5: Cisco confronts Wells about his meeting with Zoom. All of this feels far too familiar. (Post-2x09 "Running to Stand Still")

Prompt: "Always willing to take one for the team, aren't you?" Cisco + anyone.

Enjoy!

It all feels too familiar, Cisco thinks, and it's not fair. He's all for good parallelism—hell, he cries openly at the end of the last Harry Potter movie—but there's only so much a guy can take before he goes crazy. He feels the chill as he stands there between the speed cannon and Wells, and he wills himself not to tremble.

"How did you find out?" Wells says, and he's not angry, exactly, but his face goes rigid.

"Ever heard of security footage, dude?" Cisco says. And he's angry. He's livid. "I've been monitoring this speed cannon ever since your sorry ass showed up without us knowing." He takes a step forward. "What were you doing with Zoom?"

"Don't get involved with things you don't understand," Wells says. "Save yourself the trouble. And the pain."

"I don't know about you, but I'm best friends with a speedster who could come down here in a second's notice and kick your sorry butt into the next dimension," Cisco says, even though he's realizing now that he left his phone upstairs. What an idiot. "If I were you, I'd start talking."

Wells pauses. Takes a slow, measured step forward. He has the uncanny ability to reclaim power—even with one step, Cisco feels his sense of control slipping away. The urge to run builds, but he forces himself to hold his ground.

"Zoom has made a bargain with me," Wells begins slowly. "My daughter for Barry's speed. My job is to make Barry faster, more powerful, so Zoom has more to…feed on."

Cisco's stomach flips, and he is once again thrust into the cortex, Zoom dragging an unresponsive Barry by the neck, a hunter dragging his prey home.

"When were you planning on telling us this?" Cisco asks coldly. "We've been trying to help you, you know."

"If Barry knows…if anyone knows…" Wells shakes his head. "If Barry knew why I was making him faster, he would get himself and my daughter killed. Nobody can know." He takes another step forward, his gaze hardening. "Believe me, this isn't easy on me. If I could have it another way—"

"Yeah, always willing to take one for the team, aren't you?" Cisco snaps. "Listen, you don't scare me, pal. If you want to work together to stop Zoom, fine. But if you're planning on hurting Barry, if you don't tell him about Zoom—"

Cisco can't finish, because suddenly Wells is in front of him—oh, God, how could a non-Reverse-Flash Wells still be so fast?—and a hand on his chest forces him backward into a wall. Cisco gasps at the impact and everything's happening so quickly and he is pinned there by Wells' hand and he is rendered speechless by Wells' eyes.

"Nobody can know, Ramon." Wells' voice has a new edge to it, a sharpness. "Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Cisco swallows. He does. There are flickers of tears in the other man's eyes, and Cisco understands now how dangerous desperation can make a person. His mouth goes dry with terror, and he knows he's not vibing, but the scene flickers around him like a disjointed memory anyway.

Mostly, he feels Wells' fingers pressing hard against the center of his chest, over his heart, digging into his skin with enough pressure to bruise.

"I will do anything to save my daughter," Wells says darkly. "Anything. Do you understand?"

Cisco's heart hammers.

Thanks for reading!