Chapter 20: Just Call

Cisco spins around aimlessly in his spinning desk chair.

He really shouldn't have asked Dr Wells (technically Eubard Thorne, or was that before the body snatch? Never mind), for the swivel chair, but he couldn't help it. With his flair for dramatics and need to move around to various screens without getting up, it fit. And really, who could resist the Dr Claw villain chair spin? I've been waiting for you Gadget…Now all he needed was a cat to stroke.

Shaking himself out of his spiralling reverie, he looked up to glance over his screens. Frowning, he narrowed his eyes as something caught them. A white line on the floor of a pipeline cell.
"Hmmm…" He said to himself with a frown, "Better check it out. Not like there's anything better to do." The last he added as an aside, but to whom, not even he knew. Caitlin was taking the day off, and no one else was at S.T.A.R. Labs. From Barry and Iris going on a date, to Joe taking someone else's shift, only Cisco was left to hold down the fort. Even Ralph had something on this evening!

His steps echoing, Cisco made his way to the pipeline, boredom causing him to hum the Star Wars theme under his breath, "hmm-hmm-hm-hm-hm-hmmmmm-hmm-hm-hm-hm-hmmmmm-hmm-hm-hm-hm-hmmm…"

Finally reaching his destination, Cisco opened the doors, and examined the floor for the mysterious white line.
"Aha!" He muttered, bending down to grab the abandoned pair of white earbuds lying on the floor. But as soon as his fingers touched it, he was transported elsewhere.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm really sorry!" Cisco couldn't see the source of the voice, but he could see why it had been said. A teenage girl lay on the ground, bleeding from a gunshot wound in her thigh. Maybe he didn't recognise the voice, but he recognised the girl.
Juliet Mason. The meta they'd helped the other week. Uh-oh.
Quickly looking for a clue as to where they were, Cisco scanned what looked like a corner store before gazing triumphantly at a label on the floor. "Klark's Basics" it proclaimed.

Then it was over.
Still bent down, Cisco blinked in surprise.

"Stay at S.T.A.R Labs, they said, what could go wrong, they said!" He exclaimed to no-one as he carefully scooped up the headphones with a corner of his long-sleeved Big Bang t-shirt. Rushing back to the Cortex, he scowled as he ran around the needlessly winding and curved hallways. Stupid particle accelerator and it's stupid circuitous needs. Hadn't fake Wells ever heard of a simple straight hallway? Guess they don't have them in the future – he cut himself off with a reprimand, Focus, Ramon!

As soon as he got to the Cortex, he dumped the earbuds on the table, called Barry, and then texted Caitlin for good measure. A few seconds and a crackle of red lightning later, Barry appeared, eyebrows raised and still in his nice clothes.

"You're like a genie," Cisco commented, running a search on his computer, "I call, you appear. I should get three wishes. Nice monkey suit, by the way."

"Thanks man," Barry grumped, "What's up? You know I was in the middle of a date with Iris."

The search left Cisco with three glowing green dots and he smiled grimly. "So, you know Illusionist? That girl named Juliet, with the crazy mind-reading powers?"

"Yeah," Barry said, narrowing his eyes.

"Well I just got a vibe and she's just been shot." Cisco said in a voice that really didn't match the words he just said. He just continued studying the green dots, determinedly not looking at Barry, trying to figure out which one was the one he was looking for.

"What? Where? When?" Barry exclaimed, moving towards his suit. Cisco could imagine the look in his friend's eyes.

"Just now, in a Klark's Basics." Cisco said briefly before pointing at a dot. "In that one, I think. But it's a guess."

"4th and Johnston, close to her school?"

"Yep."

A few bright sparks and a whoosh are the only response that Cisco gets.

I hope he gets there in time.

Barry runs, berating himself all the while.
Why did you tell her "anyone can be a hero"? What did you think a teenager was going to do? Milliseconds later came a surge of guilt with another thought, I hope she hasn't got herself killed.

Iris would probably tell him not to take responsibility for everything because it wasn't his fault the girl had decided to take his advice to heart. But that didn't stop his heart from beating guiltily and his mind from running over could've, should've, would'ves.

Barry arrived at the Klark's Basics Cisco had pointed at but found everything to be exactly the way it should be. Lights on, mostly empty, no sign of anything wrong. He ran around the store twice to make sure, but when he came up empty the second time he realised that he was wasting time looking for something that clearly wasn't there.

"Cisco, she's not here."

Barry could hear Cisco swear over his earpiece, and almost see the scowl on his best friend's face. "Try the one near Big Belly Burger?"

Author's Note:

Sorry this is a little late! I meant to post yesterday, but got caught up in a ton of homework.
Anyway, here's a little break from the drama at the convenience store...is it really a break? Yeah, probably not, but for all the people wondering where the Flash was, here's your answer.

I admit I didn't think the 'when' of this fic through properly because it's not quite an AU but eh. In the end it ended up being set at the beginning of season five - the satellite has come down, but Nora hasn't done introduced herself and Cicada isn't really a thing yet. The tv show just jumped from one thing to another too fast in my opinion so this is sort of in the time 'between'. Canonically that time doesn't quite exist, but humor me?

Trix