guys. Even if there was a way to change that article and my fate, I'm not so sure if I would want you guys to do so. The consequences could be catastrophic. Someone who could have become the greatest hero could become the greatest villain and we wouldn't even know otherwise."
"You're one of the greatest heroes." Cisco said earnestly.
Barry smiled. "So are the two of you. My life does not stand as greater value than any other. Whatever the future brings, we'll take it head on when it comes, consequences and all."
Caitlin and Cisco nodded and both snuggled closer to Barry and Barry placed his other arm around Cisco.
"There may come a time that I become scared over what could happen to me and try to run away from it. There may come a time where all of us want to deny what is coming. If that time comes, I want you both to remember this and remind me of this conversation. The Flash doesn't run."
Cisco let out a small chuckle. "What an oxymoron of a phrase."
Caitlin chuckled at that. "It is your entire spiel." Caitlin remarked to Barry sarcastically.
"Fine, The Flash doesn't run from their problems but will run to help other people because that is my superpower." Barry clarified. "Better?"
"Much." Caitlin responded. Barry rolled his eyes at that.
At that, peaceful silence returned as the three returned to watching the motions of the ocean, content with each other's company.
*Back in Cisco's apartment*
Cisco just finished with a shower, relieved to rinse the salt smell from his hair, and entered his living room as he ruffled a towel through his hair. "AHHHH!" Cisco shrieked as he wasn't expecting to see Caitlin and Barry so soon especially in his house. "What the hell? That is two times today that you have both startled me. My god, I need to set up an alarm system. What are you guys doing here?"
Caitlin waved off Cisco's irritation. "Well the night is still young, and you know Barry was telling me this hilarious story that I thought you should also hear about."
Cisco crossed his arms in annoyance. "You couldn't have told me the story tomorrow?"
"Nope but I promise you'll like it. Okay let me set the scene of the story. Picture an apartment, one very similar to this one, with a late 20s male in his Spock themed boxers."
Cisco's felt his face flush at the description. "No."
"Here's the best part. "Now add a karaoke machine—"
"-BARRY! How could you tell her?" Cisco yelled at Barry, who was holding in his laughter."
Barry laughed out loud at Cisco's exasperation. "Sorry, I held it in as long as I could. Be grateful that I put pants on you before I brought you to Fiji."
"You never told you were a Taylor Swift fan."
"…She has relatable music." Cisco rubbed the back of his neck as he avoided eye contact with Caitlin.
"Well now I have to see you sing a song." Caitlin said with a devious grin.
"You know it's been a long day and I should probably check on Star Labs" Cisco babbled nervously but Barry had already turned on his karaoke machine and was flipping through the songs. The tunes of We are Never Getting Back Together started playing and Barry handed him the mic. "No shame." Barry said with a wink.
Cisco sighed from defeat. Oh well, might as well put on a good show. He walked confidently in front of his best friends before proceeding to put on the performance of his life.
"-But we are never ever, ever, ever getting back together." Cisco finished alongside Caitlin and Barry who started singing along midway through the song.
"Woohoo, bravo!" Barry cheered as he gave a slow clap.
"Encore." Caitlin urged Cisco but Barry grabbed the mic from Cisco.
"No way, it's my turn now."
Cisco and Caitlin laughed and the three continued to sing the night away.
The future could wait for a night.
That's a wrap on this chapter. I hope you all like it.
-V