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steve0discusses · 3 years

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The Live Action Fullmetal Alchemist Movie Part 6: Let’s Kill Hughes

Hey guys, I’ve been having some issues with the blog not...updating my drafts. So in case you’re wondering, that’s where I disappeared to. Give a round of applause to the support team for finding a solution until it gets fixed but as of right now I’m on like a private window with my extensions turned off and writing this from both tumblr and a LibreOffice document. Hello ads, nice to see you back.

Last we left off, we were a hop and skip away to lab 5. In the anime, this was a sequence where there was a bunch of fighting with suits of armor, and they kept that in this movie, but...not the people you think would be fighting are going to be fighting.

Listen I’m not like super knowledgeable about the world of Matte painting, but I like that they’ve unintentionally made this world building where whoever is in charge of making these red bricks basically owns everyone’s nuts. Everything is made out of the same red bricks. Like I know this is a show about homunculi ruling the world but I feel like the red brick guy is hellllllla more egregious. Freakin Monsanto over here.

I assume they had a 3d model and was like “we can just keep using it” and damn, they sure did. And inside of this brick building is, unsurprisingly a lot more red brick (although I think this is partially, if not entirely, an actual real life set.)

This next part is...such a lesson in pacing. Not necessarily a lesson to follow, but definitely a lesson to learn from maybe their non-example.

(watch Hughes die under the cut)

And what’s interesting is that there were a lot of good lines in this upcoming segment. There were a lot of good moments—bu there’s just so many. Maybe too many. You gotta prune your script occasionally, it’s like a tomato plant.

Like I’ve been doing a stress garden to cope with quarantine and Covid and 3+ months of life endangering wildfires, and I learned that you gotta prune the sucker vines off your tomatoes, although sucker vines can also make tomatoes. It sucks to do because I love tomatoes, and I want as many tomatoes as possible, but when you prune the plant, you get bigger better tomatoes that are more worthwhile than the suckers that can infect your plant and make it really sick.

Sorry that made me sound like 5000 years old with that gardening analogy. If you need me to solve your small town murder mysteries, I’m ready.

So it’s like...kind of tragic that it came together as kind of nonsensical when you can tell that it’s so close to being something better.

Like we have some reason up to this point to believe that Ed would have a freak out here...but like...a sobbing on the floor screaming at the walls type of freak out? Was there enough time devoted to this blow up, or did he walk into this room and immediately start screaming? Because he sure did walk immediately into this room and start screeching like a broken bird.

Like last recap, which was about 2 minutes ago in screentime, was this fun and quirky montage with Hughes. Now we’re sobbing into this rusty factory.

And I know what’s going on because I’ve seen the anime, but if you haven’t seen it—would this emotional break down make any sense? We were told by Dr Marcoh, “check out lab 5,” but we were only going to this factory on kind of a wish and a prayer. I really wonder if people who don’t know this show could follow past this point.

And then while we’re still adjusting to “yo, Ed just took it from a 2 to a 10 like immediately” Al is like “Hey I noticed no one is paying attention to me, and I have to lay a wicked fart:”

and then both brother’s just have a freak out. Gotta all be freaking out in this random ass Unity asset that was probably also used for some college grad’s first battle royale.

Pacing is just everything. And what’s SO HARD about Full Metal Alchemist is that there really is a lot of content to cover, there’s a lot of emotions to go through, and when you only have about 7 minutes to cover what was about 3-4 episodes, if I remember correctly, it’s kind of a zany mess.

And if you were going into this movie hoping they wouldn’t illustrate Al as a large idiot baby, then you share the sentiments of most people who saw this movie. Al is like...kind of reduced to a whiny big baby and is...not cute. Like Al is low key kind of menacing throughout this movie, not just because he has this CGI armor thing going on, but also because Al is...so impressionable and unhinged.

Something that I didn’t appreciate enough when I watched the anime was just how important Barry the Chopper was for Al’s logical character development.

Yo...These bangs…

...I’ve realized that every show I recap here just has the worst hair styles. I honestly never thought much about hair at all until I watched like 200 hours of Yugioh and all of this movie and also 6 seasons of Once Upon a Time which featured some LOOKS (but only recapped like 3 episodes, sorry if I got some of y’all excited. That was when we had no reason to cap everything because the capping community for Once was very alive and very exciting.)

By hitting him with a wrench (Al does not feel pain, ps, so he doesn’t need to be hunched over like this) Winry reminds Al that Ed would not risk his life for a fake brother (which may be a line from the anime or the manga but I don’t remember) and crying just...a lot.

Like it felt as if she had to shoot all of this out of order. Same with Ed’s freak out here. Movie’s aren’t really shot in succession and it’s up to the director to make it feel coherent and logical...this felt scattered, like the actors really didn’t know what was happening in the scenes leading up to it so they just cranked it to 11.

And then I guess Ed was either so insulted that Al punched him or was so upset that Al made Winry cry (again, this movie really tries to sell the EdxWinry ship and from me that’s a really big compliment), that Ed just started laying punches to extend a fight scene that was kind over before it started.

But symbolically there is a lot nice things going on here, Ed only uses his fleshy hand so he bleeds all over Al, hurting himself as much he’s hurting his brother. Implying more than just this fight, but suggesting that their whole journey of trying to find this sorcerer’s stone is just going to hurt both of them in their quest to save the other.

And then Al says something along the line of “it hurts!” to infer that he’s got this broken heart which is when they both finally just freakin stop.

Such a shame the pacing, which was a mix of too quick, and too many tomatoes, kind of made it hella blindsiding.

Again this was so many episodes of FMA and they stuffed it into so few minutes, it’s wild.

Especially since Ed is like...he’s cast as an adult! He’s an adult! At no point in the movie so far have they called him a kid, and they’re not pretending that he is one. But like...he acts like such a child because in the original, he was one. And, while this movie steps so far away from the source material, if should have committed and either stepped completely away or committed completely. Of course “should” is one of those things where we’ll just never know. A wish into the ether of hindsight being 20/20.

But lets get to the thing that you all came here for. This is where this movie gets BONKERS:

So Hughes actually draws out a pentagram between the different places in Armestrias, including Ishvaal, leading us to think that he’s figured out the whole dealio of turning the country into an alchemy circle. But, for some reason only helps him find the real lab 5.

It didn’t...that’s a different thing.

And it has been a long time since I’ve seen the ending of this movie—and maybe it was so offhand that I forgot if they actually do bring up turning the country into an alchemy circle--watch me eat my words, it could happen—but yo, we are finally killing Hughes—but we’re over halfway through this movie. And you may wonder...so uh...what...then what could possibly happen? There’s too much anime left!

Now I’m glad they kept this scene really close to the anime, although I haven’t watched the anime in a hot minute. It’s kind of an iconic scene so you don’t forget.

Like I do genuinely enjoy the campy parts where they were bringing up some of my favorite nostalgia of the original.

and then when you are like “ah, this is exactly the same as the anime. I can relax and watch as all my expectations are fully realized.” This twist happens.

YAH.

It’s a change!

So in the anime we had a really fun arc where we were trying to save Lieutenant Ross for being framed for killing Hughes. It’s probably my favorite part of Full Metal Alchemist, actually, it was so clever and a really thrilling chase. It was also like...half of season one.

Anyway, they cut it. They reduced half a season into 7 minutes. I know that, because each of these recaps is about 15 minutes of the movie.

You may look at this recap and be like “wait...this all happened in 15 minutes??” because yeah, this all happened in 15 minutes.

The same squad of people we see in every single scene of soldiers comes up to arrest Ed, which is weird, because I thought this band of soldiers was the military under Cl. Mustang’s command so like…shouldn’t they be arresting themselves? Mustang was over the command of more than 2 people. If we are suspicious of Mustang’s buddies then everyone in this movie would be in trouble.

And that’s when I realized that these guys were just unnamed soldiers and not a part of Mustang’s band. They only had like this many extras and just hoped we wouldn’t keep track of who is who, but I KNOW I’ve seen these guys this whole time. There are only like 6 people in this army. I see you movie magic—I see what you’re trying to do.

Anyway, Ed gets thrown into an old timey opera house that occasionally gets to be used for Middle School graduations. Or maybe also a mortuary where they charge you for funerals.

Like I know it’s supposed to be the capital building but like...this looks so weird when it’s live action. I remember the anime had this kinda feel to it but in live action it’s like…

...this is a weird ass capital building…Why do they have curtains like a Granny Holiday Inn in Reno, Nevada?

Thankfully, Hawkeye is here to explain to Ed what just happened because we, the movie viewers, were kind of surprised by that plot twist.

Like there were many ways you can condense half a season into 15 minutes, and I dunno if I would have just changed the murderer. It is a solution you can do. You can just point blame on Mustang and skip that whole Ross segment but like….

…then why write the movie?

Obviously, they had to make the movie, it had already been funded, people were really excited about the idea, and I do not envy the people that had to hack and slash with the Full Metal Alchemist script, but it is interesting what they decided was important to the original content, and what was unimportant. All that stuff that showed how Mustang was brilliant and two steps ahead of everyone else? Unimportant. All that stuff we had that showed how Mustang cares a lot about protecting other people and also cares about Ed and Al? Unimportant.

It really changes the dynamic, and it’s kind of fascinating to go into this cold because it’s been like...a year for me since I’ve watched it...and just see how different everything is without all those supporting characters that when I watched the anime I just assumed were mostly useless (Though fun). Turns out they all had a pretty significant part of making me care about Ed, about Mustang, about Al, about all my main characters.

FMA is very character driven, and this movie is mostly just...plot driven. There’s kind of a great debate in literature about plot driven vs character driven. Movies and TV tend to be very plot driven, because they are very expensive to make, so they follow pre-formatted plot beats like “Save the Cat” or “The Heroes Journey” and other ones (there’s several to choose from).

They’ve made a fine science out of at what point a TV show should introduce the main, at what point they should suffer doubt, at what point they should shun their hero’s journey, etc etc. They know it down to the page number of the scripts they are writing. I know this, because it’s readily available on the internet and people fight about it all the time. This is why a show may suffer developing a character—because they just don’t have time and they just don’t have the resources to do something out of the box. Movies doubly so, because every minute of film can cost thousands of dollars.

What’s interesting about this is that FMA, the original FMA, does follow these beats. It was a manga sold by a huge publisher so it had to follow those beats. But, it has managed to do it while still being character driven. Yo, that’s so hard to do. This story was already written to be hyper condensed and structured when it was made into a Manga, and then it was condensed again for an anime, and then it was condensed yet again for this movie. It’s like a game of telephone, and at one end you have a very character driven story, and then at the other, it’s just totally plot.

Like it’s just a really huge risk to take. This was really, really risky.

PS did you miss Shou? Did you think we’d be done with Shou Tucker? No. Because this movie is gonna end at some point and rather than introduce other people...we’re just gonna stick with Shou and only have one miniboss.

(It has a freakin radiator in it?)

So then this next part happens and it’s low key hilarious.

The whole time.

Mustang and Hawkeye knew what lab 5 was this entire time but Ed just never asked for some reason despite working with those two for what is inferred to be YEARS since his childhood.

Hey PS, did you miss that brick building? Because it’s back.

Anyway, Mustang decides to take this underground where we can recycle the tech crew posing as extras that we used in the shot above us. Would not be surprised if a few of these are someone’s husband or wife on set.

Usually when I watch a movie I don’t get this feeling so much. But this movie...the latter half is like...EMPTY.

...this is going to be all movies made during Covid, I just realized…

Mustang is stopped by an angry Lieutenant Ross, and then we get this series of events.

And when you’re like “...Sorry?” Mustang’s like “I can make it weirder.”

And he just, without any warning or anything, lights Lieutenant Ross on fire. Multiple times, and it’s pretty intense and everyone who’s holding a gun just watches it happen is like…

...well I guess it’s too late to just shoot the guy...

…and like do you seriously not carry around a fire extinguisher when you are trying to manhunt Mustang? This is the one guy you want to wear fireproof clothes around. You have the technology. You at least have the technology for buckets of water. Like no one want to throw a blanket on her?

Just want to...watch? I guess?

Mustang just looks like a nut from this series of events instead of a genius--which is what I think they were originally going for. The pacing does that, youknow? Pacing.

And, out of the corpse pile stands Envy.

Envy has a pretty good look, I appreciated his whole look and that unlike the anime where you only find out Envy is a guy because someone told you on a forum somewhere and you were like “wait WHAT?” the movie is live action so you won’t make that mistake and embarrass yourself online.

Ed has only ever seen Lust once, and she walked in from off screen, stabbed a guy, and walked off. He’s just like...having a time because he’s done zero research into homunculi, and really, at no point in this movie are we going to give him time to figure it out.

Also, there’s this shot where Lust and Gluttony just walk in from behind them in the tunnel and it’s like…

….so no one noticed these two just hanging out back there?

It’s so freakin funny. This movie is gold. I love it.

Now If you just got here, this is a link to read all these recaps in chrono order:

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/fma/chrono

Have a good one, and stay safe! 2021 has been...weird nuts...and it’s still January somehow??? Weird times. Overall, please stay safe, it’s weird out there.

Also, if you’re like “I don’t remember this scene actually” here’s the original Hughes dies scene that inspired the movie (since the movie definitely was like “we’re only going inspired for this one nerds, get mad”)--some shots were inspired cut for cut.

youtube

And obvi this is on Youtube so it’ll probably get taken down eventually, but that’s why it’s flipped.

#FMA #FMA movie #FMA live action movie #recap #Fullmetal alchemist #hughes #roy mustang #ed elric #al elric #winry #I've had to write these tags twice now because tumblr won't SAVE MY DRAFTS #photo recap

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backtothestart02 · 4 years

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Camera Shy - 1/? | westallen fanfiction {moved from Patreon}

A/N: I really love this premise. I hope you’ll like it too! :)

*Many thanks to @valeriemperez for beta’ing.

...

Synopsis: AU - Iris is a model with a history of no good photographer exes. So when Barry Allen, her new photographer, wants to take her out, she immediately refuses - save some life-or-death situation.

...

Chapter 1 -

The slow hum from the alarm clock suddenly became a full siren, jerking Iris West out of her deep sleep. She jumped up, sending her arm flying towards the sound, effectively throwing her phone, glasses, and jewelry from the day to the ground. She grumbled into the palm covering her face and pulled back the covers, shivering for just a moment before trying three times to get all the items back on the bedside table. When the task was successfully completed, she pushed her hair out of her face and headed for the bathroom, her over-sized t-shirt just barely skimming the top of her thighs.

The sight that greeted her in the mirror wasn’t particularly pleasant, but she knew after smiles, make-up, and fashionable clothes were applied, she’d be looking at a whole different woman.

“Smile, Iris. Today you’ll be posing for a photoshoot in STYLE magazine. After their scandal last month, they’ve hired a new photographer that is squeaky clean and with entirely honorable intentions,” she quoted the e-mail her best friend had shot her at two in the morning.

She’d wanted to call the landline that Wally insisted on having for God knows what reason. But that would startle Linda and wake up their two-month old son, so she resisted. Not everyone needed to suffer because she was about to.

Did she already dislike the new photographer she’d be working with? Yeah.

Did she have good cause? Yeah.

Of course, she hadn’t met him, but every photographer she’d worked with was the same.

Scumbags. Pigs. Lecherous, arrogant, and sometimes… Abusive.

She pushed that last adjective to the back of her mind. There was no point remembering that experience after she’d finally gone through enough therapy to get past it. Besides, that was over three years ago. Not every photographer was abusive, she’d allow that. Every single one of them was worthy of disliking, though. She’d take that to the bank.

The only possible difference was that a newbie might take the assignment seriously for once and act like a professional. She’d appreciate that, even if he was still the scum of the earth in his free time.

Showered, make-up applied, and a fashionable get-up on her curvy figure, Iris headed for the door just as a knock sounded on the other side of it. One peek through the peephole told her everything she needed to know. And despite her previous irritation, she smiled at the sight of Linda Park-West waiting for her in the hall.

“Hello, best friend,” Linda sang, extending her hand with the hot beverage Iris loved and shaking a small paper bag that undoubtedly contained a blueberry and lemon poppyseed muffin. “You’re welcome,” she said after Iris had locked up and they were walking with arms looped down the street.

“You’re forgiven,” Iris said.

“What I’d do wrong this time?” Linda asked innocently as a grin spread across her face.

Iris shot her a glare, and Linda burst out laughing.

“Relax. This one’s different, I promise. He’s a real good guy. Momma’s boy, good grades, total geek.”

“I’ve dated creepy geeks before, Lin.”

“I’m not saying you need to date him. Just give him the benefit of the doubt as a co-worker.”

“If he’s professional, I’m professional. You know that.”

“Uh-huh.”

Iris ignored the sarcasm, and they continued walking in silence. By the time they reached the tall glass doors of Central City Studios, breakfast had been consumed, lipstick had been reapplied, and smiles were back in place.

“Good morning, Ms. West, Mrs. West,” the older receptionist said at the desk. Both girls smiled and murmured a good morning in return. “Oh, Ms. West!” She rose from her seat to call after her. Iris and Linda both spun around, pointing to each other in mock confusion, since they’d told the older woman multiple times how she could call them by their first names. “Iris,” she caved, and Linda waved goodbye to her friend as Iris returned to the front desk.

“Yes, Frances?”

The woman bristled slightly.

“Mr. Stueck wants to see you in his office as soon as possible.”

Iris stilled. “Do you know what it’s about?” she asked softly, telling herself not to jump to conclusions. Maybe she was getting a raise!

Talk about conclusions.

“I don’t know,” Frances said, pulling Iris from her thoughts. “But he wasn’t angry, so keep that in mind, dear.”

Frances pushed her glasses further up her nose and went back to her work at the computer. The phone rang and she had to pick it up before Iris could say another word.

Iris pouted but did as she was told, wiping the expression off her face before she reached her boss’s office at the end of the hall. She heard laughter from inside, which was a rarity. Mr. Stueck wasn’t always serious, and he certainly wasn’t usually mean, but laidback wasn’t usually something that was part of his daily work demeanor.

The door swung open just as she was reaching out to knock on the wooden slate. She found herself standing face-to-face with an attractive, tall, young man. He might have been younger than her but was definitely not older, and he looked as stunned as she felt. It was an awkward moment of subtly gathering air before her boss interrupted them.

“Iris! Good, right on time.”

All smiles – which was even weirder – Mr. Stueck gripped the younger man and Iris’ arms and looked at them both, drawing nervous smiles to both their faces as they snuck glances at each other from the older man’s antics.

“Iris, I’d like you to meet Barry Allen. He’ll be your photographer for the STYLE shoot this week and next.”

Her heart stopped and her face fell. Those were two pieces of news she did not want to have heard.

“Two weeks?”

“Mhmm.” He nodded enthusiastically. “They were so impressed with your work in our last two shoots, they’ve decided they want you as their star model for all the clothing pieces, possibly jewelry as well.”

“I…see.”

She tried to be happy. She really did.

But being stuck with a photographer one-on-one every day for the possibly next two weeks?

“This could be your big break, Iris. And what’s good for you is good for us. I’m so proud of you.”

She forced a smile. “…Thanks.”

Mr. Stuek sighed contently, not catching her inner battle in the slightest.

But Barry did. She could feel him watching her, and disapprovingly watching her boss in return.

“Maybe you want until the end of the day to decide,” he suggested gently, making her meet his eyes.

“The end of the day!” Mr. Stuek laughed. “She doesn’t need time to-”

“Mr. Stuek, isn’t it part of your company policy to not force assignments on your employees if they feel uncomfortable doing them?”

He shifted slightly. “Well, yes, of course! But Iris can’t possibly feel-”

“So, to be sure, you’d want her to think on it all day and come to you with an answer before the end of her shift.”

His jaw dropped.

“Maybe just until lunch?” Iris offered up. “I can call you from STYLE Studios, since I’ll be shooting there today, at any rate.”

“B-B-But they can’t make you their star model today and then bring in someone else for the remainder of the line!”

Iris waited, unused to her boss’s intensity, but certain it would pass soon.

“Fine,” he said with a giant sigh. “Check in with Helen and Rachel, then head over to STYLE Studios with Barry here.”

She froze. “O-Oh, I don’t need to- I mean, I can-”

“Not one more word out of you, Ms. West,” he said, and she knew he meant business. He was a first name kind of guy, except in the rare circumstance that he was about to lose his temper – for real.

“Go. Both of you,” he said, and no more than a moment later they’d both been shoved out of his office into the hall and the door had slammed closed behind him.

Barry managed a slight chuckle after a moment and turned towards Iris, expecting a laugh from her as well. What he got was an unexpectedly cold glare.

“You didn’t need to do that,” she said, then walked with purpose in the direction of – presumably – Helen and Rachel.

He wondered if it would be very difficult to get her to go into the same car with him.

“I’m driving,” she said, snatching the keys out of his hand when they reached his car in the parking structure. His shock almost left him standing sans-car and sans-Iris in the cool parking area alone.

She sped out of the spot and out of the structure, down the road to STYLE Studios and Barry could only think one thing to himself.

What a woman.

...

*Also posted on AO3 and FFnet.

#westallen #fanfiction #westallen fanfiction #backtothestart02 fanfiction #camera shy #chapter 1 #moved from patreon

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just-my-fandom · 4 years

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Grip (Cisco Ramon x Allen! Reader x Barry Allen)

Request; Reader, Barry Allen’s twin sister, talks to Barry after their fathers death and Barry goes back in time and saves their parents and the future is changed to where Reader and Cisco have been married for three years and Barry reveals that he went back in time so the reader was happy but Dante is dead and reader and Cisco end up having a huge fight because of what Barry did and they don’t talk, and after a day of ignoring each other they realize how stupid they’re being and just make up easily, and it’s a fluffy make up?

Request 2; Cisco being told he’s going to be a dad??!!!!!

Warnings??; Hurt relationship kind of thing, big fight between couple

A/N; This one is definitely rushed at the end so I apologize!! But I am willing to write millions of Cisco Ramon one shots if wanted!

“Hey,”

Barry looks up at the light spoken call, your figure in the doorway outside with your hands in your hoodies pockets, hair tucked back from your face,

“Hey,” Barry sighs out, extending his hand so you could take it, lowering yourself onto the porch step next to him,

“Cisco and I are going home soon,” You tell your brother, Barry glancing at you then down to his lap,

“How are you?” He asks genuinely, “About dad, I mean,”

“I guess,” You sigh out lightly, your breath fogging out in front of you, “My brain hasn’t fully wrapped around the fact that he’s gone,”

“Yeah, me too,” Barry kisses the back of your hand like he had done as a kid, and you crack a smile through the glisten in your eyes,

“I just really miss him,” You choke out, sniffling as Barry looks up at you, frowning as you swallowed, “First mom, and now dad. I don’t think I can lose you too, Barry,” You gasp in a light breath, “My heart can’t take it,”

“Hey,” Barry slides his arm to your back, pulling you into his side as you wrap both arms at his torso, exhaling a soft sob, “I’m not going anywhere. Neither is Cisco, or Iris or Joe. We’re all here,”

“Every time a new super meta human shows up, we lose someone,” You crack, “I just want a normal life again,”

“I know,” Barry presses his hand to your head, lips at your hair, “Me too,”

The sound of the door opening causes you to lean back and look over Barry’s shoulder, Cisco gripping at the doorknob, lips pressed together in a gentle smile,

“Ready to go?” He asks calmly, stepping onto the porch as Barry glances back at him, then down at you,

“I’ll see you later, okay?” Barry smiles, Cisco taking your hand like Barry had and helping you to your feet, bidding Barry a quick goodbye,

You slide into the passenger seat of your car, Cisco looking over at you as you curl into the window, eyes on Barry at the porch,

“You okay?” Cisco whispers, your eyes fluttering shut before you inhale, nodding,

Cisco sighs softly, leaning across the console to kiss your forehead, starting the car and pulling off,

. . .

“Y/N! Hey,” Barry’s hand touches your shoulder, turning you around to hand you a small container, “Can you check this sample? See if it’s a meta human?”

“Well the guy did shoot lasers from his hands,” You sigh, nodding and turning to the desk after grabbing the container, “Pretty sure it’s a meta,”

“Wait,” Barry catches your arm, your eyes narrowing in confusion as he looks down at your hand, an unfamiliar ring glistening under the labs light, “Is that a new ring?”

“No?” You draw out, pulling your arm free and scoffing, “It’s the same wedding ring from three years ago,”

“Wait, wedding ring? Three years?” Barry asks confusingly, “You and Cisco got married? I thought you were engaged,”

“That’s what happens before people get married, Barry, you know this, you were best man for the wedding,” You shake your head, Barry blinking and looking around the lab confusingly,

“Where is he anyways?” He asks, and you side glance Barry, brows pinched,

“His therapy group he’s been going for the past six months?”

“Therapy? For what?” Barry asks, stepping back when you spin around and throw an arm up,

“What is up with you? You come in and act like you don’t know shit from the past three years. Cisco and I got married three years ago last month. Cisco has to go to therapy because Dante was killed in a car accident. Stop acting stupid and get your head straight, Barry,”

You turn to your computer and huff, Barry frowning and sitting in the chair next to you, “That’s because I don’t know anything from the past three years,”

“What are you talking about?” You sigh through your teeth, Barry putting an arm over top of your hands to stop your typing,

“I went back in time, Y/N. I changed the future,”

Your eyes look up to his, brows together in visible confusion, “You what? What made you go back in time?”

“Y/N,” Barry scoots closer, your eyes following him hesitantly, “Mom was killed when we were little,”

“In your original time?” Barry nods, and you look off to the side, “How?”

“The Reverse Flash,” Barry answers, “Dad was sent to jail because they thought he commited the crime. You and I ended up moving in with Joe and Iris. Just before I went back in time, you and Cisco had just gotten engaged, Dante was safe, and,” Barry pauses, and you flick your eyebrows in question,

“And what?”

“Dad died, too,” Barry exhales, “By a man named Zoom. You were so, so upset, and depressed, even Cisco couldn’t get you to smile. You were unhappy,”

“You went back in time because of Dad?” You whisper yell, eyes burning at the thought of both your parents gone,

“Because I couldn’t stand you being so broken,” Barry protests, “I didn’t want the loss of both our parents to affect your relationship with Cisco, with our friends and family,”

“Wait, wait,” You swallow down a sob lodged in your throat, hand up, “Dante would be alive if you hadn’t gone back? Barry, Cisco is crushed,” You breathe out, sniffling, “He isn’t the same anymore. I’d rather be the one to lose someone than him because that’s what you do in a relationship, you look out for your partner. You have to tell him the truth or I will,”

“Tell who the truth? Sorry I forgot my keys,” You spin in your chair at Cisco’s voice, the male pausing in his step at your surprise, looking between you and your brother, “What?”

“Cisco,” You stand up and move in front of your husband, smiling tearily, “There’s something you need to know,”

“Are you crying?” Cisco breathes, slipping his phone into his pocket and putting a hand on your arm, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” You nod, taking his hand and sending a glance to Barry, pulling Cisco to the next room silently, “You’re worrying me,” Cisco breaks, as you turn back to him and wipe your cheek, “Talk to me, what’s going on?”

“First I need you to promise you won’t get mad,” You whisper, leaning against the glass wall, watching your husband nod, confusion evident on his face,

“Yeah,” He breathes, “Yeah I promise,”

“Barry went back in time,” You reveal, pinching your eyes shut and ducking your head down,

“What for?” Cisco asks, hesitantly, and you look up at him, tear stuck at the edge of your jaw,

“Apparently my parents were killed,” You say, slowly, “My mother by Reverse Flash, my father by Zoom,”

“What else changed?” Cisco questions, and you raise your hand,

“That’s where I need you to keep your promise,” You swallow, “Cisco, Dante was alive,”

Cisco furrows his eyebrows, eyes flicking between yours that shone with tears, “What?”

“Dante was never in the accident in Barry’s original timeline, Cisco,” You whisper, fingers moving together as you let him process this information, mind slow to react when Cisco moves past you, towards where you know he was going for your brother,

“Cisco, wait!” You follow him into the Cortex, stopping when he shoves at Barry’s chest,

“Were you just not going to tell me?” Cisco shouts, Barry stepping back with a frown, “Huh?” Cisco throws both hands up, and your body slides in between his and Barry’s, hand hovering in front of Barry’s face and glowing purple, Barry’s form pausing to freeze,

“Cisco,” You whisper gently, Cisco stepping back and turning away from you, picking up his keys, “Cisco, hear him out,”

“There’s nothing he can say that’ll change it Y/N!” Cisco spins around, arm up at your frozen brother, “He changed time to bring someone back only to take someone else!”

“He didn’t know something would happen to Dante!” You shoot back, “Apparently in Flashpoint both my parents died, I become depressed to the point that we barely talk anymore!”

Cisco shakes his head and glances to the side, then back to you, “I’ll see you at home,”

He turns to leave the Cortex, your eyes blinking away burning tears as you look up at Barry, flicking your hand in his face so he unfroze and looked down at you,

“What happened?”

You sniff and step back, tightening your jacket around you and you bite your lip, “You’re destroying my marriage,”

. . .

You rub your hand tiredly across your face, clicking open the lock of your apartment door before stepping in, noticing the kitchen light shining down the hall,

You heave a deep breath and set down your key and phone, sliding off your heels before padding into the kitchen, Cisco drinking from a coffee mug at the table of two chairs,

“Hey,” You murmur gently, pulling a (favorite/fruit) from the fridge before sitting across the table, rolling the fruit in your hands,

“Hey,” Cisco clears his throat, setting down his mug as you inhale through your nose, eyes flickering up to him,

“Are you mad at me?” You whisper, Cisco frowning and looking down at his drink, tucking hair behind his ear,

“I’m gonna sleep on the couch tonight,” He speaks slowly, as if not wanting to say the words himself, “The beds yours,” He stands up and sets his cup in the sink, your lips parting as your eyes glisten, following him pulling a blanket from the closet,

“Cisco,” You stand up, abandoning the fruit to stare at your husband of three years,

“Just-,” Cisco turns and lightly puts up a hand, avoiding your eyes to not break under your saddened gaze, “I need time to think and process everything,”

Cisco tucks the blanket under his arm, pressing his lips to your forehead before moving around you to the living room,

“I don’t understand why you’re mad at me, Cisco,” You turn on your heel, Cisco looking up as you cross your arms, “I know, losing someone in your family fucking sucks, it really does, but you can’t let the truth behind that keep you away from those who are trying to help,”

“I don’t need your help!” Cisco inhales deeply, your shoulders dropping at his admission, “You’re really pushing this, Y/N. I just found out my brother was alive until Barry decided to go back and change the goddamn future, and now Dante is really dead! So stop trying to help and leave me alone,”

Cisco drops his phone on the coffee table and pinches the bridge of his nose, your lips closing as you nod, wiping away a stray tear, “Okay,” He hears your breathe, “Good night,”

He looks up when you walk down the hallway, frowning when he hears the door nearly slam,

You press your back to the bedroom door, looking at the gap between the door and the floor for the kitchen light to flick off, before you close your eyes, lowering your head as you slide to the wooden floor of your apartment,

. . .

Getting up the next day was almost something you didn’t want to do. The fight from last night flashed in your mind every time you looked at the opposite side of the bed, that was empty of your husband,

Eventually sighing and walking to the kitchen, your socked footsteps come to stop when you see that the blanket Cisco used was folded neatly on the couch, and his keys and phone were gone to indicate he left to go to the labs early,

You inhale a deep breath and press a hand to your sleepy eye, turning on the coffee maker and drumming your fingers against the counter, passing time by replaying last nights argument,

You lift your mug of coffee to your lips and sip the hot beverage, leaning into the counter as you let your eyes fall shut, releasing the single tear in the corner of your eye,

The swift knock at your apartment door has you looking up, brows furrowing as you set down the mug, moving to said door and peaking out the doors hole to reveal your adoptive father, Joe West,

“Joe?” You pull the door open and run a hand through your hair, confusion in your eyes, “What’re you doing here?”

“Caitlin told me you called out today,” Joe holds up a bag of Belly Burgers, and nods inside, “I thought I’d bring you your comfort foods,”

“At,” You glance over to the clock, and your eyes widen, “One in the afternoon?”

“Caitlin also told me about the fight,” Joe frowns, as you gesture him inside and close the door, “He isn’t talking at all?”

“No,” You sigh, throwing on the closest hoodie which happened to be Cisco’s, “I’m guessing you know about Barry time traveling and such?”

“I know all the details, sadly,” Joe sets down the bag on the dining room table, glancing at the folded blanket on the couch, “Which one of you slept on the couch?”

“Cisco,” You exhale shakily, moving to the couch and sinking down onto it, “He won’t even sleep in the same bed as me, I know he’s mad and upset about Dante and Barry going back in time, but,” You lift a shoulder, eyes glistening, “I don’t deserve to be ignored and hated like this,”

“It might just be a lot for him to take in,” Joe slides an arm to your shoulders, pulling you to curl into his side as you snack on the fast food fries, “He’ll come around soon and realize how stupid it was for him to be mad at you,”

“And if he doesn’t?” You frown, “I think if it ends up to neither of us talking to each other anymore than we should talk about a divorce,”

“A divorce?” Joe sits up, looking at his adopted daughter, “Don’t you think that’s a little forward?”

“I don’t want to!” You follow his motion, tears now visible to the detective, “But he couldn’t even look at me last night Joe! Our marriage is falling apart and no matter how hard I try I can’t fix it!”

“At least give him a chance,” Joe pleas, gently when seeing your watery eyes, “Let him take in this information and then talk to him,”

Your eyes stare at the blank TV, head nodding slowly as you set down the fries, now no longer hungry

. . .

Once Joe had stayed over to watch movies for nearly four hours to focus your attention elsewhere, he left claiming he was taking Cecile on a date and to call him on what happens between you and Cisco,

You’re getting out of the shower when Cisco arrives home, drying down your body when he steps into the bedroom for his nightly routine, and stops when your eyes flick up to his then back down,

“Cisco, we need to talk,” You pull on a tank top, Cisco’s eyes dimming at your puffy eyes,

“Y/N...”

“Let me speak,” You demand, calmly, “It’s obvious you hate me and you’re mad at me. This is our first time talking since our fight and you can’t even look at me,” Your voice cracks, which sends a pang to Cisco’s heart, “Cisco if you don’t want to be together anymore then please tell me,”

“That’s what I wanted to talk about,” Cisco sets down his jacket, and frowns at your tears, “Sweetheart, I don’t hate you,”

“Then why won’t you talk to me?” You sink down at the edge of your shared bed, Cisco shifting to sit beside you,

“I guess,” Cisco inhales a deep breath, “It was a lot to take in. That Dante was...alive before, and because of Barry going back in time to save your parents, I took it to heart,”

“He didn’t know it would happen,” You murmur, Cisco nodding slowly as you tilt your head towards him, “I’m sorry this happened, I’m sorry about Dante,”

“Hey,” Cisco slides his hand into yours, holding it tight in his lap, “Don’t be sorry. It’s no ones fault. In all honesty, I’d rather accept the fact that it happen then you lose both your parents,”

“Are we good?” You whisper, Cisco lifting your hand to his lips and nodding,

“We’re good,”

“Good,” You slide your arms to his torso, Cisco wrapping his arm at your shoulders to press his lips to your temple, tucking you into his side,

“I’m just going to tell you today was the most stressful day ever,” Cisco laughs against your hair, your lips pulling upwards as you lean back, looking up at him,

“You’re one to talk, Joe had to bring me Belly Burger to make me feel better,” You cup the side of his jaw, lowering his head to press his lips against yours,

“I missed you,” Cisco breathes into your mouth, your hand sliding to run into his hair,

“I missed you too,” You pull away, forehead bumping his before you gasp, “I think nows a good time to tell you something else,”

“Tell me what?” Cisco’s eyes watch you climb to the front of the bed and stand up, pulling something out of the desk drawer,

“Close your eyes,” You breathe, Cisco pinching his brows before obeying, feeling a fall object be placed in his hand, “Open,”

Cisco peels his eyes open in time for you to step back, his gaze glancing at the stick in his hand that read—

Pregnant

“You’re pregnant?” Cisco looks up at you, then quickly down at the test a second time, “When did you find out?”

“Right before you got home,” You smile, weakly, “I got sick, I thought it was just because of all the food I ate when Joe came over, but I took a test just in case,”

“I-,” Cisco runs his free hand through his hair, breathing out a laugh, “Im gonna be a dad,”

“Yeah,” You look down, Cisco standing up to cup your head and direct your eyes to his,

“Hey,” He breathes, “It’s okay. We’re going to be okay,”

“Promise?” You whisper, Cisco nodding and pecking your lips, slowly, “I promise,”

. . .

“Can I have everyone’s attention?”

Barry and Harry look up from the computer screen, Caitlin glances over from her lab, Joe and Iris pause their conversation, Wally shifting in his seat to focus on you,

You clap your hands together gently, standing next to Cisco as you clear your throat, “Cisco and I have something to tell you all,”

“You’re not getting a divorce are you?” Joe asks fearfully, watching you wave your hands and shake your head,

“No. No, we’re not getting a divorce. We’ve talked it out and we’re okay,”

“Oh thank God,” Joe puts a hand on his forehead, “I wasn’t prepared for that anyways,”

“Dad,” Iris hushes, looking at you, “Whatd you want to tell us?”

“We got the final confirmation this morning after we first came to the lab, but Y/N found out yesterday that,” Cisco glances at you, and you open your arms,

“I’m pregnant!”

The lab falls silent for a mere second, Wally whooping as Caitlin rushes out of her lab, first to embrace you,

“I knew it!” She gasps, hands at your shoulders, “Can I be the Godmother?”

“We already thought it though,” You giggle, “You are the Godmother and Barry?” You look at your brother, who pauses, “Would you like to be the Godfather?”

“I-,” Barry flicks his eyes to Cisco, frowning, “Are you okay with it?”

“I suggested it, actually,” Cisco clears his throat, “We’re good. I’m sorry about all of that,”

“Then yeah,” Barry breathes happily, “Yeah, definitely,” He moves forward, sliding his arm around your shoulders, “Congratulations,”

You smile up at your brother, sliding your hands to his torso to lean into his embrace, eyes falling shut with relief, “I’m glad we’re all okay,”

Barry’s eyes flick up to Cisco, who smiles and nods, Barry quick to nod back then smile down at you,

“But having a baby with two meta parents also gives it a higher chance of it having either one or both powers,” Caitlin gently tugs you back from your twin, “Let’s run some tests,”

“Would you be able to tell so early in the pregnancy though?” You put your hand on your stomach, following your best friend into her lab with Joe and Iris quick behind,

Cisco puts his hands on his hips and exhales deeply, him and Barry sharing glances before he grins, Barry putting a hand on his shoulder,

“You’re gonna be a dad, man,” Barry flashes his pearly teeth, Cisco nodding and running his hands through his hair,

“Yeah I am,” Cisco let’s his head fall back on his shoulders, muscles easing,

“Try not to fuck this up,” Barry pats said shoulder, stepping away to avoid Cisco’s playful glare,

“Try not to go back in time,”

Barry flinches, Cisco nudging his arm, “Sorry. Too early,”

Barry rolls his eyes, nodding his head to where you were sat on one of the beds and Caitlin was rubbing cold jell over your stomach, “C’mon. Let’s go see my niece or nephew,”

#cisco ramon one shot #cisco ramon #cisco ramon x reader #cisco ramon imagine #flash x reader #flash #flash imagine #flash one shot #barry allen #barry allen x reader #barry allen imagine #barry allen one shot

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dimensiontripperhibiki · 4 years

Text

Hold It Together (As We Fall Apart) - Chapter 3

Thanks for all of the likes/reblogs/messages. Hope you guys like this chapter! Violence warning?

“Nia!” Nia was stirring copious amounts of sugar into her morning latte when she heard her name being called. Her brow furrowed in confusion, she looked up, turning her head to see Alex walking toward her with Kelly hot on her heels. “Hey, Alex.” Nia glanced over Alex’s shoulder at Kelly. “Morning Kelly.” Kelly offered a smile of her own in response but she didn’t have time to say anything before Alex cut in. “Is Kara avoiding me?” Nia blinked at Alex in surprise. “No? Why would she be avoiding you?”

“We were meant to meet for lunch yesterday and she didn’t show,” Alex explained, concern evident on her face. “That’s not like Kara. Late? Absolutely. But she never just doesn’t show up for something. At least without letting me know first.”

Nia opened her mouth to answer but she was interrupted by someone clearing their throat. She noticed a line forming behind her and her eyes widened. “Oh! Sorry.” She quickly put the lid on her coffee and moved out of the way to allow people access to the counter. “She probably just forgot, Alex.” Nia reasoned as she made her way out of the coffee shop with Alex and Kelly. “She has a lot on her mind.” “Like Lena?” Alex guessed. “Yeah. She’s just confused. Trying to figure everything out.” Nia sat down at one of the outside tables and took a sip of her coffee. “I don’t think she even really knows what all of this means yet.” Alex sighed. She didn’t want to admit it herself. “I think it’s obvious what it means.” “Yeah to me and you but Kara’s too focused on what it means now that Lena ‘hates her’.” Nia frowned at the thought. She was sure that wasn’t true. She hoped it wasn’t, for Kara’s sake. “She doesn’t want to be rejected.” “Wait...what?” Kelly glanced between the two, noticing surprise on Nia’s face and confusion on Alex’s. “Something tells me that the two of you aren’t talking about the same thing.” “Oh!” Nia’s eyes widened in realization. “Kara hasn’t...I thought she’d spoken to you about…I’m just going to shut up now. Actually, I’m gonna go. I realized I have a-a thing…see you two later!” Alex was silent as Nia hurried away with her coffee. “Alex?” Alex slowly shook her head. “Kara is in love with Lena Luthor. How didn’t I see that coming? Of course, she’s in love with her.” Kelly sympathetically rubbed Alex’s arm. She was well aware of how close Kara and Alex were and she knew that Alex would be beating herself up over not being able to recognize Kara’s turmoil for what it was. “Why wouldn’t she talk to me about this?” Alex seemed to be talking more to herself than to Kelly. “When I realized I had feelings for women she was the first person I spoke to.” “It’s a little more complicated for her,” Kelly said gently. “It’s not every day you fall for someone who used to be your best friend and now potentially hates you...is it?” Alex let out a heavy sigh. “I really need to talk to my sister.”

------- “Is it time yet?” Lex rolled his eyes skyward at the gruff question from the impatient speedster in front of him. He reclined back in his chair with a soft exhale. “I told you, it will be the time when I say it’s the time.” Lex drawled, looking away from his chessboard to watch white lightning crackle over the suit of the speedster. He supposed he should be at least somewhat afraid of the self-proclaimed god in front of him yet all he felt was irritation at the incessant questioning, coupled with excitement when he thought about what was to happen. He almost wanted to draw it out for the sake of the anticipation. Still, he thought, he couldn’t put off the chance to take down a Super. With all of the resources, he could hope for at his fingers, courtesy of the Monitor, he would be a fool to wait. He got to his feet, reaching into the inside pocket of his blazer to draw out what looked like a ceremonial dagger. “Here.” In a flash, the masked ‘man’ across from him moved over and took the knife from his hands. “Careful,” Lex warned as he sat back down. “What you’re holding may be impossible to recreate.” He was sure he was the only person in the universe to ever have created such a thing. He was sure not even his sister had considered fusing two types of kryptonite together. She didn’t have his ambition. His drive. “What is it?” Godspeed looked at the dagger, noticing the metallic purple hue to the blade. “A Kryptonian’s greatest weakness,” Lex replied smugly. “Do you have the V9?” “Yes.” “And you remember what I requested of you?” Godspeed nodded in response. “I know what must be done.” Lex nodded and turned back to his game, moving his knight further onto the board. He would kill Superman but not before getting rid of the Kryptonian’s cousin first. ------- Nia walked out of the elevator with her head lowered, her rapidly cooling cup of coffee held in her left hand while she gripped the strap of her bag with her right. She couldn’t believe that she had outed Kara after all she had done for her. She had just assumed that Kara would have spoken to Alex already. It seemed to her like the Danvers sisters could speak to each other about anything, not like herself and her own sister. Given that she was staring intently at the floor as she walked, Nia didn’t see the woman walking toward her until it was too late. She walked right into Lena Luthor. Lena grabbed Nia’s arms to steady them both and gasped as coffee spilled onto her white blouse. Fortunately, it wasn’t hot.”Damn it…” “L-Lena!” Nia squeaked out, surprised to see the woman at CatCo. She looked down at the coffee stain on the front of Lena’s blouse, her own hand dripping with the warm drink. “I’m so sorry! I wasn’t looking where I was going.” Lena grimaced as she tugged at the front of her shirt to keep it from making contact with her skin. “Evidently.” Nia swallowed thickly. She glanced around and quickly Lena over to a nearby desk so she could put her coffee down. “Here, I-I’ll give you my sweater to wear. You shouldn’t walk around in wet clothes. I’m so so sorry.” “It’s fine,” Lena replied simply. She watched, trying to hide her amusement as Nia tugged off her sweater, leaving her standing there in a black t-shirt. “There’s really no need.” “No, it’s fine. This is my fault so I insist.” Nia pushed her sweater into Lena’s arms. “Your um...blouse is turning see-through.” Lena pressed the sweater close to her chest. Of course, the one day she’d left her blazer at home would be the day someone would spill coffee all over her. “I’m sorry, I was lost in my own thoughts,” Nia apologized again, guilt written across her face. “Wait...why are you here? Did you come to see Kara?” Lena’s mood soured at the mention of her ex-best friend’s name. “You mean Supergirl? No. I had a meeting with Andrea, that’s all.” “Oh…” Nia bit her lip and perched on the edge of the desk they were standing next to. She was relieved that there only seemed to be a few people in the office that early in the morning. Certainly, nobody who’d be interested in overhearing their conversation. “Kara told me she went to see you last night.” “Did she now?” Lena raised a questioning eyebrow. “Why is that?” Nia sheepishly shrugged. A few weeks ago she wouldn’t have felt so anxious around Lena but now that she knew Lena was angry with them she couldn’t shake her nerves. “I asked her where she was and she told me. She’s...she’s sorry, you know. She feels terrible for what happened.” Lena shook her head slightly. “Sorry isn’t good enough. She kept this from me for years. And yet...she told you after a few months, didn’t she?” “I-It’s complicated. She was trying to help me.” Lena pursed her lips, staring intently at Nia for a moment. “I should be going. Thank you for the sweater.” “Of course.” Nia quickly stood up as Lena started to walk away. “Lena!” Lena turned to Nia. “Yes?” “Kara being...you know who is a big deal. I get it.” Nia stepped forward, her hands clasped in front of her. “But it’s not the most important thing about her. There are a million things more interesting about her than this. I don’t think there’s much you don’t know.” Lena let herself think over that for a moment before she shook her head. “Have a good day, Nia.” Nia sighed heavily, her shoulders slumping.

---- Alex turned away from the screen she was staring at as she heard Kara land in the DEO behind her. “Anything?” Kara grimly shook her head as she walked forward to meet Alex. “Just some debris. I didn’t see anything else out of the ordinary.” Alex let out a heavy sigh and glanced back at the screen. “No evidence of where it came from? Nothing?” “No,” Kara replied sheepishly. She wished she could say more. “There doesn’t seem to be anything that would cause this. Brainy?” Brainy was staring at the screen intently from his seat. “I am in agreement with you. From what you described nothing seems to be especially unusual. Certainly, nothing to cause this...dark matter to seep through. Supergirl, you mentioned that you’ve seen something like this before?” “Maybe. I don’t know.” Kara frowned, rubbing the back of her neck. “Not on this earth. Barry mentioned it a few times. But I don’t see how it could have gotten through unless someone from his earth somehow traveled to this earth.” “We know it’s possible,” Alex said thoughtfully. “We’ve done it ourselves. But how would anyone get their hands on an extrapolator? Unless…” Kara shook her head in response even as her heart rate quickened at the thought. “Barry is fine. He has to be.” “Barry?” Brainy questioned, raising an eyebrow at the conversation between the Danver’s sisters. “The Flash from Earth 1. He’s…” Kara was cut off by the sudden sound of an alarm. “BREACH!” Alex yelled, quickly drawing her gun. Around her, she heard agents unholstering their weapons. She held her gun up in front of her, slowly turning to scan the perimeter but as suddenly as the alarm had sounded again it fell silent. “False alarm?” Brainy turned to his computer to run a security check, worry evident on his face. He hadn’t noticed any issues with the system. “A-Alex…” Alex turned toward Kara. She noticed her sister was suddenly deathly pale and instinctively jumped to the conclusion that Kara had seen something nobody else had. “What’s wrong?” “I…” Kara drew her hand away from her stomach, shock evident on her pale face as she held it up. Alex’s gaze drifted to Kara’s hand and a jolt of panic ran down her spine at the sight of blood dripping from Kara’s fingers. Her eyes flicked to Kara’s stomach and she inhaled sharply when she saw a circle of dark blood spreading out over Kara’s suit, originating from a clear puncture in the supposedly impenetrable material. Her gaze locked with Kara’s wide, fear-filled blue eyes and for a moment Alex found herself glued to the spot, her heart in her throat. Kara started to fall forward though and Alex sprung into action, rushing to catch the Kryptonian before she hit the ground. Alex barely managed the catch Kara and she was forced to her knees from the impact of Kara falling against her chest. “Alex.” Kara choked out, tears at the corners of her eyes. “Alex...” “I’m here. I’m here, Kara. I’ve got you.” Alex pressed her hands to Kara’s wound, struggling to stop the Kryptonian’s bleeding. Kara’s eyes widened suddenly. “L-Lena.” She hit her fist against the floor, trying in vain to push herself up. She barely managed to push herself up an inch before she collapsed back down, darkness forming at the corners of her vision. “She...She needs...me…” “Kara!” Alex exclaimed, her own eyes flooded with tears as Kara’s eyes fell shut. “Wake up! Supergirl!” She looked up, looking around to find agents gaping at her. Even Brainy looked too beside himself to do anything. “Somebody get me a gurney! Brainy, help me get her to medical. Agent Dox!” Brainy finally seemed to snap out of it and made to move forward only to stop as Kara seemed to disappear right in front of his eyes. “KARA!” Alex fell forward into the pool of blood Kara had left behind, her arms suddenly empty. ----- Lena sighed softly, tapping her pen against her notebook. She needed to focus on her work yet her mind was constantly straying back to Kara Danvers. Supergirl. No matter how hard she tried, her mind kept going back to the Kryptonian. Even something as simple as going for lunch led her to think about the many lunches she’d shared with Kara. She set her pen down and leaned forward, bracing her elbows against her desk. She wearily rubbed her temples, closing her eyes. She needed to focus. “Lena Luthor.” Lena flinched at the sound of a gruff voice saying her name. Her eyes flew open and she instinctively jerked back, pushing her chair back from her desk at the sight of the suited man standing in front of her. Lightning crackled around his body, seeming to emanate from him. “Oh my god.” The man gave a dark laugh. “That’s right.” Lena swallowed thickly and reached into the pocket of her suit jacket, shakily gripping the watch. She gasped as a gust of wind whipped her hair up and the watch seemed to be torn from her hand. The stranger who’d stood in front of her reappeared again, a couple of steps from where he’d been before. He held up the watch by the strap, inspecting it closely. He pushed the button himself before he dropped it to the floor, crushing it beneath his boot. “Don’t worry. Supergirl won’t be coming to your rescue.” Lena stood up on shaky legs, unconsciously counting the seconds until Kara showed up. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” “Don’t I?” The man held up his right hand and for the first time Lena noticed he was holding a knife, blood glistening on the blade. “A final gift from your brother.” Lena felt her heart sink at the comment. “You’re lying.” Even as she said that she realized something was wrong. Kara should have been there by now. It had been almost a minute since the button had been pressed. The speedster shook his head before he zoomed out of the room, white lightning trailing behind him. For a moment Lena felt relief at the fact that he’d left but after what could have only been five seconds he was back, unceremoniously dropping a limp Kara onto Lena’s desk. “You’re welcome.”

Lena was sure that her heart stopped as she saw the bloody wound on Kara’s abdomen. She leaped forward, frantically pressing her hands against it to stem the bleeding. “Kara?! What the hell did you do to her?!” “What you couldn’t.” The speedster answered, moving his hand to brush his lightning emitting fingers over Kara’s hair. “Shame. She’s a pretty one.” Lena lashed out automatically, slapping the man’s hand away. “Don’t fucking touch her!” She growled as tears prickled at her eyes. The man stared at her for a long moment before he took his leave, running from the room in a flash of lightning. “Kara?” Lena leaned over her desk, one hand going shakily to Kara’s neck to seek out a pulse. She felt one, but faintly. “Kara, can you hear me?” “Lena…” Kara rasped, the corners of her lips turning up for a split second. “I’m right here, Kara. I’m…” Lena gasped as Kara started to seize on her desk. She quickly did what she could to hold Kara down, fumbling for her phone in her pocket. Tears tracking their way down her cheeks, she dialed a familiar number while trying not to let Kara throw her to the ground. “Alex?! I need help!” Kara would be okay. She had to be okay. TBC.

#Supercorp #Lena Luthor #Kara Danvers #Supergirl

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riseandshinelittleblossom · 5 years

Text

A Port in the Storm

This is part 2 of the original RoDAW post I made for Logan’s day, Message in a Bottle

Pairing: Logan x Ellie

no warnings, just pure fluff.

Tagging: @brightpinkpeppercorn @choicesarehard @client-327 @zaffrenotes

Perma-tag: @leelee10898 @ritachacha @fullbeaumonty @valtorian-duchess @desiree-0816

The storm had come upon the trawler Logan called home so quickly the entire crew was in a frenzy.

The Perseverance was a small fry operation, so there simply weren't enough people to compensate for their lack of warning. Logan felt as if he'd just sprouted at least five more arms, surprising even himself with the speed and dexterity he exhibited racing around the deck.

"Secure the nets! We can't afford to lose any more of them!" Barry shouted as he pulled up the sails, tying knots that months ago hadn't even existed in Logan's skill set, but now were like second nature to him.

When the deck was secured the small crew took cover, huddled around the HAM radio within the flimsy walls of the wheelhouse. There was nothing left to do but wait.

Logan peeled off his drenched rain slicker and tossed it to the side in disgust. He wiped his hands over his unshaven face and through his soggy hair. This room was way too small for the eight men jammed inside, but the stairwell leading down into crew quarters had taken on water as the ship was tossed like a discarded ragdoll, which meant that the bunks were likely wet as well.

This wasn't the first storm Logan had witnessed out to sea, but it was definitely the worst. Even Barry, a twenty year shrimp boat veteran, seemed concerned by the ferocity of the squall and that fact made Logan even more uneasy.

As the rain fell in huge droplets, pelting the plexiglass of the wheelhouse, he jammed his hands into his armpits, drawing his knees to his chest in an attempt to keep warm. Eyed focused on the angry sky, he couldn't help but think about his Ellie.

Barry had long ago called for engines at a full stop, leaving the trawler at the mercy of mother nature and by the time the storm had subsided and the sky had cleared enough for them to get their bearings, the crew discovered that they were some 400-odd miles off course. To make matters worse the already shoddy engine decided to die entirely, sputtering momentarily before an eerie silence.

Logan stared down at the useless hunk of metal with red-rimmed eyes after not a wink of sleep, his blood pumping in his veins like a kettle boiling over. He punched the wall turning to Barry, muttering inaudible swears under his breath.

"What now, Cap?"

Barry pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled.

"It's gonna have to be fixed and we're gonna have to make port for that. Guess we gotta radio the coast guard for a tugger."

Logan rolled his eyes, "Well there goes our bonus checks."

Barry shrugged, rage clouding his usually mellow features. "Waddaya want me to say, Logan? We're 400 miles off course in the middle of nowhere and we're dead in the water! You got some oars? Huh? You gonna row us back to shore, tough guy?"

Silently he pushed past the captain, checking his shoulder on the way out.

Up on deck Logan reached for the first thing his hands could find-a discarded beer bottle- and hurled it unceremoniously into the now calm, pristine waters surrounding them. He squinted in the sun, chest heaving in frustration.

No bonus meant no savings. And no savings meant even longer before he could find Ellie, and return to her.

He looked down at the fresh abrasions on his knuckles, shaking out his hand before cradling it to his chest.

"God," he whispered to himself, "I could really use one of your pep talks right now, Troublemaker."

********

Ellie closed the bathroom stall and sat on the toilet. Not because she needed to use the facilities, but because she needed a place to hide away from work for awhile.

Sure she'd gotten a few grants and an excellent scholarship thanks to her status as salutatorian, but she'd picked up this part time job waiting tables so that she had some extra spending cash. She wondered right now if it was even worth it.

The lunch rush had come on fast and hard like a tsunami wave of angry construction workers and rude millennials and with two call-outs this morning it would be at least another forty-five minutes before anyone would arrive to help Ellie man the floor.

She reached down and fingered the spark plug she'd found in serendipitous bottle given to her down on the docks. She'd fashioned it into a necklace, the long braided chain always tucked under her shirt, close to her heart.

Tears formed at the edges of her eyes. When she'd arrived this morning she was already frazzled having stayed up too late studying for midterms at Langston and now she felt so overwhelmed my just life in general she wasn't sure if she could take one more demand for fresh coffee or one more whiff of greasy, slimy Patty melts.

She rolled her eyes, burying her face in her hands.

A light knock on the door prompted an internal groan as she heard the cook's voice from the other side. "Two more tables, El. They're gettin ansty."

"I'm coming." She replied, standing and flushing the toilet for effect.

As she washed her hands, she looked intently at her reflection in the cracked mirror.

"Give em Hell, Troublemaker? You can do this. Logan believed you could." she told the girl staring back.

*****************

Logan's head was spinning as he walked around the docks. It was as if he could feel Ellie swimming in his veins. As soon as Barry told him the town they were being tugged to his body started buzzing and it hadn’t stopped.

She's here. Somewhere. I just know it.

The docks were crowded, bustling with folks from other boats and patrons of the many stalls within the fish market. Boat-to-plate seemed to be a huge deal around here, but Logan surmised the fact had a negative impact for the local fisherman. Barry steered them away from the popular waters like the ones surrounding this town purposefully because higher demand meant less seafood to catch in the area.

His stomach growled and he absentmindedly placed his bandaged hand over it, brows furrowing as he scanned the stalls for one that actually did the cooking as well. He found one down the way and stepped into the short line.

Logan placed his order of a breaded fish fillet with a side order of fries and stepped aside while the older gentleman behind the counter set about preparing it.

***************

Ellie threw her car into gear and peeled out of the parking lot. The police car in the parking lot should've been enough to deter her behavior, but it wasn’t. She peering into her rear view.

Go ahead and come after me. It's been too long since this baby properly stretched her legs.

She thought, eyeing the nitrous button on her shifter.

The cop seemed uninterested, so she pointed her car towards the docks. After the fresh hell she'd endured today, she couldn't wait to make it there.

She saw Louie in her usual spot already staring contemplatively over the open water and she beamed, taking her place at his side.

"Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" he called, wrapping her in a one armed hug.

"Dock looks extra crowded tonight." Ellie remarked "The Perseverance? I've never seen that one here before."

"Nothing gets past you, kid." Louie chuckled, " I watched a tugger tow that one in about an hour ago. Dead in the water, I suspect."

She nodded. "I can't stay too long tonight."

"Midterms. How's that coming along?"

Ellie rolled her eyes and leaned her head against Louie's shoulder.

"That good, huh?"

A low growl escaped Ellie's stomach loud enough to prompt Louie's brow to quirk.

"You know Ellie, sometimes you have to put food in that belly."

The laugh that followed was warm and hearty and despite herself, the young girl grinned.

"C'mon. I'll getcha some grub."

The very odd pair made their way down the lane in comfortable silence. Some of the stalls were starting to pack up for the night, but Ellie already knew to which they were headed.

As they neared their destination Ellie spotted a man that looked so familiar it made her jaw drop. She blinked her eyes furiously before squinting, stopping dead in her tracks.

"You okay, kid?" Louie asked trying to follow her line of sight.

"Logan," she whispered, certain it was him but unable to get her legs to move.

"What's 'at?" Louie pressed.

"L-Logan," Ellie said a little louder. She repeated it twice more each time her voice got louder and stronger until finally she was yelling. "Logan?!"

The man she was staring at turned his head, eyes going wide.

"Ellie?!" his reply as he started towards her.

"Logan!" She squealed. Her legs finally caught up with her heart and she broke into a run headed straight towards him. Logan did the same and when they met in the middle Ellie launched herself towards him. She flung her arms around his neck, legs around his waist as a smile bloomed across her face that threatened to split it in half.

Heart thundering in his chest he spun her in two 360's dumbfounded and unsure if she were real. When he stopped the twirling Ellie grabbed his face on either side, thumb brushing over the new-to-her facial hair he now sported before she conquered his lips with a searing kiss.

Her lips parted instinctively, tasting him and savoring it as if he were the air she breathed.

Logan finally pulled away with reluctance, setting her back on the ground, arms still wound tightly around the small of her back. He cupped her cheeks, shaking his head in disbelief.

"I knew it. I just knew ...I could feel you, Ellie." He whispered, peering down into her chocolate eyes before squeezing his shut and resting his forehead against hers.

"God I've missed you, Logan."

The crack in her voice prompting him to open his eyes once more to look at her. A lonely tear trailed down her cheek, though she laughed and beamed up at him.

"Shhh. None of that, Troublemaker. I'm here now and I'm not gonna let you go." he told her, wiping the tears away with his thumb.

"Don't even think about it. Don't you even dare."

#RoDAW #RoDAW epilogue #message in a bottle pt 2 #a port in the storm #logan x mc #logan x ellie #playchoices fanfiction #choices rod #choices ride or die: a bad boy romance #riseandshinelittleblossom fic

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notafeeling · 5 years

Text

Infinitesimal (Part I)

A/N Infinitesimal (originally titled in a haze as “LOGAN IS BARRY BLUEJEANS”) is a Sanders Sides AU set in the world of The Adventure Zone: Balance, a DnD podcast made by the McElroy brothers. If you have not started The Stolen Century arc and don’t want spoilers, do not read.

Pairing: eventual logince (Logan/Roman)

Genre: scifi; slowburn

Warnings: temporary character death; TAZ-canon-typical violence

Word Count: 7.5k

Summary:

Logan had always thought that being a human meant he had to work harder and faster than everyone else to truly make a difference in the world. When his home is consumed by an intergalactic force known as The Hunger and he’s forced to go on the run through space with six others for a century, he realises that that’s not exactly true.

Or, Logan accepts an offer to join the Institute of Planar Research and Exploration and to travel around the mysterious planes that control his planet for a few months, but ends up hopping realities and dying a whole bunch alongside his mismatched crew members, learning how to love somewhere along the way.

Logan knows that, as a human, he has certain limitations in this world. For one thing, his 80-year expected lifespan is nothing compared to the centuries-old elves and dwarves who are considered teenagers. For another, it means he can’t rely on magic. He doesn’t have enough time to spend it mastering something he was never meant to have.

He turns to science at a young age.

The stars call him from outside his dirty, cracked window, and he dreams of the day he can fly among them. He wants to touch, he wants to grow, he wants to be something more.

Even at 8, he knows that his world doesn’t have the technology for that, and won’t for a very long time. It doesn’t stop him from yearning, though.

His parents send him to an academy at 15, only because he managed to get a scholarship. He graduates at 17 at the top of his class.

It’s still not enough.

He devotes the next five years of his life to mapping the stars and their constellations. Nothing that hasn’t been done before, but Logan’s determined to do this on his own.

If he won’t be able to live among them, then he’ll commit them to memory. Maybe he’ll travel along the constellation Pneuma Cascade in his dreams.

Having two suns is a fact everyone on Phaethon has long since accepted. The early civilisations made entire mythos surrounding those two stars alone, and children of his world are told stories of two lovers who chase each other endlessly. The second is dimmer because of his eternal pining, but he will follow the other to the end of times. When parents are asked why, they reply “because they’re in love,” and that’s all there is to that story.

Logan’s long-since moved on from folklore and the notion of love. Instead, he wants to know how. How can these two massive celestial objects coexist without succumbing to one another's’ gravitational pull? How does his planet, as small as it is, only orbit around the two without being sucked in?

Those questions give Logan purpose.

At 30, Logan finally has something to show for all his research.

The problem with examining two suns is that first of all, you shouldn’t look directly at them, and secondly, they’re too far away to properly study.

He devises a tool. It’s mostly cylindrical, and the otherwise hollow interior contains several panes of glass. Originally it was designed to filter out the sunlight, but Logan quickly figures out how to magnify the image he’s seeing.

(It’s kind of embarrassing that it took someone with corrective lenses for his short-sightedness to figure that one out, but all that matters is that it works.)

It takes him a few more years to have a perfected prototype. And he sees something no one else has.

He can see the suns in shocking clarity, but he doesn’t care about them (too much) anymore. Instead, he focuses on the slight rift between them. It’s not exactly a rift, more like… a divide. A shift.

Logan spends countless hours studying this, almost forgetting to breathe at times. This is what it’s all been leading to. There’s more! He can be more, do more!

It doesn’t take him much longer to figure out that the second sun is a double of the first. No, not exactly a double.

The second sun comes from the Ethereal Plane. The existence behind theirs, to put it simply. So it’s not a double, more like… the same one, but ever so slightly behind.

And the divide? It’s a weakened point between his plane - the Material Plane - and the other. Which means-

Holy shit. If there are other weakened points to other planes, then they could travel. He could explore! Not just magic-users who pop into the Ethereal Plane for brief moments, nor necromancers trying to break into the Astral Plane, no. Everyone.

Notes and ideas spill furiously from Logan’s mind, down through his arm and onto a thick, leather-bound journal. He lives off of caffeine and adrenaline as he completes his paper on Interplanar Travel, and not long after, he’s contacted by Thomas Sanders, the leader of the newly established Institute of Planer Research and Exploration (IPRE, for short).

Thomas offers him a position on the team of explorers that will be tasked with travelling across planes and, hopefully, beyond that at some point. He explains that although not too long ago, their world certainly didn’t have the technology, ever since the Light of Creation fell there’s been massive leaps in scientific advancement.

(Logan must have been holed up in his study during that time, as he has to pretend he knows exactly what his future boss is referencing.)

It’s everything Logan’s ever wanted, so of course, he accepts.

YEAR 0.

10 months later, and he meets his teammates. He’s already known and worked closely with Thomas (soon to be Captain Sanders) for the past few months, and he’s certainly earned Logan’s respect, but the rest of the team has some… shortcomings.

For one thing, he isn’t sure why they need two wizards who also double as cooks (Roman and Virgil) though he supposes the fact that they’re twins who seem to have done everything together makes them a package deal.

And, okay, he gets why they might need a cleric, but surely Patton could also double as the journalist (a young tiefling named Kalumnia), or vice-versa!

Also, if they have a ship that can withstand the heat of passing between two suns and the extremities of space, then why can’t they add a few weapons? Why do they need a security officer? Can’t the twins do magic?

He doesn’t have much time to convince Thomas to hire more fitting members (why not a maintenance crew?) because he meets all these people right before they’re given matching red robes with IPRE emblazoned on them and are told to walk onstage in front of the largest gathering of humans, elves, orcs, tieflings, dragonborns, etc. that Logan’s ever seen in his life.

He’s more than happy to let his Captain manage the questions from various reporters while he sits back and attempts to get to know his crewmates. After all, he’ll be living with them for a few months, possibly longer if the mission is a success. Might as well get comfortable.

“So,” Logan murmurs to the person he’s seated next to (Roman? Or maybe Virgil?), “why did you sign up for this?”

The high-elf casts a cursory glance in his direction as his twin whispers something in his ear, making him snort. They’re definitely laughing at Logan, which. Okay. He can deal with childish behaviour.

“Look! His ears are going red. You embarrassed him, Ro,” the furthest one says.

“I did not! You’re the one who made me laugh!” Roman retorts.

It’s a relief when Thomas calls him up to the podium.

“Salutations. My name is Logan and I’m the Science Officer of IPRE.” His voice rings out all around him and reporters call his name. He chooses one at random - a young human woman with wild hair.

“Hi, Linda from Phaethon Press here. I read your report on Interplanar Travel and I’ve been blown away with the progress you’ve made since!”

“Thank you.”

“Anyway, could you explain what you’re hoping to find or learn from your journey?”

Logan’s struck once more by how much he has to explore and a wide smile spreads over his features. “Well, not much is known about the other planes. The Ethereal Plane is usually only used for short periods of travel because of its ever-changing nature. To stay there too long would leave you clueless about how to get back to the Material Plane. And we all know about the Astral Plane, where the departed souls from our plane go. While we don’t have any concrete goals because of our limited knowledge, we do aim to explore the other 9 planes. We don’t know what we’ll find - maybe new life forms or energy or-”

Roman fakes a cough as he exclaims, none-too-quietly, “Nerd alert!”

Logan clears his throat. “Uh, so, we basically aim to explore and research the planes.”

“You don’t say,” he hears Virgil mutter.

God, he can’t imagine living with these people for the next few months.

The night before they leave is spent drinking onboard the newly-christened “Starblaster”. Logan makes a face every time he hears the name, but it was suggested by a drunk, giggly Roman and backed up by the equally intoxicated members of his team.

He wants to put as much distance as possible between himself and the twins, so he joins Patton and Kalumnia, who spends half the conversation listening and the other half writing down everything that’s happening. Logan has to admire her penmanship.

“Goodness, I wonder what other planes there are?” Patton wonders aloud.

Logan’s interest is piqued immediately. “Oh! I’ve actually been thinking about that a lot. We know there’s some sort of Celestial Plane because that’s where clerics draw their power from- though I suppose you already know that.”

“I do, but I don’t mind!” Patton smiles.

This guy is infinitely better than the twins, Logan decides. “So that, the Ethereal and the Astral are the planes that have the most impact on ours, so they must be closer or at least, larger and more prominent than the other planes. Therefore, the other planes aren’t likely to bear any sort of intelligent life, but the magic there could be completely different.” Magic that he might possess.

“That’s so cool!”

Kalumnia nods. Her bright, golden eyes watch Logan as he continues to talk, pointed ears perked. Patton asks questions and his own brilliant blue eyes widen whenever Logan mentions something he previously hadn’t known. Even Missy, the security officer Logan has avoided due to the scowl she wears, wanders over and joins the discussion.

For the first time in his life, Logan’s listened to. He could get used to this.

It turns out he could and should get used to it because as they leave Phaethon, a thick, suffocating darkness descends on it. They catch a glimpse of 11 other planes before black tendrils shoot out of their plane and pierce the others, and slowly drag it into its massive, incomprehensible form.

“Head for the rift!” Logan yells as his Captain maneuvers them through space.

Columns shoot out at them but the Starblaster dodges them with ease. Alarms blast, ringing sharp and shrill as they rocket towards the two suns, picking up speed each nanosecond.

He, Kalumnia, Thomas and the twins are huddled at the front, staring straight forward into the divide.

Patton and Missy are the only ones brave enough to watch as everything they’ve ever known, everyone they’ve ever loved, is consumed.

They just have to get to the rift. If they do that, they can break through to another plane. They can survive, they can run. They just have to get through, and they’re almost there, so close-

“Right!” Logan cries. Whatever’s attacking comes through the rift, barrelling straight for them.

Thomas jerks his controls to the right, tilting the ship so far that Logan crashes into the side.

His crewmates scream as they collide with something, sending them spiralling through space. Hungry black surrounds them, reaching out, trying to ensnare them and pull them in, but it only ends up flinging them in another direction.

“Change of plans!” Thomas yells, lifting his controls high, trying to break free.

The monster makes one last desperate grab, colliding with the bottom of their ship with a loud clang!

They’re flipped end over end, further and further from the rift. Further from the other planes. Logan’s head bounces off of hard metal, his body thrown around like a sack of bricks. There’s a snap, and then burning pain shoots through his right arm. His vision fades as the pain magnifies, becoming so intense it's unbearable. The panicked yells of his teammates seem so distant, but he manages to pick out a scream of “Roman!” and Patton making one last, desperate effort to heal them.

Black greets him soon after.

YEAR 1.

Pure, white light surrounds him. Threads of light stitch him together, restoring his body, and it’s not long before it unravels and reveals the rest of the IPRE members. Logan watches as its wisps are drawn away and disappear from sight, fading into the night sky. Except… he’s on the Starblaster’s deck. So it’s not the sky, it’s… It’s space.

There’s not a single scratch on any of them - apart from the battlescars Missy shows off proudly, but they had always been there. Nothing shows that they had just survived an attack on their home planet, unless… Unless they didn’t survive? Or Logan dreamt it? Or…

A sob breaks the stunned silence surrounding them. Virgil pushes past Logan as he runs toward Roman, tackling him to the floor.

“You died!” He screams. “You died. You were dead. I saw it; I saw your body in front of me, Ro. How are you- how could you-”

Roman pries his arms out from under Virgil and wraps them around his brother. “Shh, it’s okay, I’m here,” he murmurs, stroking Virgil’s purple hair. His eyebrows are knitted together, trying to remember what happened.

Logan does the same.

“Are we- did we die?” Patton whispers. “Where are we? Where’s Thomas?”

At that, Logan realises that there are only six of them. He bolts towards the cockpit. The rest of the team, barring the twins who seem content to fuss over each other, follow in hot pursuit.

The door slams open as the four of them charge through. There, at the controls, is their Captain.

He bolts out of his chair and spins around, hands raised as he readies a spell. When he sees his crew, his whole body relaxes and he goes limp. Missy rushes forward to steady him.

“You’re- you all disappeared,” Thomas breathes out as he’s lowered to the floor. “You all were taken by this- by this light, and then I was surrounded too! I came to back in this chair and you were all gone. I thought- I thought I was alone.” His voice drops to a whisper at the end there and even Logan has to inhale deeply to stop the panic that rises when he imagines being forever alone in space.

Patton grabs Logan’s wrist, pulling him towards Thomas and Missy, and Logan doesn’t fight it when he’s scooped into a hug.

Patton’s arms may not be able to reach around all of them, but they’re warm and comfy and remind him of his parents. At least they didn’t die at the hands of that… thing.

Logan’s the first to pull away. “We need to take stock of what we know and what we have. Our first priority is to figure out what that being was and if it’s going to attack us again. Then…” His gaze catches sight of a plane. And another. And another! Excitement stirs inside him. “Then we explore.”

It takes them around ten minutes to realise that the twelve planes they’re flying around are completely different from theirs. It takes Logan two days to draw the conclusion that by not jumping through the rift and being thrown off course, they somehow managed to enter a new… planar system? Reality? He couldn’t say.

Basically, there’s no going back home - if their world even still exists.

Roman and Virgil are the only ones who don’t seem to care at all.

Logan doesn’t know much about them (other than the fact that they delight in tormenting him) so he doesn’t want to judge, but their carefree attitude is somewhat rude to Patton, Missy and Thomas who are in mourning.

On the third day, they decide to test their luck on this new Material Plane. As Thomas eases the Starblaster into it, they’re greeted with luscious green forests and wide, stretching savannahs and grasslands and mountains-

The likelihood of that is astounding, and Logan spends quite some time with Kalumnia chronicling the biomes of this planet.

But that’s about where the similarities end. There are no oceans, though there are lakes and rivers, so water isn’t a problem. However, the fauna is even more interesting.

The population of this strange place is mostly made up of giant creatures that are up to ten, twenty, thirty times their tiny, Phaethonian frames.

“Now I’m not the only dwarf,” Patton jokes when they first hover above the planet, trying to find a safe place to land. Logan lets out a stunned laugh, but it's more from the joy of a new discovery than anything else.

That night, Logan lays on the deck of the Starblaster, admiring the countless new constellations and planes, all his to explore!

It’s so clear, up here on a mountain in an undeveloped world, far from artificial light sources. It’s serene, it’s beautiful, it’s-

“Ro, let him be a nerd in peace.” Virgil’s furious whisper cuts through the pristine air and immediately, Logan has a sour taste in his mouth.

“Hush, brother.”

Logan resolutely keeps gazing up at the stars, ignoring as Roman’s boots clack against the metal. He ignores it when they stop by his head, and he continues to pretend Roman doesn’t exist even when he plonks himself down beside him.

“You’re missing out on a glorious feast, you know,” Roman says at last.

Logan tries to detect the sarcasm or the hidden meaning, but he either needs to brush up on his social skills or there isn’t any. Which, coming from Roman, is impossible.

He slides his eyes to his left. In the starlight, Roman’s usual vibrant red robe and equally crimson hair are paler, softer. Instead of his constant smirk and perfect death stare, he seems almost wistful as he too stares into the sky. Logan tears his gaze away and clears his throat.

“I’m fine with freeze-dried cubes of nutrition.”

Roman laughs, and that too is gentle compared to the harsh delight Logan had committed to memory after only a few days. It’s hard not to memorise it when it’s being directed at you more often than not. “Weren’t you the one talking about rationing? C’mon, Lo, me and Virge went through all that effort to take down one of those beasts! Aren’t you going to at least try it?”

Maybe Roman just has a really annoying whiny-voice or maybe he’s hungrier than he thinks because Logan actually considers it. Then he remembers that they don’t know if the meat on this planet is even edible, let alone feast-worthy. “Who said you could call me Lo?” he replies instead. It comes out harsher than he intends.

Roman scoffs and jumps up on his feet. Logan frowns and looks up at him, only to find a scowl as Roman avoids his eyes. “Fine, whatever. Sorry for trying to include you, I guess.” The clacking of his shoes is considerably louder as Roman stomps back to his twin, who murmurs a quiet “I told you so.”

Logan’s insides squirm uncomfortably. Something in him urges him to apologise, but he fights back the feeling. He didn’t do anything wrong. He just wanted to ensure the food wasn’t going to kill him. What’s so wrong with trying to survive?

(Later that night, he sneaks into the kitchen and finds a plate with a slab of meat and a couple of roots. He throws away the note that reads “You’re welcome -R” and braces himself for the first forkful of his new diet. Instead of the strange, bland flavour Logan expected, when he bites into the mouth-wateringly tender meat, he’s met with an explosion of tastes. He can see why Thomas insisted on tasking both Roman and Virgil with cooking now.)

The Light of Creation falls early the next day. Logan misses it (again), but when he wakes up, it’s to Thomas flying the Starblaster at breakneck speed towards where it fell.

“Why has it come here?” Patton asks. No one has an answer.

They find it a few hours later, and already, the surrounding fauna looks… smarter?

There’s a cacophony of sound as a mixture of bleets, honks and moos turn into something singular, cohesive. It’s the sound of language.

“After only this much time?” Logan questions.

“Yeah, well. That’s kind of what happened in our- in Phaethon,” Thomas explains. “When it fell, it didn’t take long for people to start inventing things. You invented your little, uh, cylinder thing-”

“Telescope.”

“Yeah, telescope, when it fell.”

“It was a work in progress!”

“But you only perfected it after the Light, right?”

Logan can’t say for sure, so he stays silent. It’s not like it’s a bad thing to make scientific advancements, it’s just… He wanted it to happen from his own merit. Not because some mythical light suddenly gave him the ability to.

“So,” Virgil pipes up from where he’s leaning against the wall, “should we take it?”

“I really want to steal it,” Roman says.

Logan sighs. “Can we at least see what these animals do with it first?”

“No! I mean, yes, but we shouldn’t steal it,” Patton says, wide-eyed.

“It’s not stealing,” Virgil replies. “It’s not theirs.”

“But it’s not ours either!”

“Not until we take it.” Roman pats Thomas’ shoulder. “C’mon, Cap, let’s get this thing.”

They wait a week and then bring the Light onboard.

In the following months, Virgil and Roman rope Patton into learning the new animal language and over dinner, they talk in a series of grunts and honks that make Logan infuriated. He pretends he isn’t trying to figure it out by delving into the food (still as delicious as the first time, if not more) but at some point, Virgil and Roman confront him.

“Want us to teach you?” Roman asks, and Logan, pride be damned, nods.

Missy starts building herself a home. She gets Logan to make a saw and then she chops down a tree (and she only needs the one). After a month, she has a nice home that she and Kalumnia often stay in.

Patton studies the flora while Logan studies the fauna, and together they help Kalumnia with her chronicling of this world. Dwarves must have some connection with a nature god because the plants lean into Patton’s gentle touch. Flowers spring up underneath his fingers and he thrives out in the jungle.

Thomas remains on the ship, but he’s never alone. They meet up for dinner every night (Missy loves climbing a mountain every day, for some weird reason) and they talk about the progress they’re making in this world.

Logan can speak the language too now, and even though he hated it before, more often than not he, Roman, Virgil and Patton are communicating in it.

It’s a nice rhythm they’ve settled into. Logan thinks he could get used to this.

Another month passes. Everything goes to shit.

Patton notices it first. The grass is dull; the wind quiet. The sky is darker and the lakes are no longer a clear crystal blue. He tells the others about this and Logan wonders if it’s because of their ship, or their presence, or maybe the Light.

He’s answered a few hours later when the 13th plane arrives.

Its form is bigger this time. Darker. More violent. Shadows pierce down from the sky and form humanoid shapes - some short and stocky, some with pointed ears, some who look human - and Logan’s struck with a terrifying realisation that these shadows are people from Phaethon. Or, he should say, were.

Logan and Patton aren’t far from the ship, and the twins, although they like to explore, have been sticking close by recently. Kalumnia had already been in her study onboard, and Thomas is at the controls when Logan enters. Missy, however…

As Thomas brings the ship up into the sky, the rest of them search desperately for Missy. They know they can’t stay too long. This thing, this beast, it’s stronger. Smarter. They need to escape before one of the shimmering black columns pierces their ship and they’re bound to this plane.

“There!” Virgil cries, his elven eyes picking up Missy’s struggling form.

She’s fighting valiantly, taking out multiple shadows with just one swing of her axe. The animals around her stomp and charge, but it’s not enough.

“I can’t get close enough!” Thomas says, weaving the ship through the black.

“Fine!” Roman shouts, and then he runs out of the cockpit and onto the deck, then flings himself overboard.

Virgil rushes to the edge. “Bro, what the fuck?!” He calls, before he too leaps over the railing.

They see the twins float downwards, blasting off spells as they go, and it’s not long before they’re down there fighting with Missy.

Roman’s body becomes a force of fire, burning bright as he flings massive fireballs into the fray. Virgil summons a massive bolt of lightning and the resulting thunderclap is so loud it hurts Logan’s ears.

“We have to go,” Thomas murmurs. Logan and Patton’s heads whip to him. “We have to go, now!” He says more forcefully this time, and Patton starts arguing with him.

“We can’t leave them behind!”

“If we don’t leave then that’s just more carnage, more bodies for that thing to consume. We’re leaving.”

Logan has never, ever, heard such a cold voice coming from Thomas. But he understands.

“Look, Patton,” he begins, “when we left Phaethon, I died. And so did Roman. But we came back. I don’t know how, and I don’t know if it will keep happening, but we need to leave. Or else there’s no hope for them.”

Patton tries to argue, but Thomas is already flying them away, out of the Plane, then out of the Planar System. He doesn’t react when Patton pulls at his arms, trying to get him to turn around. He’s not cold, he’s calculating. Thomas- Captain Sanders is making an executive decision and Logan knows he can’t change it.

The black follows them, and he sees it withdrawing from the planet in favour of pursuit. The cogs in his head turn as the white threads from a year ago weaves around them again, and Logan manages to cry out “It wants the Light!” before he’s wrapped up entirely.

YEAR 2.

Logan wakes up on the deck of the Starblaster, Virgil behind him. Like last time.

He furrows his brows and races back to the cockpit, and sure enough, his captain is there.

When everyone piles in, Logan’s in the middle of theorising.

“Every time we leave a planar system, we’re brought back to our original positions,” Logan says, mostly to himself but Kalumnia starts to transcribe what he’s saying in her journal. “That thing-”

“The Hunger!” Roman supplies.

“Not your most creative name.”

“Got a better one, Virge?”

“Fine, the Hunger wants the Light of Creation. When we left with the Light, it left the planes alone and tried to follow us. When did the Light fall on Phaethon?”

“About a year before the Hunger came,” Kalumnia murmurs.

“And it was about a year after the Light that the Hunger found us on that plane, too!” Logan clasps his hands together and straightens up. “Is there a blackboard on this ship?”

Kalumnia nods and leads them to her study, then wordlessly hands Logan a piece of chalk.

It’s the first time Logan has been in here, and he’s blown away by the countless journals and books from their home planet that remain on the sturdy oak bookshelves. There are also sketches pinned to a corkboard, mostly depicting the strange life they had encountered on the other planet. They’re only sketches, but the extraordinary amount of detail blows him away. How had Kalumnia kept this to herself all this time?

He shakes his head and gets to work. “So, what do we know?” He asks, then divides the board in two. He labels one column “Already Know” and the other “Need to Know”, then scribbles some notes in the former.

“The Hunger’s shadows looked like Phaethonians,” Missy says.

“Yeah, but they could change their form at will. I would blast one with fire and the black would disperse before coming together as a new Phaethonian.”

“It was stronger this time,” Virgil adds, shaking ever so slightly. Roman wraps an arm around him.

Logan nods and continues scrawling. “That means that when it consumes a plane, it adds it to its… collection. Its army.”

“We just left a plane full of massive creatures! How are we supposed to fight that?!” Roman exclaims.

“Well, no. As I said previously, when we left, it followed us. It started to withdraw from the Plane.”

Patton turns to Logan. “You mentioned the Light before we- we reformed. Why would it want that?”

He shrugs. “That’s why we have a Need to Know column,” he answers, then adds that exact question to the board.

“A better question,” Virgil steps forward and takes the chalk from Logan, “is how are we reforming?” He looks around expectantly.

“There’s this light that surrounds us - almost like thread.”

“I think I know what that is,” Captain Sanders says at the same time Kalumnia adds, “It’s the Bond Engine.”

Seeing their blank looks, both of them shake their head.

“We’ve been living on this ship for a year. How do you not know what the Bond Engine is?” Kalumnia has a rare smile on her face as she and the Captain launch into an explanation.

“The Bond Engine doesn’t use any fuel, it runs on bonds.”

“Bonds are what tie us to the Planar System. They’re the experiences and the connections we have to the planes, and it allows us to travel between them without the risk of ending up in a black hole.”

“How come we were able to leave both Phaethon’s System and the other one?” Patton asks.

Kalumnia and Thomas shrug, but Logan’s quick to reply. “It must be the Hunger. We haven’t been able to leave any Planar System until it comes. It must… cut our bonds with the planes. That would mean we don’t have ties to the Astral Plane, so if we die, we don’t go there. Instead, the Bond Engine brings us back onto the ship, in our original positions.”

“So what I’m hearing is,” Roman begins with a grin that he shares with Virgil, “we’re basically immortal, right?”

“No, because we do still die, we just come back-”

“Technicalities, technicalities,” Roman dismisses. “Anyway, this year I’m going to do some wild shit!”

“If you die on me, I’m going to be so fucking pissed,” Virgil threatens, but he also seems excited to be able to do whatever without consequences.

The Light falls into an ocean. They’re unable to retrieve it when the Hunger comes and instead, fly away as soon as they see its black pillars descend. Call them cowards, but at least there wasn’t much life on this planet to begin with. If there was any, it’s all gone now.

YEAR 5.

Logan hadn’t meant to become friends with the twins. It’s more like that they decided they were going to hang out with him, and he hasn’t been able to shake them since.

He finds he doesn’t mind, which is a feat in and of itself, considering he hasn’t had friends for the roughly four decades he had been alive for.

One night, they’re stargazing. Well, Logan is.

Roman and Virgil are wrestling each other next to him and surprisingly, Virgil wins.

“How are you so strong?” Roman whines, flexing his arms to show off his quite impressive muscles.

Virgil shrugs. “I chug my bone juice,” he replies, and Logan decides not to question what he means by that. “Do you give up yet?”

Roman laughs and charges Virgil. His momentum carries him forward and he crashes into his twin, then he swipes his leg out from under him and pins Virgil to the ground. “Take that!”

“Oof, my bones,” he deadpans, and Roman helps him up.

“Are you two done?” Logan asks.

Instead of insulting him, like they would’ve done five years ago, they nod and sit beside him. Logan’s chest flutters when Roman leans into him easily, knee gently bumping his own every now and again.

“So,” Virge begins, and judging by the glint in both his and Roman’s eyes, Logan has a right to be worried.

“We were thinking,” Roman continues, “that we don’t know much about you.”

“And we know everything about each other!”

“So why not tell us about yourself?”

Logan sighs. “What do you want to know?”

Virgil considers this, then asks, “Do you have a last name?”

“No.”

“Cool,” Roman says, “It’s Bluejeans now.”

“What?” Logan splutters. “You can’t just give people last names! And these jeans are comfortable and practical!”

“Whatever you say, Mr Bluejeans, sir,” Virgil mock salutes.

Logan tries to argue with them, but it’s clear he’s getting nowhere. “Fine! Have it your way, Virgil… Purplehoodie.”

Virgil laughs, and okay, it wasn’t his best work, but it’s not like Bluejeans is any better. “So what? Roman and I are twins. Does that make him Roman Purplehoodie? I don’t see a fucking hoodie, nor anything purple. That doesn’t make sense, Lo.”

Logan doesn’t react to the nickname. Instead, he exclaims, “Neither does Bluejeans!”

“You wear blue jeans!” Roman protests.

“And your brother wears a purple hoodie!”

“Not all the time!”

“Almost all the time!”

“Oi, keep it down!” Missy shouts from somewhere inside the ship. “Some of us are trying to sleep.”

“Don’t worry, we’re just playing card games in here!” Patton tells them.

“They ain’t need to know that!”

Even though Missy was bluffing, they stop arguing.

“Do I get to ask a question now?”

“Fine, shoot Mr Bluejeans.”

“I’m never going to get rid of that name, am I?” Both Virgil and Roman shake their heads. “Alright. Can I ask a question now?”

The twins glance at each other and shrug. “Seems fair.”

Logan ponders for a moment. He doesn’t really have any burning questions, but he supposes there had been one thing he was always curious about. “Are you two identical?”

Virgil’s gaze flashes to Roman, then back at Logan. The movement is so quick he almost misses it.

Roman leans back on his palms and puts on an easy smile. Logan knows that he’s only pretending, but he doesn’t get the chance to backpedal before Roman answers him. “Nope,” he pops the p.

Logan waits a moment, then opens his mouth when no explanation follows, but Roman must have changed his mind about how much he wants to share.

“I’m trans,” he blurts. Logan watches as Virgil’s arm snakes around his brother and studies Logan for his reaction.

He doesn’t miss a beat as he says, “Oh, but you look too alike to not be identical.” It’s awkward and kind of clumsy, but he genuinely means it in an “I thought you were identical twins” way and not a “How can you possibly look so masculine?” way. Virgil and Roman seem to pick up on it, at least.

“Genetics, dumbass,” Virgil replies, and the three of them laugh. “Honestly, the scientist should know this!”

“I’m an astrophysicist, not a biologist.”

“Those words? Fake.”

“You can’t call words fake.”

“All words are fake!” Roman and Virgil retort at the same time.

Logan goes to argue. Then he considers it. And okay, maybe they have a point. Especially their words. He’s not sure if they’ll find another Planar System that speaks Common - or any of Phaethon’s languages, in fact. It doesn’t stop him from wanting to learn the others’ languages though, so he gathers up the courage to ask a second question.

“Would you two mind teaching me Elven?”

YEAR 12.

It’s a good thing he’s fluent in Elven now, because this new place is entirely elves. It’s literally called Elfington.

He and the twins have no problem fitting in, and to their surprise, neither does Kalumnia.

She shrugs and with an abashed smile she admits, “I know all of Phaethon’s languages.”

Roman and Virgil share a wide-eyed look. “That’s how you always knew about our pranks!”

“We thought you were a mindreader or something!” Roman adds.

Kalumnia laughs. “I do know that spell, but I wouldn’t invade your privacy like that.”

That year, he and the twins almost exclusively talk to each other. Kalumnia joins in on their exploits around town, and Logan notes that she’s much less reclusive than at the beginning of their journey. He supposes over a decade of selective company would result in that.

Wait. Holy shit. Had they really been doing this for a decade?

Logan catches a glimpse of himself in a store window. At fifty, he expects wrinkles around his eyes like the ones Patton’s had since day one, but no. There aren’t creases in his forehead, no grey hairs, nothing. For all intents and purposes, he hasn’t changed one bit.

Maybe Roman and Virgil weren’t too far off when they joked about immortality.

“And they call me vain!” Roman huffs as he comes to stand beside him. Despite his comment, he leans in to fix his hair in the reflection, running his slender fingers through newly-dyed red. It’s like this at the beginning of every cycle, and for the past week they’ve been on Elfington, all Roman has talked about were the hairdressers and the possibility of dye.

Logan’s friend is always excited when they begin a new year just because he gets the colour back in his hair. He suspects Virgil shares the same enthusiasm, but at least he doesn’t talk his ear off about how he should be able to invent dye when it starts to fade. For starters, he’s an astrophysicist, and secondly, he’s busy, thank you very much.

He wants to study the Light. Considering it has such a big impact on both the Starblaster crew and whatever plane it falls on, they need to learn more about it. Maybe one of these cycles, they can find a way to fight off the Hunger.

Logan doesn’t know how that would work, but this new world that’s positively teeming with life renews his motivation. He doesn’t want to see them get destroyed. He doesn’t want them to fall to the Hunger.

They’ve already recovered it so he wastes no time in setting up experiments.

Around the second month, Roman starts popping into the Starblaster to “make sure he isn’t nerding too hard” (his words, not Logan’s). At first, it’s only for a few minutes. Roman asks a few questions about what he’s doing, Logan responds with questions about what he and Virge have been up to, and then Roman goes back to Elfington.

As time passes, Roman grows more and more keen to help. It gets to the point where Roman and Logan do their experiments together. Kalumnia records for them, keeping track of what they’ve found (the Light of Creation emits waves of some form of energy) and what they need to know (what the fuck is that energy). Missy mostly makes sure that the pair eat and drink when necessary, occasionally throwing them over her shoulder and dragging them to bed.

Even Captain Sanders checks in on their progress (and with the two of them working together, it’s truly remarkable)!

The only one who keeps his distance is Virgil.

Logan finds out the reason for this on their tenth month.

It’s a typical afternoon. Logan had visited Elfington for last-minute supplies, and he had been carrying armfuls of metal parts and spell components when he heard low voices around the corner, where his newly-appointed lab was.

He pauses. He quickly figures that one must be Roman (he had told him to go ahead, but he must have wanted to wait) and therefore the other is Virgil. He considers making his presence known, but it sounds like they’re arguing. And the twins never do that.

He doesn’t mean to eavesdrop, honestly.

“I know why you’re doing this,” Virgil hisses. “You want to stay here.”

“I do not! And even if I did, what’s wrong with that? We haven’t had a home since we were fucking twelve, why can’t you just settle down?”

“This isn’t about that and you know it.” When Virgil continues to speak, his voice loses the anger and instead takes on a much softer tone. “Roman, we have the Light. There’s nothing else we can do for them.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Yes, I do! In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve been doing this thing for over a decade. We either get the Light and some people die, or we don’t and everything gets consumed by the Hunger. We’ve tried fighting it, we’ve died, and honestly, I don’t give a shit about the planes anymore!”

“How can you say that?” Roman murmurs. Logan’s equally surprised by that revelation.

“Look,” Virgil sighs. “We’ve been to like, four planets with life on it. And each time, we decide it’s a grand idea to make friends! Why not build our bonds? But at the end of the year, it’s the same thing. We fly away and we watch those people get torn apart into nothing. They’re dust. We’ve only had each other for so long, and you and the other five people on this ship are the only people I can count on. Everyone else? They’re dust, Roman. If we see them as anything else, we only get our hearts broken. And I can’t take that. Not for however long we’re stuck on this ship, going through the motions.”

Roman’s silent for a long time. Eventually, though, he says, “You’re lying.”

“What?”

“You’re lying,” he repeats, more forcefully. “You can try and pretend like you don’t care, but I’ve seen you with those kids. I know you care about them as much as I do. And I know you’ll fight for them at the end of the year.”

“Because they’re us, Ro!” Virgil’s outburst shocks Logan. He knows he definitely shouldn’t be listening at this point, but he’s frozen in place. “I mean, seriously? Two elven siblings, living on the road? When I see them, all I see is me and you as preteens forcing ourselves to entertain sickos by streetfighting just so we can eat. All I see is you giving me your one jumper because you know I hate the cold even though you were freezing just as much. All I see is us fighting over who should have the last scrap of food, not because we wanted it, but because we wanted the other to eat. So, of course, I’m going to fight for them. But at the end of the day, if it comes to saving you or saving those children, there’s no choice.”

Logan hears Virgil stomp the opposite way and when he’s sure Roman’s alone, he steps into the corridor.

Roman’s back is to him. Logan takes another cautious step forward, then another, and as he gets closer, he can see how he’s shaking. Roman’s fists are clenched at his sides, head hanging low.

“Roman?”

Roman straightens his back and raises one hand to his face. Logan can’t see what he’s doing, but when the hand comes back wet and Roman turns around with red eyes and a watery smile, he can hazard a guess.

“Hey, Lo!” he greets, far too cheery. “Let’s get to work!”

He doesn’t have time to ask what’s wrong because Roman grabs his arm and pulls him into the lab. All day, he interrupts Logan when he goes to offer comfort, and his smile is too wide, too forced. Logan doesn’t understand why he feels sad too.

At the end of the year, Roman pulls all-nighters alongside Logan. He and Virgil have long since made up, but his brother still steers clear of the lab. Logan doesn’t blame him - he’s never heard the pair fight before, and he’s sure it’s something they want to avoid.

Roman’s project that he had Logan helping him with is almost complete. It radiates a golden hue and its form almost replicates the Light exactly. It’s far from perfect, but it might just work. At this point, that’s all they can really hope for.

When the Hunger comes, they’re ready. Roman and Logan order Thomas to bring the ship over a mostly empty country (some mountains bordering an ocean) and they fling the fake Light down, watching as it splashes in the water. Immediately, the black smog that was chasing them dives down.

The Starblaster uses this chance to dart away, hurtling through the skies at breakneck speeds and it's not long until they breach Elfington’s atmosphere. The Hunger chases them, having figured out what they’ve done, and it seems angrier, more determined.

Little darts of black break free of its form and head for the ship, determined to bring them down. Thomas banks right, then left, before dipping down low. The other IPRE members have long since learnt their lesson about seatbelts, but they do rub at their necks during this process.

Roman and Logan share a smile. Most of Elfington was saved. Not just some, most.

Maybe they can win.

A/N That was the first part of Infinitesimal! If you enjoyed it, feel free to ask questions/scream to me about it because this is possibly one of my favourite concepts and I will take any opportunity to talk about it.

I hope I was clear with the whole Planary System stuff. If not, there’s more of an explanation coming in the following parts as well as some romance and maybe a touch of necromancy! Who knows? ;)

74 notes · View notes

raywritesthings · 5 years

Note

Lauriver + 2 for the prompt meme please?? I love your writing

Anon, thank you so much! I’m so happy you enjoy my writing that much.

Close My Eyes and Jump

Oliver has been trying to decide what to do since Laurel’s confession in the hospital, and finally works up the courage with a few little pushes. Also can be read on my AO3 page.

The two of them laughed, and Oliver frowned. Not that anyone noticed. He was making sure to keep well back from the others.

It was another team up with the Flash crew that had brought them to Central City. They’d been after a gang that had been moving back and forth between both their territories and decided to combine their efforts. Now with that taken care of, Barry and Iris had made the offer to host everyone for a late lunch at their newly purchased loft.

They’d agreed, and the meal had been fine. Afterwards, everyone settled in the open sitting room, naturally breaking off into smaller conversational groups.

And right now, Laurel was listening to Cisco tell what he assumed had to be the most hilarious story of all time judging by the way her face was lit up in a wide beam.

Maybe because Cisco had had a girlfriend at the time of their last team up, Oliver hadn’t noticed. But the more he watched, the more it became clear that the other man adored Laurel.

And that…made him uncomfortable in a way he didn’t like to admit.

It was wrong. He knew that without needing to be told. Laurel deserved to have friends and people who appreciated her. He knew he’d been a failure at doing so in the past, even if he was trying to make up for it now. So Cisco being his usual friendly, funny self shouldn’t have been a problem, nor should Laurel enjoying his company have been a problem.

But there was also the matter of what they had talked about in the hospital, the night they’d almost lost her. What she had told him about her feelings. Present tense.

Oliver had been left reeling since that night. He had thought any love Laurel had held for him had been snuffed out long ago due to his own mistakes. He had believed it to be a fondly remembered dream. Not still a possibility.

She had left them for a time to recover at her mother’s home in Central City, away from Darhk. During that time, she’d been caught up in STAR Labs’ second particle accelerator explosion along with Wally and Jessie, granting her meta powers that matched the Cry she had used to achieve through technological means.

With this unexpected aid, they had put a stop to Darhk’s plans before he had launched any nuclear missiles, and he now sat in a secure ARGUS facility, his idol smashed beyond recognition. When the dust had settled, Oliver had tried at last to approach her about that conversation in the hospital.

“Oliver, there’s nothing you have to say. I’m fine,” Laurel had told him with one of her soft smiles. He hadn’t been able to help but notice how fragile it had looked. “I knew when I said it that you didn’t feel the same way. I probably shouldn’t have said it at all.” She had shaken her head. “You don’t need to worry about it.”

“What if I am?”

Laurel had taken hold of his shoulders. “Then don’t be. I’m happy just having the team and my family, and someday you and Felicity are going to patch things up and be happy together. That’s what you really want. And I’m telling you it’s okay.”

She had pulled him into a hug, and Oliver had held on as tightly as he dared. He hadn’t wanted to let her go.

A few short months after that conversation, Felicity had begun seeing another man named Billy and seemed much happier for it. Laurel had been coming and going between Star and Central to get in some training of her new metahuman abilities. And Oliver had been doing a lot of thinking.

He still dreamed of her, was the main thing. When he closed his eyes and really thought of the perfect life, it was Laurel at his side, smiling and happy the way she deserved to be. Proud of the man he’d become.

It was her good opinion he valued most, and her censure he had tried to avoid on multiple occasions when he’d known he was doing something wrong. He trusted her to watch the city in his absence and to care for his family. The night she had been stabbed was one of the worst he had had in his life, those few minutes where she had been hovering between life and death. He couldn’t imagine losing her. Every time he thought of her confession, Oliver’s heart both ached and yet felt full. She loved him, and the truth was that despite his own claims he would always love her. If only she knew.

He wanted to be with Laurel, yet she was sincerely convinced he belonged with someone else. How had he made such a mess of things?

Oliver tried not to frown again as Cisco scooted closer on the couch. It wasn’t inappropriate, and it wasn’t his business. His personal feelings didn’t entitle him to deciding who got to be close to her or receive her attention. He needed to accept and respect whatever choices she made in that regard.

What if she had moved on? What if saying it out loud had given her some kind of closure, and she’d decided once and for all to leave that part of her life behind? She’d said he would always be the love of her life, but what if that just wasn’t enough? What if Cisco made her laugh enough that she decided to stay in Central permanently?

“Hey, Earth to Ollie,” Thea spoke up at his elbow, and he gave a start.

“Uh, yeah?”

“Nothing, just checking on you.”

“Okay. Well, I’m fine.”

Thea leaned against the wall and smirked. “Oh, I’m sorry. I hadn’t realized isolating yourself from the group and staring at it like we’re all on the other side of a glass you can’t get through means you’re fine.”

Oliver folded his arms over his chest. “I’m not doing that.”

“Well, you were doing it to Laurel and Cisco for several minutes there.”

He felt the back of his neck heat up and hoped it wasn’t turning a noticeable red as well.

“Wanna talk about it?”

“Not here.” There were way too many people around for him to get into something so personal.

As if to demonstrate his point, there was a brief breeze as Barry suddenly zipped in close on his other side. “Hey guys, everything okay?”

“It’s fine,” Oliver repeated.

“Yeah, Ollie’s just practicing his sad and alone face.”

“Oh, yeah. That used to be me at every party I went to with Iris before we got together. I’m sure things will work out with Felicity in time.”

“That’s okay, Barry. I’m fine with how things are.” Oliver hoped his tone indicated that was to be the end of things.

Of course, it never was with Barry. “Really, how come?”

“Cause he wasn’t looking at Felicity,” Thea said in a small voice. When he turned, his sister was wide-eyed and looked to be preparing to draw in a large breath.

Oliver had to act fast. “Barry, is there somewhere we can talk privately—”

“Uh, bathroom, that way,” his friend said, ushering the two of them from the room.

It was a tight fit for both him and his sister, but necessary when Thea finally shrieked, “Really?”

“Shh!”

“This is crazy!” She was still managing to shout in a whisper as she grabbed at his arms. “I mean when did- how did- what—”

“Thea, calm down. It’s not a big deal.”

“Uh, pretty sure you still being in love with Laurel is a big deal. This is so exciting!”

Oliver bit back what he was originally planning to say and instead asked, “Wait, you’re happy?”

“Of course I’m happy. I mean, as your sister, I obviously want you to be happy with whomever you choose,” Thea with a magnanimous wave of the hand that eerily resembled their mother. “But I’m really excited about this!”

“There’s nothing to get excited about. You don’t even know that she — you did know,” he realized.

“Well, I do live with the woman. I mean, Laurel’s never said, but I’m practically her second sister.” Her smug look shifted as she asked, “But when did she tell you?”

“That night at the hospital. But listen, this isn’t what you’re thinking it is. Laurel and I aren’t getting together.”

He was vividly reminded of the day Thea learned Santa wasn’t real based on her expression alone. “But why?”

“She doesn’t think I feel the same.”

“You haven’t told her?”

“I didn’t know how I felt at first!” He had to remind himself to check his volume before he continued. “My engagement had just ended, and I had no idea Laurel still felt that way. I didn’t know how to answer her at first.”

“Okay, but it’s been a few months now, so,” Thea urged.

“So she’s still convinced I should just wait for things to settle with Felicity.”

“Because you haven’t told her,” Thea stated rather than asked, then let out a groan. “You have got to stop doing this.”

“What? Doing what?”

“Leaving people guessing about how you feel. I know you have every right to hate feeling vulnerable, which is kinda why you’re trying to become a turtle right now instead of talk to me—”

“What?” Oliver straightened out of his hunched posture and uncrossed his arms. “I’m not — you can’t become a turtle, Thea—”

“—but you have to be willing to go out on a limb sometimes for the person you love. Take the jump. Because you’re the only person that can show Laurel you’re ready to give things another try.”

Oliver hung his head. She was right, and he knew it. Laurel had already confessed to her own feelings, and it was on him to meet her halfway. He just didn’t know how to make things work this time. What if he messed up? What if he hurt her?

“If you don’t say anything, then maybe she will move on, and that’s something you’ll always regret,” his sister said. “And that’s the last thing I want for you, Ollie.”

There was a knock on the door. “Somebody in here?”

“Um, be right out,” Thea called back. She reached around Oliver to turn the knob, and John stared at the both of them when the door swung open.

“Am I interrupting something?”

“It’s fine,” Oliver repeated once again, eyes on the ground.

“It will be fine,” Thea corrected. Then she began pushing on him to get him out of the bathroom and down the hall.

Grudgingly, he went. Out in the sitting room, everyone was in about the same places. Felicity was putting on her coat since she was heading back on the train early to meet Billy for drinks, and Barry had rejoined Iris on the sofa though he met Oliver’s eyes with two raised eyebrows.

Cisco was still right there with Laurel. She looked happy.

“Look, now doesn’t seem like a good time,” he muttered to Thea.

“Now is a great time. Besides, if I don’t make you go through with this now, you’re just gonna let it stew for the next five months, and that is never a good look on you.” Thea clapped her hands on his shoulders like she was preparing him for a fight in the ring. “Now go ahead. Straightforward, clear about your intentions. And if you can manage it, maybe a little playful.”

He wanted to argue that her various pieces of advice seemed contradictory, but she’d already given him a little push, and he began walking forward. One foot in front of the other until he had drawn up to the couch and had nowhere else to go.

Laurel glanced up at him with a dazzling smile for just a moment while she listened to Cisco. Oliver’s attempt to clear his throat got stuck, but the other man broke off anyway.

“Oh, Oliver, hey.”

“Uh, hey. What have you two been chatting about?”

“Suit designs at the moment,” Laurel answered. “Cisco has a lot of opinions.”

“Well, he did make a lot of them,” Oliver had to concede. Cisco was a talented guy, after all, and he certainly didn’t hate him by any means. He just sort of wished he could be the one on the couch with Laurel right now instead of awkwardly standing in front of them.

“Yeah. I mean, as far as suits I didn’t have a hand in go, I still have to say Laurel’s is my favorite,” Cisco said, looking to Oliver for a nod of agreement that he readily got. Laurel just smiled and shook her head. He was a natural flatterer, that Cisco. “Basic black doubling as perfect urban camouflage, the functionality, the style. And the detail work! The fishnet pattern on the gloves, I mean, what was the inspiration for that?”

“Well, Laurel’s always looked good in fishnets.”

As soon as the words had left him, Oliver wished he’d never made it off the island. Of all the ways to go about it, to try and let Laurel know he was serious, and he’d picked that?

He wished he had a drink or something in his hands to focus on so he didn’t have to see Laurel’s stunned expression. She couldn’t believe him, clearly.

Cisco’s mouth was hanging open, though he eventually recovered. “Okay!” There was a laugh that Oliver couldn’t decide whether it was forced or not. “That’s, uh, good to know.”

“Mm-hm. Cisco, if you would excuse us for a moment.” Laurel stood and fixed him with a look before marching for the door. Oliver braced himself before turning to follow.

“Good luck, dude,” Cisco said to his retreating back. He appreciated the thought.

She was leaning against a wall with her arms crossed when he stepped out into the hall.

“Okay, That did not come out the way I wanted it to,” he started with.

“Oh? And what way was that supposed to be?”

“A compliment? A- I don’t know.”

She sighed, pushing a hand through her hair, and he watched as it fell back into place around her shoulders. “Well, thank you, but you should maybe stick to compliments that aren’t about my body so Cisco doesn’t get any ideas.”

“Well, maybe I want him to.” His chest had puffed out a little as he said it, but Oliver stood firm even as Laurel looked at him in clear disbelief.

“What does that even mean?”

“It means that I’ve made up my mind, Laurel. That I know what is going to make me happy, and that’s being with you.”

She took a step towards him, her head shaking. “Oliver—”

“Laurel, I know I’ve given you plenty of reasons to doubt me. I know I tried shutting the door on that part of my life. But it didn’t work. It never works.”

“Okay, but that’s not a sign. Your breakup with Felicity had nothing to do with me.”

“No,” he agreed. “But when it happened, you were the one who was there for me, the same way you always have been. I used to take that for granted.” Oliver took his own step and reached for her hands, which Laurel didn’t pull away from. “I’m sorry I took that for granted. You are one of the best people in my life, and it took almost losing you for me to realize just how dark my life would be without you in it.”

Laurel looked down. “That doesn’t mean—”

“Laurel,” he said. He almost wanted to laugh. “I know you’re trying to do what’s best for me the same way you do for everyone, but I’m telling you what that is now. And it’s you. It’s always been you. I’ve been scared of that for so long,” he admitted. “At first I was scared of settling down because I was young and stupid and thought I was invincible. Then I was scared to let myself be happy because I thought it would never last. And worst of all, it got to the point where I was scared of disappointing you again, so I just gave up trying. But in this kind of life, there isn’t time to be scared. It’s not enough to fight other people’s battles and fears. I have to face my own, too.”

He drew in a breath and closed his eyes for a moment, needing one last moment before taking this leap. Laurel’s eyes had a wet shine to them and her grip on his hands was tight.

“Dinah Laurel Lance. I love you. And I’m sorry for all the times I’ve made you doubt that. There’s no one else I’m waiting on or trying to be with except you, even if I’m far less than what you deserve.” His gaze lowered, first to their clasped hands and then to the floor. “So I’ll let you get back in there with Cisco if that’s what you want.”

There was a pause, and then Laurel let out a breath that wasn’t quite a laugh. “Cisco? That’s what this is about?”

“A little,” he muttered, shoulders hunching. “He’s a good guy, and I want you to be happy whatever that means.”

“Well, Cisco is a good guy and a really good friend,” said Laurel. “But I think we both know it’s a bad idea for me to start something with another person when I’m already in love with you.”

He chanced looking up at her, and she was watching him with such warmth in her gaze.

“This is really what you want?”

“Yes,” he replied, not a single second of hesitance. Oliver used the hold he had on her hands to tug her closer, then let go to wrap his arms around her instead. Laurel went willingly, folding into his embrace with that sense of rightness that had always accompanied her. He turned his face into her hair, smiling to himself as her hands slid further down his back.

“You’re sure?” She asked, just a whisper past his ear.

Oliver pressed his lips to her head. “Yes.” Then he pulled back just a little to look her in the eyes. “And I promise to prove that to you every day.”

Laurel’s lips parted, and his eyes drifted to them. He bent forward, just a breath away—

The door to the loft swung open, and Caitlin jumped as she stepped out and spotted them. “Sorry! I just have to take a call. Um, I’ll go in the stairwell.”

“That’s okay, Caitlin,” Laurel said as she turned around in his hold. The other woman was already scurrying through the fire door that led to the steps, however, so she sighed, her head falling back to rest on his shoulder. “I guess you really better be sure now.”

“I am,” he insisted, bringing his arms back around her middle. “I don’t know why you think I should be the one having second thoughts about this, but I am sure.” Any reasonable person should have been running for the hills instead of giving things another shot with him, and that was what had had him so convinced Laurel couldn’t still be in love with him.

Yet as he tilted his head down to look at her, it occurred to him that Laurel wasn’t always the most reasonable person. She was strong-willed and stubborn and went her own way whenever it suited her. Why should her heart be any different?

As if in answer to his thoughts, she gave a half-shrug. “Hey, I know how I feel.”

“Well, you’ll have to trust that I know how I feel. That work?”

“Of course.”

It was that simple, really. Laurel had always believed in him. Now he just needed to believe in himself too, that he could make this work.

She placed her hands over his and lifted them from around her, but kept the fingers of one laced through hers. “Come on, or we’re going to get caught out here again.”

“Right.”

They returned to the loft. Cisco was still on the couch but turned around to chat with Barry and Iris on the sofa, and he scooted over to make room for the both of them. Across the couch in her own chair, Thea grinned widely at him. Oliver looked away from her, as well as John’s questioning stare, and instead focused on rejoining the conversation and the group with Laurel’s hand in his.

He was done holding himself apart.

#lauriver #laurel x oliver #oliver queen #laurel lance #arrow #cisco ramon #thea queen #barry allen #green arrow #black canary #my writing #Anonymous

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xswestallen · 5 years

Text

Tattoo

WestAllen fanfiction 1342 words

Set after 5x03

Summary: Sherloque's comment has Barry paying a little too much attention to Iris' shoulder.

Iris purred at the touch of Barry's soft, warm lips on her skin. He started just behind her ear and worked his way down her neck. As his mouth descended, so did his hands, gliding the bra straps off his wife's arms, and then exploring her bare back. Iris closed her eyes and let herself be carried away by the bliss she felt, laying in their king sized bed on clean sheets, Barry's arms around her, and his kisses melting her like the burning candles around the room.

"Mmm, babe." Iris moaned.

Barry's lips had made it to her shoulder. He kissed and nipped at her skin, over and over. His fingers danced down her spine and she arched her back. Then, Barry's fingers traced the outline of her shoulder blade, his thumb massaging in little circles. He didn't stop. After a minute, Iris realized that Barry was only touching her shoulder. Then, he was only touching a small area on her shoulder, confining his fingers to few inches.

Iris craned her neck to see what Barry was doing. His expression was focused. He stared at her shoulder, fingers still grazing across it, as if he was studying it.

"Bear, what are you doing?" Iris asked.

Barry's eyes darted up.

"Nothing. Just kissing you."

"Why the particular interest in my shoulder tonight?"

Barry scratched his neck. His cheeks turned pink, a blush so intense inklings of it could be seen on his muscular chest.

"I thought you liked when I kiss your back."

"I do. But, that's not what you were doing." Iris said. She rolled over to face him. "You were all about my shoulder."

Barry avoided looking into her eyes. He put on his sweet, puppy dog, face to feign innocence. That's when Iris knew what he'd been doing.

She gasped, "Barry, were you feeling for my tattoo removal scar?!"

That afternoon, their new teammate, Sherloque Wells, had announced his intimate conclusion as a master detective that Iris had a tattoo as a tribute to a former lover. It was a secret regret that Iris had no intention of ever telling anyone, let alone half the people she knew. Barry's face after hearing the revelation was mortifying. Iris brushed it off at the time, hoping everyone would forget. She thought it had worked, because the rest of the day's events had driven any thoughts of her secret tattoo far from her own mind. Apparently, it was still fresh in Barry's.

"You never told me you had a tattoo!" Barry said defensively.

"Because I don't anymore. I had it removed years ago."

"You told me this scar," Barry once again moved his finger over the small lines of scar tissue. "Was from when you fell ice skating."

Iris vaguely remembered coming up with that excuse back when she and Barry first started dating. He stared at her, his eyes looking greener than usual, tinted with jealousy. Iris bit her lip.

"I lied because the truth was embarrassing."

"You can tell me anything, Iris. Tell me who you got a tattoo for."

Barry looked at Iris pleadingly.

Iris buried her face in her hands and sighed.

"Babe, it's so corny and embarrassing."

"At least tell me what the tattoo was of." Barry begged.

"Ok, fine." Iris took a deep breath and told him, "It was a little red heart."

Barry looked crestfallen.

"A heart? So it was for a former lover?" He pouted.

"That's what's so embarrassing. It was a heart that my ex had drawn for me."

"Did you get matching tattoos?" Barry asked with a not so subtle hint of horror in his voice.

"No. Uh, I guess I have to tell you the full story. But, you can't tell anybody else, ever!" Iris pointed her finger at him. "You swear?"

"Swear."

"Ok. Well, you know how I never really had a steady boyfriend in high school?"

Barry nodded. He remembered the parade of guys Iris went on first dates with back in high school all too well, as they were the objects of his envy for years.

"When I got to college, I met Gavin. He was the first friend I made on campus and had this huge crush on him. I was too shy to tell him, so I handed him a love note."

Barry smirked. Iris felt even more embarrassed.

"Wait, that's not even the embarrassing part. It gets worse." She warned. "Anyway, he said he liked me too and we started dating. When spring break rolled around, he had to go home to help his dad with some work. Since he lived so far away, we weren't going to see each other all break. To say goodbye, he wrote me this sweet love letter, kind of like the one I'd given him to tell him I liked him. He signed it with a little red heart by his name."

Barry raised an eyebrow. Iris knew he was figuring out where the story was going, but there was no way he could know just how awkward it was about to get.

"I went with some friends to the beach for spring break." Iris continued. "I brought the note with me because I thought it would romantic. A day or so into the trip, I had way too much alcohol and got this very stupid idea to get the heart from the note tattooed on me as a surprise for Gavin."

Barry's jaw dropped.

"Wait, your boyfriend didn't know?"

"No. We'd only been dating about two months when this happened. So, when we both got back to school and I showed him how I'd drunkenly committed to having his cheesy artwork on my body permanently, he got a little freaked out. To be honest, I can't blame him. He said I was moving too fast, rushed out of my dorm, and never spoke to me again."

"Oh." Barry whispered. He no longer nervous or insecure, but uncomfortable with second-hand embarrassment.

"It was humiliating. I got that stupid heart removed as soon as the semester ended, before anyone saw it. I've had the removal scar longer than I had the actual tattoo."

"So, it's not really a tribute to a former lover." Barry sighed.

"No. It's a reminder that I shouldn't go so hard on the tequila."

Iris slumped back on the pillow. Recounting the experience brought back long repressed mental cringe.

Barry put his arm around her.

"Hey, it's not that embarrassing. It was sweet."

"It was pathetic." Iris insisted.

"It was romantic."

Iris looked at Barry with a crooked eyebrow.

"How would've you reacted if two months into our relationship I tattooed your wonky, lopsided drawing of a heart on myself."

"I would've loved it!"

Iris snorted out a laugh. "You're a bad liar."

"I'm serious. Iris, I was ready to commit to you since the 7th grade."

"Really?"

"Yeah, if the law didn't mandate you be 18 to get a tattoo, I would've had Iris tattooed on my face by my 15th birthday."

Iris giggled into Barry's chest. He stoked her hair with one hand and again, went to trace her shoulder scar with the other.

"Are you still jealous that I got a tattoo for someone else?" Iris asked.

"Kind of." Barry admitted. "I'm sorry if it's possessive, but I don't like the idea of some other guy's mark on you like that."

Iris looked up at him with lustful eyes. She used her elbows to squish her breasts closer together.

"Then, make your own mark on me."

Barry's boyish grin transformed into a cocky gleam. He wasted no time. He grabbed Iris and rolled her over so he was on top of her. His kiss stole her breath.

The next morning, Iris looked at herself in the mirror as she was getting dressed. As she was putting on her necklace, she noticed a bruise on her skin, just below her left collar bone. She moved her finger over it, fondly remembering how it had gotten there. In the mirror's reflection, Iris saw Barry smirking.

#westallen #westallen fic #westallen fanfiction #westallen fluff #westallen smut #the flash fanfiction #barry allen x iris west #barry x iris #iris x barry #missing scene #iris west tattoo

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scarlett-ice · 6 years

Note

For the prompts: Coldflashwave (or Coldflash if you prefer) - a fight that goes sideways

Thanks for the prompt! So, uh, there’s technically 3 fights herethat go sideways and they’re all offscreen…oops, I hope you still enjoy it ^.^’

“Whatever, we’redone.”

We’re done can meana lot of things. It can mean they’redone talking about it. It can mean thatthe Flash, Captain Cold and Heatwave won’t be putting on any moreperformance.

It can mean thatBarry just broke up with them.

The door slams andit’s only through years of practice that Len doesn’t flinch. Len doesn’t really want to analyse theemotions running through him and when he turns to Mick, he sees an equallyblank expression.

“Saint ‘n Sinners?” He grunts and Len nods.

Getting incrediblydrunk and not talking about hisfeelings sounds like a splendid idea.

“Here’s not it not being our damn fault.”

Len clinks his shotglass against Mick’s once more before downing it. He’d been counting them, at the beginning,but now everything’s swirled into a blur of Mick, booze and not Barry.

Mick’s right, Lenthinks viscously, drawing on the anger that had appeared with their argument. It wasn’t Mick’s fault that some civ decidedto play the hero and got in front of Mick’s warning shot. It’s not Len’s fault that he didn’t plan forthat one specific guy to be a complete idiot. It’s not their fault that Barry arrived just in time to see it.

No one gets hurt. That had been the main condition when theyset up their little arrangement. It wasjust supposed to be a bit of fun. Lenand Mick still got the thrill of a heist, they got the adrenaline rush fromfacing off against the Flash and at the end of the day, Barry successfullyreclaimed what they stole, returned it, and gave them a reward much more satisfying.

And then someonegot hurt.

“Another,” Len demandsto the bar, glad that they don’t cut you off here at the slightest slur. Mick glares at the barman until he too getsanother and together, they down yet another shot.

They can make thiswork, he thinks with the false confidence. After all, he and Mick had been partners for years before Barry. They can make do without him again. He’s better finding someone else, someone good, anyway.

Len’s not sure theburning is just due to the alcohol.

“Well, look who wehave here! Leonard Snart and Mick Rory. Or do you prefer your other titles, what arethey, Captain Cold and Heatwave?”

Len turns a frostylook at the newcomer, realising he’s not actually all that new. Dominic Parks. A patron of Saints and someone Len hadthought had hightailed it out of Central months ago. A smart man would have but then, Dominic’snever been very smart, proven right now with him facing Len and Mick on a nightlike tonight, appearing to be just as drunk as they are.

“Get lost,” Micksnaps. They don’t need reassurances, notat the rate Barry offered them, at least, but when Mick turns back to the bar,his leg brushes against Len’s and stays there.

“What he said,” Lendrawls but Dominic doesn’t listen. Instead, he moves way too fucking close beside them and orders them alla pint.

“Don’t be so rudegents, I just want to talk. It’s been solong since I’ve seen you too and there’s been some rumours floating around.”

He and Mick remainsilent, though they take the beers when they come. No point in wasting free booze, afterall.

Dominic doesn’t seembothered by their lack of response and continues forward, leaning towards themconspiratorially. “Rumours about you andthe Flash.”

Mick’s handtightens around his glass and Len takes a silent, deep breath. “How interesting,” he says. “Now, we were rather enjoying our drinks in peace.”

“Don’t be so coy, Leonard,” Dominic says and if the bastardgets any close, Len’s gonna punch him. Though,by the look in his eyes, Mick might get there first. “I just wanted to know if the rumours weretrue. That you make the Flash yourbitch. Tell me, is he a slut? Does he beg for it? Is he a slu-”

Mick does getthere first after all but Len doesn’t wait around, picking Dominic up by theshirt and slamming him against the bar.

“You shut yourfucking mouth.”

Dominic grins. “I knew it,” he crows. “I told them it was true. Hey, think I can get in on it too? I’ve always wanted to make a hero scream.”

Len throws Dominicacross the floor but that’s where the two vs one fight ends, Dominic’s buddy risingto join the fight. They’re so very badlyoutnumbered and though the logical side of Len is telling him to retreat he’sdrunk, angry, his heart feels fucking shattered and he needs something torelease all the pain. He bumps shoulderswith Mick and together, they let loose.

It’s a slow walkhome, not that either of them mind. Withthe adrenaline finally dissipating, the aches are taking hold. None, however, compare to the one in hischest.

“We fucked up,”Mick says glumly, just as they reach the front door and Len sighs.

“Yeah, we did.”

Len’s not sure he’sready to face an empty house but save going to Lisa, who will have questionsLen really doesn’t want to answer, they don’t have much choice. He unlocks the door and steps inside,wondering if Barry has already moved his stuff out.

“Len?”

That’s wasn’tMick. He shares a glance with the otherman before their barging into the living room and there, sat on the sofa, eyesbloodshot, is Barry.

“You’re stillhere,” Len says numbly.

“Yeah, I-what happenedto you two?”

He flashes awayand just as Len’s inside threaten to crumple once more, he’s back again, firstaid kit in hand.

“Sit down.” He forces them both to the sofa and begins fixingthem up, starting with the nasty cut above Len’s eye. With every soft touch, Len feels worse and worse.

“Thought you weren’tcoming back,” Mick says when Barry’s almost done and the lines of concentrationdrop from the kid’s face.

“I didn’t-I neededtime to cool off,” Barry explains, methodically putting the equipment away. “I-I never meant to you to think I wasleaving you but I,” he sighs, rubbing a hand across his face. Len wants to reach out for him, but he doesn’tyet dare to. “I know what happened wasn’tyour fault, not exactly. Or at least, itwas just as much my fault as yours. Iknew our games still put people at risk but I somehow managed to convincemyself it’d all be okay. And now someguy’s hurt, because of me, because I let us do it.”

“It is my fault,”Mick admits then, putting a hand on Barry’s shoulder. “Shouldn’t’ve used my gun.”

“I should have beenbetter prepared. I knew it was a risk,”Len also admits.

“I’m sorry I yelledat you guys and stormed out like that,” Barry says. “I guess…I just got scared and while I wasmad at you…I was mostly mad at myself. Itdid make me realise though that we can’t do it anymore. There’s too much risk.”

Len thinks thatthought might be a little hasty, that Len can and will plan better, but he’stoo grateful that Barry appears to still want to be with them to argue it justthen.

“I’m just gladyour back,” Len says and now, he feels able to finally draw Barry close. Mick’s other hand moves to his knee, so hehas a tethering touch on the both of them.

“Yeah, we don’twanna lose you doll.”

“I don’t want tolose you either…will you tell me what happened to you guys?”

Len thinks ofDominic, his vile comments and just holds Barry a little tighter. “Tomorrow. For now, why don’t we go to bed?”

He’s met withagreement and together, the three of them slide beneath the covers and fallinto a familiar formation, Mick in the middle, bathed between the warmth of histwo lovers, Len reaching over him to loosely frame Barry’s waist, and Barry’s longlimbs spreading across the both of them.

It’s not alwaysthe most comfortable arrangement, Mick often needs to go piss in the night and Barryhas a habit of stealing all the covers, but he wouldn’t trade it for anything.

#coldflashwave #ColdFlash #flashwave #Coldwave #ficlet #drabble #ask #if you guys got any more prompts #let me have em

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gorogues · 6 years

Photo

Spoilers for Flash #57!

Preview pages can be seen here.

So the cover does appear to be seasonally-based, as there are no dead or zombie Rogues in the issue. And the scene with Commander Cold impersonating Len is in this issue, not the last one (as had originally been solicited), nor does the Sage Force possess Detective Burns at all, so things were obviously changed significantly between the solicits and the published issues.

But there are a lot of events happening here, with the plots progressing and the characters changing. To sum up: Mick is no longer infected by the Sage Force and his real-world body is no longer burned, we learn Commander Cold's first name, Barry and Iris go on the Force Quest together, and Hunter's back. Plus we get some nice moments between Mick and what he thinks is Len.

I was hoping this story would end with Mick learning to be a better (or less angry) person and his body being healed, and got at least some of my wish. Mick's definitely healed, and while we don't know what his personality will be like in the future, he does seem calmer now. So fingers crossed that we'll be seeing the gentler Mick from now on or at least a guy who's raging less of the time, because that is what I loved about him.

It's also really nice to see Kolins drawing classic Len again, even if it wasn't actually him, and I kind of love that anecdote about Superman they tell each other. It's hard to imagine the Johns-era Len laughing all the way to Iron Heights, but of course he wasn't always coldly reserved like that, and it's a fun mental image. I'm trying not to chuckle over that 'fap' sound effect too, because I'm twelve. Detective Burns is correct in that Len has been a bad influence on Mick at times, but he's really taken care of him too in ways that no one else ever could, and I think this issue captures that well. Their relationship has always been complicated and sometimes unhealthy, but has been overall beneficial to two very damaged people. And I really hope we'll be seeing something like it again between a less-raging Mick and the real Len once the latter returns.

The end of the issue also kicks off the upcoming Force Quest, and it's endearing that Iris happily goes along on it with Barry. It helps further their relationship and shows that they really are serious about each other, and there's less tension about what she remembers from their past. That may still come into play however, because she still hasn't told him everything she remembers and how much it's been bothering her...but maybe it doesn't matter to them anymore.

Plus we finally learn Commander Cold's first name, and it's Henry. I wonder what he'll be doing during the Force Quest? Some months ago I'd noticed he wasn't mentioned in the solicits after this arc and wondered if he was going to return to his era or die, and he does neither. But Barry doesn't tell him that he's leaving, so hopefully poor Henry won't be wondering where his colleague is -- and maybe he'll be protecting Central City during Barry's absence.

It's nice to see that the Commander can be kind to Mick even though that probably goes against his instincts as a lawman and his general hardassed nature, and may mean that he has learned from Barry's compassionate example. Yes, he wanted to save the city and would probably do so in any way necessary, but he noted afterwards that Mick just needed a friend. So it does seem like he's become more like Barry than like Wolfe (as I'd been wondering during the Axel storyline), and that's a good thing for character development and for him as a person.

And, of course, at the very end we see Hunter. He's apparently been manipulating Barry into going on the Force Quest, so he obviously plans to get something out of it...it's not clear why he wants that, but it'll probably become more understandable as time goes on. He still thinks of himself as the "true Flash", and I sort of want to see him and Eobard fight each other for that title :> One thing I don't particularly like about Hunter's Rebirth-era appearances is his overt villainy; he's better as a bad guy with warped but sort of good intentions, and he's really treading onto Eobard's territory as an evil Reverse Flash. He's had glimpses of the 'make you better' motivation since he returned, but that's mostly fallen by the wayside and I feel he's a weaker character for it. But who knows, maybe his grand plan involves improvement of the hero somehow, and obviously his story arc isn't finished yet. We'll see.

So it was a pretty good issue, and I'm thrilled to bits with Mick's progress. Let's hope he can become a better person now, and return to being one of the moral centres of the Rogues. I've really missed that guy.

@ianxfalcon @waterwindow @ohhicas @justm3h @captainbaddecisions may be interested in the happenings of this issue (Hunter’s appearance and Commander Cold finally getting a name).

#Heat Wave #The Renegades #Zoom #the Flash #Commander Cold #Iris #Warden Wolfe #not the rogue it appears to be #spoilers: comics #reviews #and they all developed head injuries #horror #queue

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captaincanarygotmelike · 6 years

Text

Fic: Voices Carry ch. 22

*pictures are not mine*

Read on AO3

Read on Fanfiction.net

“Daddy was gonna cry when he saw you, Mommy,” Avery gleefully announced.

“He was?” Sara asked, looking above her daughter’s head to smirk at Leonard.

The ceremony had gone by in what felt like seconds, and before either of them knew it, they were at their reception, sitting at a large wooden table watching Laurel try to coerce her dad onto the dance floor.

“Uh-huh, ‘cos you looked so beautiful in your dress,” Avery nodded.

“Are you selling me out?” Leonard asked her.

“Yeah,” she giggled.

The reception Iris and Cisco put together was beyond anything either Leonard or Sara could have imagined. They had built (or they had hired someone to build, rather) a frame with a tall sloping ceiling not unlike one for a tent, but made of a dark, worn wood.

“Holy crap, guys,” Sara had said when she first saw it, “This looks amazing.”

“Thanks,” Iris said proudly, “Just wait until it gets darker.”

She was right. Lanterns and strings of lights hung from the wooden frame, lighting up the tables scattered around the edge of a black and white dance floor as the sun was beginning to set.

“You do look beautiful,” Leonard told Sara.

“He’s right, you do,” Avery nodded vigorously.

“Thanks, Avie,” Sara chuckled.

“How’re the bride and groom doing?”

Sara looked over her shoulder to see Felicity standing behind her chair.

“Good,” she smiled as Leonard nodded.

“You’re eating?” she asked, “Because at my wedding I was so preoccupied with things I barely ate anything at all.”

“You had a whole plate of those stuffed clam things by yourself,” Sara reminded her.

“I know.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be up there right now?” Sara asked.

Barry had just given his best man toast, which greatly resembled what he had said to Leonard earlier that day (although he’d left the stuff about his criminal past out, which Leonard couldn’t help but be grateful for).

“I’m letting everyone recover,” Felicity said before taking a sip from her champagne glass, “ ‘Kay, I’m gonna go now.”

They watched as Felicity made her way to the middle of the dance floor. She tapped the top of the microphone Caitlin handed to her and all heads turned towards her.

“So I think it’s my turn now,” Felicity said, “Not that I’ve ever needed permission to talk about how much I love Sara.”

She paused for a moment.

“I have known Sara for a long time,” she began, “since even before Avery was born, although I bet Sara probably doesn’t even remember what that’s like.”

“I don’t,” Sara chuckled as everyone laughed.

“Only about a month ago, Sara was giving her maid of honor toast at mywedding, and what she said was perfect and amazing just like everything she does. She told me after that she made it up on the fly because, as she said, when you’re in the presence of people who are really, trulyin love, talking about it is effortless. You can feel it just being in the room with them. Now, my speech is not on the fly because, as many of you now, I am not the most eloquent person, but being here, I can feel that real, true love Sara was talking about. They make each other happy. I’ve known Sara for a long time, and this is the happiest I’ve ever seen her. Thank you, Leonard, for being such a positive force in her life. I wish you both a lifetime of love and happiness.”

She nodded and then handed the microphone back to Caitlin.

Sara stood to hug her friend.

“I mean it,” Felicity said into her hair.

“I love you so much,” Sara said.

“I love you too.”

The next half hour was spent sitting around their tables, eating dinner and talking together as seventies and eighties music floated around them.

“Daddy!” Avery gasped as a new song began to play, “It’s the song!”

A few weeks earlier, when Leonard was making dinner and Avery was sitting at the counter coloring on pink construction paper, “Let’s Stay Together” started playing on the radio.

“This is one of my favorite songs,” he had commented as he poured a box of pasta into a pot of boiling water.

Avery looked up from her drawing.

“Really?” she asked. He nodded.

“My mom used to play it a lot when I was around your age.”

“Is it from a Disney movie?” she had asked.

“No,” he chuckled, “It’s Al Green.”

Thirty minutes later, Sara returned from work to hear “Let’s Stay Together” being played for the eighteenth time, Avery dancing in circles around the living room, singing along with the chorus as Leonard set the table for dinner.

“Come dance with me!” Avery said. She hopped out of Leonard’s lap and tugged on his hand, “Daddy, please!”

Sara smiled as Leonard stood up, letting Avery pull him towards the dance floor.

A moment later, Laurel sat down in his empty chair.

“Hey,” she said.

“Hi.”

“This is all so beautiful,” she said, looking around them, “You really didn’t hire a wedding planner?”

“Nope,” Sara shook her head, “Just a few friends who really didn’t want us wasting an opportunity to throw a huge-ass party.”

Laurel laughed. Sara looked back to the dance floor where Avery was holding Leonard’s hand above her head, twirling around underneath it.

“He seems like a great dad,” Laurel said.

“He is,” Sara nodded, smiling.

“Let’s go dance,” she said, taking her sister’s hand and pulling her to her feet. Sara followed her to the dance floor, “Remember when I had my first dance in middle school, and that guy asked me to go with him and I was nervous because I’d never slow-danced before—”

“— and you made me practice with you,” Sara finished.

“How old even were you then?”

“Probably like eight,” she laughed.

They watched Avery twirled in circles, her skirt fluttering around her, until she bumped into her mother’s legs.

“Come dance with me, Avie,” Sara said, lifting her up

As Leonard watched Sara dance with Avery, Laurel walked over to him.

“Hey, you having fun?”

“This isn’t usually my scene,” he said, “but yes, I actually am.”

“Good,” she nodded, “Look, I apologized to Sara, but I think I owe you one too. I’m really sorry I sort of accidentally directed Nate towards you guys. I know he gave you all a hard time.”

“It’s okay,” he nodded, “It’s in the process of,” he paused, “resolving itself.”

Laurel chuckled.

“What?”

“No, it’s just that Sara said the same thing.”

“She did?”

“Um-hmm,” she nodded, “You guys are really great together.

“Avery’s dancing with someone and it isn’t me?” they heard someone explain

They both looked over in time to see Avery run over and jump into Felicity arms, letting her swing her around in circles.

Leonard felt someone grab his hand.

“You wanna dance, Leonard?” Sara asked, a smirk on her lips. Leonard didn’t answer, just wrapped his arms around her waist as Sara draped her arms around his neck.

A half-hour later, Leonard found himself standing on the edge of the dance floor, watching Sara dance with her father and Avery shriek with laughter as Oliver threw her into the air, catching her on the way down.

“Snart.”

Leonard turned towards the gruff voice and saw that it belonged to Mick Rory.

“Mick,” he said, “You made it.”

“I thought you were already married.”

“What?”

“All those times we talked about your wife Sara,” Mick said.

“I don’t think I ever said she was my wife — no, I know I didn’t because up until about two hours ago, she wasn’t.”

“Oh. Well, congratulations either way.”

“Thanks.”

Neither said anything for a while. They stood, not facing each other, silently looking out onto the dance floor.

“I saw you dancing with your daughter — she is your daughter, right?”

“Yes, she is,” he replied, almost chuckling.

“Cute kid. She looks like you.”

Leonard didn’t know how to respond.

“You’re actually doing this?” Mick asked a moment later.

“Doing what?”

“Y’know, the carpools and runny noses and changing diapers.”

“Yeah,” he replied, not bothering to tell him Avery hadn’t worn diapers in years, “I am.”

After another moment, Mick said, “I think I’m gonna head out.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Not my crowd. Congratulations again.”

“Thanks.”

“See you, Snart.”

Leonard nodded. He watched Mick’s retreating form for a minute before sitting down at the table, content to simply observe the events of the party. Avery was now running around in the field with two of her friends from preschool. Sara was dancing with Felicity and Iris to an upbeat eighties song he knew he’d heard before, but couldn’t name.

He thought about what Lisa had said to him earlier about how a wife and a daughter weren’t something he’d thought were in the cards for him.

She wasn’t wrong.

When he was younger — not quite as young as Avery, more like early teenage years — he’d figured he would probably never end up getting married. His father had often told him, usually as motivation for a job, that women loved a man who had money.

Earned their money, he’d always thought, not stolen it from banks and museums.

Sure, he’d dated some people, he supposed, both during his years at college and the few after, but after he’d acquired the cold gun and taken on the Captain Cold persona, he’d figured he shouldn’t even bother anymore. His morals may be grey at best, but he was certainly not going to lie to someone about who he was, and he didn’t think there was anybody on Earth who could possibly deal with who he was, never mind love him.

Yet here he was, at his wedding.

It was actually sort of amazing to him that Sara was able to look past all the things he’d done as Captain Cold. Looking back to the first few months they’d known each other, he’d done some things he wasn’t proud of. He’d threatened Avery, he remembered, in the warehouse by the docks. Sara had been pointing a gun at his chest, threatening to undo all the work he’d done to stop Merlyn and the Markov device. That didn’t excuse what he’d said.

If you want your daughter alive, you won’t turn me in.

It was an empty threat, but now, knowing how much he loved Avery, he couldn’t believe he’d said it.

And he couldn’t believe Sara hadn’t skewered him on the spot.

She’d always seen him for more than he thought he could be, even in his darkest moments.

“Daddy!” Avery said, running up to him, “The cupcakes are here!”

“They are?” he asked, “Are they as good as you remember?”

“Yeah!”

Several months ago, Cisco had asked Leonard and Sara to come down to S.T.A.R. Labs for cake testing. They, as part of their crusade to participate in the wedding planning as little as possible while also simultaneously driving Cisco crazy, had dropped Avery off at the lab and told him to go with whatever she picked. After an hour of trying cakes from every gourmet bakery in the area, Avery chose vanilla cupcakes with vanilla frosting. Cisco was irate.

“And,” Avery continued excitedly, “I told Cisco that I wanted the frosting to be pink, and guess what!”

“What?” Leonard asked.

“It’s pink!”

Judging by what was smeared on Avery’s cheeks, Cisco had gone with peach frosting rather than pink to better match his color scheme, but evidently Avery either didn’t notice or didn’t care.

“Nice choice, Avie,” Sara said, running a hand across Leonard’s shoulders before she sat next to him, setting a plate of cupcakes on the table, “These are freaking amazing.”

“Look, Mommy,” Avery said, “I put the flower in my hair.”

She turned her head to show the flower messily tucked behind her ear.

“You mean the flower made of frosting?”

“Uh-huh!”

“Great.”

They all looked over at the sound of someone tapping on the microphone.

“I hope you’re all is having a great time tonight,” Felicity said, “If you don’t mind, I’d like everyone to follow me.”

“What is happening?” Leonard asked Sara.

“I have no idea,” she replied, eyebrows furrowed as they got to their feet.

Felicity led everyone past the edge of the wooden structure and out onto the open field. They stopped just before the grass began to slope down into rolling hills.

“Okay,” Felicity said, “We all came together to celebrate Len and Sara and we can’t do that without mentioning Miss Avery. Avery is the strongest little girl I’ve ever seen and she’s been with her mom and dad every step of the way. I asked her if she wanted to say or do anything special today, and she said the daily bubble.”

“I’m gonna cry,” Sara said, shaking her head. Leonard wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her towards him.

“The daily bubble is a tradition that Avery and Sara started two years ago,” Felicity continued, “Can you tell us about the daily bubble, Avie?”

She lowered the microphone to Avery’s height.

“We make a really big bubble and then see how many seconds ’til it pops,” she said, “The most we ever got is eleven seconds but we wanna beat it.”

“They do it every day, rain or shine,” Felicity said, “and today we’re going to do the daily bubble with all of you.”

Avery took the pink plastic bubble wand Felicity handed her and ran over to her parents.

“Can you do it?” Avery asked, holding the wand out to her mother.

“Yeah,” Sara said, blinking back tears as she took the bubble wand.

Leonard picked Avery up, both watching Sara.

She sank the wand into the Tupperware container of soapy water, the same container she had used the day when Avery, two years old at the time, was near-tantrum with boredom and Sara had looked up how to make bubbles and clicked on the first website she saw. They went through a whole container of the stuff before Sara finally said, “that’s enough for today. We’ll see if we can make them longer tomorrow”.

She held the dripping wand in front of her for a moment before lifting it up and pulling it through the air until a beach ball sized bubble formed.

“One,” Avery instantly began.

“Two,” more people joined her.

“Three.”

Sara stood on her toes to kiss Leonard, Avery still in his arms.

“Four.” By now nearly everyone was counting.

“Five.”

The bubble ebbed and flowed as the wind pushed it across the sky.

“Six.”

“I love you, Sara,” Leonard murmured as he pulled away.

“Seven.”

“I love you too,” Sara said, her voice low enough only to be heard by him.

“Eight.”

Leonard thought about Felicity’s toast, how she echoed the things Lisa and Barry had said to him earlier. They all saw how happy they were, how happy he was.

“Nine.”

He held Avery in his arms, feeling Sara lean against his side as they all watched the bubble float over the hills and out towards the trees below. He thought about how lucky he was to be with these people who changed his heart.

“Ten.”

And he was.

“Eleven.”

Happy.

“Twelve…”

#lot #captain canary #lot ff #cc ff #legends of tomorrow #voices carry #mine #i'm emotional guys

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mosylufanfic · 6 years

Note

For AUgust: Killervibe Summer Camp!!! I can already imagine how different they’d be as camp leaders

Oh my god this was so fun, you have no idea.

Send me a prompt from this calendar for AUgust

Capture the Flag

On her way back from the head table, Caitlin Snow paused at the Capture the Flag brackets on the big wall chalkboard. Birch Cabin - her cabin - marched down the brackets to land in the middle, ready for tomorrow's championship game. She felt herself swell with pride.

Okay, so it was a silly summer-camp competition. But she had a great cabin this month. There had been the usual traumas with poison ivy, bedwetting, and homesickness, but it was a cabin of girls between the ages of eight and ten. That came with the territory.

Even more, they were the best Capture the Flag team she'd ever had. They communicated well, they played smart, and they'd fought hard to beat their opponents. They deserved the big, tacky trophy that Iris, the head counselor, would present at the last-night bonfire, and the paper certificates that would go home with them the next day.

Her eyes landed on the bracket directly opposite her Birches, and they narrowed.

Walnut.

"So," said a voice at her side. "It is down to you, and it is down to me."

She turned, arms folded over her Camp Bright Star Staff t-shirt, to glare at Cisco Ramon. "Your Walnuts better have a great concession speech ready."

He mirrored her stance, smirking at her. "Oh, my guys will be delighted to write a concession speech for the Birches to use."

She gave a haughty sniff, because she couldn't think of a good reply, and marched away toward her table. She heard his laugh follow her back.

Birch table was happy and chattering, buzzing over their victory today and anticipation of the championship match tomorrow. Caitlin put the water down, checked that Priya had gotten her vegetarian meal (yes) and that Meghyn wasn't sneaking any bread (Caitlin now knew more than she wanted to about the effects of celiac) and that Gracie was actually eating and not pushing her food around on her plate (yes, slowly).

"Campers!" Caitlin said, clapping her hands, and they all looked around. "So, I was just talking to the Walnut counselor, and he seems to think that Walnut is going to be getting that Capture the Flag trophy tomorrow. Is that the case?"

"Nnnnnnoooooooo!" bellowed ten girls and one CIT.

"Who's getting that Capture the Flag trophy?"

"BIIIIIIRCH!!!!" they howled, drawing the attention of the entire mess hall.

Oak Cabin, who'd lost to Walnut a few days ago, laughed. Pine Cabin, who they'd beat today, looked sour. Up at the head table, Barry the sports director was grinning broadly and Iris was shaking her head, suppressing her own smile.

"Darn skippy," Caitlin said, throwing a triumphant look over her shoulder at the Walnut table. Cisco scowled at her, and then leaned in to start whispering with his CIT.

What they were whispering about was made clear as they were dismissed from the mess hall. Usually Walnut straggled down the path to their cabin, chattering and shoving for position, some of them wandering off the path to investigate interesting trees or especially disgusting bugs. Cisco always said, "They'll find their way home eventually."

But today, as Caitlin's campers lined up neatly buddy-system behind her and her CIT, Walnut Cabin lined up next to them, as orderly as a boot camp.

Mei muttered, "What fresh heck is this?"

"No idea," Caitlin muttered back. "What are you doing?" she said to Cisco.

"Just getting some discipline in my ranks," he said airily, "like you're always talking about. Right, Wally?"

"Right," his CIT said, smirking.

Caitlin's campers scowled and folded their arms, as suspicious as she was. Walnut Cabin was the one that was always getting dinged for noise after lights-out and running over their time in the arts and crafts hall. Discipline was about the last thing on their list of priorities.

"A moment, Walnut Counselor?" she said, stepping over to the shade of the mess hall.

"Anything for you, Birch Counselor," he said, following her.

She gave him a deeply suspicious look. "You didn't sabotage our cabin in any way, did you?"

He looked genuinely wounded. "What are we, Hemlock? Walnut plays fair."

"Just checking," she said.

"You didn't put any booby traps on the field, did you?"

"Excuse you? We're Birch, not Butternut."

"Just checking," he said.

He glanced over at their campers, and she followed his lead. They were whispering and giggling amongst themselves, with occasional glares for form’s sake at the other cabin. Wally and Mei were both trying to keep them in line.

"So," Cisco murmured, even quieter, "same time, same place?"

"Wouldn't miss it," she murmured back.

He grinned. "Awesome." He turned on his heel and yelled, "Walnut Cabin, let's get crackin'!"

While Caitlin was still blinking at the abrupt change in volume, he started off down the path. "I don't know but I been told - "

Right on cue, all ten boys began to march after him, shouting back, "I don't know but I been told - "

"Birch Tree Cabin's growing mold!"

"Birch Tree Cabin's growing mold!" A rush of little-boy giggles obscured the last word.

Cisco carried on, smirking over his shoulder as the boys repeated after him. "Walnut kids are big and strong! Beating them won't take too long! Sound off!"

"One two!"

"Sound off!"

"Three four!"

"Sound off!"

"One two three four . . . "

Their voices faded into the woods, leaving Birch Cabin gaping after them. Caitlin shut her mouth with a snap. "Campers," she said. "Let's get back to Birch. We've got strategy to plan."

Cisco meandered along the edge of the Capture the Flag field, considering the game the next day. Birch Cabin was smart, but they played safe, a lot like Caitlin. Cisco encouraged his kids to think outside the box, get creative, take risks. A lot of them ended up in the penalty box and he always had to have bandaids on hand, but it had gotten them to the finals, hadn't it?

He sighed and looked at his watch. Phones didn't work out here. You got half a bar if you were lucky, and forget wifi. She was late. That wasn't like Caitlin. She was never late.

He unhooked his walkie talkie from his belt and considered sending out a call. He'd get a lot of ribbing from the other counselors but it might be worth it.

A pair of hands covered his eyes. "Guess who."

He grinned. "Iris."

"No."

"Barry?"

"No!"

"Hmmmmmmmm. Only one person it could be then." He spun around and kissed Caitlin before she could get away. She giggled against his mouth and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Hey," he said softly, resting his hands on her waist. "Where were you? My lips were getting sad and lonely."

"Awww." She pressed another kiss to them. "Poor lips. I was talking to Joe and Iris."

He frowned at her. "About what? The chant? Oh my god, that was nothing. You should have heard the verses I nixed."

"Not the chant," she said. "The chant was fine. I mean, it got the girls fired up, but it was fine." She kissed him again. She tasted like the honey chapstick she used obsessively. "No, Mei came to me and said they want to start using their pronouns with the campers next session."

"What, really? That's amazing!" Caitlin's CIT had asked all the counselors and CITs to use they/them pronouns during training and setup, but they'd been a little wary about it during session, in front of the kids. Cisco had tripped over his tongue a lot this session.

"Yeah, it's great! I'm really happy for her." She shook her head. "I mean, them. It's a big step."

"So was Joe cool with it?"

"Of course he was. Mei's been coming here since they were little. He's just happy they're comfortable being themselves here. He was talking about some counselor talks this weekend, so we know how to handle it with the kids."

"The kids'll be fine," he said. "It's the parents. It's always the parents."

"I hope so. I mean, not that the parents will be awful. But that the kids will be okay."

"They will. Remember Mei's first session? When we were CITs? Even then they were kind of gender fluid and after the first day or so, that was just Mei."

"Oh, yeah," Caitlin said. "That was so long ago. I was looking at the picture in Joe's office. You were so cute."

"I was, wasn't I?"

She wrinkled her nose at him. "And modest."

"You were cute too."

"Too late," she said.

"Really?" He kissed her. "Am I?" Kiss. "Too late?"

She laughed and kissed him back.

They walked around the edge of the field, holding hands and talking, and occasionally stopping to kiss some more. "I can't believe it's almost the end of the session," Caitlin said wistfully.

"Two more days and then the little demons are out of our hair."

"You're going to cry on Goodbye Day and you know it."

"Oh, man, I'm gonna sob like a baby," Cisco admitted. He loved the kids; he wouldn't be doing this job if he didn't.

She hugged him close. She would be crying as hard as he would in two days' time.

He turned his head to press his lips to her ear. "And then," he murmured, "two whole days and three whole nights of freedom."

"Not exactly freedom," she said. "We have workshops and counselor talks and cleaning and setup - "

"And picnics and parties and trips into town - " He started kissing her neck. "- and all sorts of time, just you and me."

"Mmm. Sounds like you have big plans for intersession."

"I really do. You want a preview?"

"I would love one."

They kissed in the grass until Caitlin's watch buzzed against her wrist. He sat up reluctantly. "Time?"

"Almost." She kissed him once more.

As they straightened their shirts and pulled grass out of each others' hair, Cisco said, "Hey, I don't suppose you found an action figure anywhere? Rohti lost his little buddy and now he's losing his mind."

"Was it Captain America?"

"Yeah! You did?"

She put her hand in her pocket and pulled out the little action figure. "Priya did."

He looked suspicious. "Found it or 'found' it?"

"Actually found it, in the path," Caitlin said. "She's still his big sister, even if they're at each other's throats this summer."

"Awww." He took it, wiping some dirt off Cap's shield. "What's up with them anyway?"

"I really don't know. I don't think they do, either. It's just one of those sibling things."

He helped her up and hooked his arm around her waist as they started walking back toward the cabins. "Well, I hope he doesn't make her feel too bad when Walnut Cabin whups you guys tomorrow."

She elbowed him, but not too hard, so he wouldn't let go of her. "Dream on, mister. Birch is going to destroy you."

FINIS

#Caitlin Snow #Cisco Ramon #killervibe #mosylufanfic lives up to her damn name #AUgust prompts #summer camp AU #flufferiffic #the flash #thatkillervibe

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darlingpetao3 · 6 years

Text

Closure (Harry Wells x Reader)

Rating: T

Summary: What happens when the guy from your past suddenly reappears and comes face to face with your protective boyfriend Harry?

A/N: To be honest guys, I wrote this 100% for me (and wow do I feel messed up 😅). At first, I didn’t think I was going to share it, but then thought aw, why the hell not, eh? I guess I wanted to get this out of my system, like a sort of therapy. Decided not to give the dude a name. Very hurt/comfort. xoxo

For once it was a quiet, drama-free work day at S.T.A.R. Labs.

Nothing needed immediate attention. No new gadgets to be mending or bodies patched up. There also hadn’t been any criminal sightings all day for Barry to chase. Very quiet, indeed. But that didn’t mean your own personal drama wouldn’t interrupt your happy life by tracking you down and stomping on your heart.

“(Y/N)?”

You drop your clipboard in shock. That voice. It could only belong to…

Him.

Turning around ever so slowly, you lay eyes on the guy that broke your heart all those years ago. His hair, his figure, his laid-back attire - he still looks the same - the exact same as the day he left you for a more conveniently located mate. You don’t say anything back. You can’t, somehow.

“You work for S.T.A.R. Labs, now?” he asks. “Wow, I’m impressed. You’ve hit the big time, haven’t you?”

“H-how did you get in here?” is the first thing you say to him after all these years.

He shrugs with a smile. “I just walked in.”

“I don’t… I don’t understand,” you shake your head. “Why are you here?” It makes no sense. Why would he come back here to see you when he apparently never visits the same country twice? Travelling around the world and never settling down. The man from your past moves closer to you, appearing half cocky, half amused at your reaction.

“I wanted to know if you were willing to give us another try?”’

“W-what?” you splutter your confusion. “What about... your girlfriend?”

Truthfully, you had nothing against the woman. She was beautiful. Model-like, really. You’d never met her, only heard about her abruptly one day when this older man who had been stringing you along told you he now had a serious girlfriend.

So what were you to him after all that time? That was the forever unanswered question. Of course, he kept you around his little finger until it was clear he was making you “the other woman.” Something you never wanted to be in your entire life.

“It didn’t work out,” he says. “We broke up about six months ago.” You aren’t sure whether his tone is sad or optimistic.

“Oh.” You are not sorry for him, of that much you’re sure.

“So what do you say? I’ve been thinking about you... Do you remember the night we met?”

At this exact moment, Harry enters the room, hearing this last sentence. His face shows he’s on high alert.

“(Y/N)? Who is... this?” Harry asks, moving closer to your side to put a hand on your back. A territorial move.

“Uh…” you go blank, but the guy from your past introduces himself to your boyfriend. Harry nods slowly in understanding.

“Harrison Wells,” he replies, ignoring the clear invitation to a handshake. Harry pulls you a little closer. Another protective action.

“Wait, (Y/N), are you seeing this guy?” the jerk asks, pointing a finger between you two.

“Yes. I am.” You smile up at Harry, your rock, who takes your hand in support to let you know he’ll keep this bastard away.

“How old are you, anyway, man?”

“Old enough to still be able to give you swift ass-kicking,” Harry replies in a warning tone, his eyes staring daggers back at the guy. The age difference between you and this guy was already noticeable. But you and Harry? Even more so. But that’s the thing - it didn’t matter. Age never mattered to you. Just as long as you were loved and nobody loved and cared for you as deeply as Harry.

“Are you seriously with this dude?” the guy asks you. “Jesus, you really do have a thing for older guys, don’t you?”

“Watch it,” Harry snarls.

“I could take you.”

Harry laughs dangerously. No, he couldn’t.

“What’s so funny?”

“Mr. Parkour is going to take me down? Yeah, that’s hilarious.”

“You have no idea what I’m capable of…”

“Okay, listen,” you jump in, finding your voice, “I’m going to have to politely ask you to leave.”

“(Y/N), I’ve changed and I’m willing to stay for you. I promise I won’t go-”

Harry grabs the guy’s arm. “She might have politely asked you to leave, but I won’t.”

“Who are you to get in the way of something great?”

“Who am I-? You broke her heart! I was the one to pick up the pieces!”

“Ohhh,” the guy draws out the word as if in realization, “so you’re the rebound fuck, then? Wonderful. That means I still have a chance.”

“How dare you!” you roar at that accusation, lunging at him because you’re about to rip him limb from limb. Harry has to hold you back. “I never want to see you again as long as I live!”

“You say that…” He backs away slowly out of the Cortex. “Skype me when this one keels over,” he says with a wink.

When he turns the corner, you let out a wretched sob and go to fall to your knees but Harry catches you in his arms. You turn and bury your face into his chest, clutching his soft black shirt for dear life. Tears sting your eyes and soak into his dark fabric. You let the tears fall and your cries go, feeling safe in his arms. Nothing else matters now. You have your Harry.

And he’ll always be there to put your pieces back together.

A/N: Welp, in actuality: the dude still has his girlfriend, Harry made his Cap work too well, and I’m hopelessly in love with this fictional character and write obsessively about him... so you tell me who the real winner is, here!

#reader insert #harrison wells x reader #harrison wells imagine #harrison wells fanfiction #harry wells x reader #harry wells imagine #earth-2 Harrison Wells X reader #earth-2 Harrison Wells imagine #the flash imagine #the flash fanfiction

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killervibe · 6 years

Text

The Snow Project

Notes: So I’m late for Day 3- Time Travelling, but the good news is that this means you’re getting two fics from me today!!! Here’s yesterday’s theme! I really liked this idea...Enjoy! Also, I’m having WAY too much fun with the abundance of fic. I wish EVERY week was Killervibe week!!!

@killervibedaily

The Snow Project

Cisco was in the middle of sketching a prototype for the Quantum Electric Multiplier Gun when Barry sped into the Cortex.

“Hey,” Barry said, “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

Cisco looked at his garbage drawing and gladly pushed it away. “Yeah, What’s up?”

“Joe just told me about a really puzzling meta case at CCPD.”

Cisco looked intrigued. “Why is it so puzzling?”

Barry’s face lit up. “So this pedestrian, Nolan Fisher, about 50 years old, gets into a car accident, right? He was walking across the street with his eyes glued to his phone so he didn’t realize he was walking into ongoing traffic.”

“Okay…”

“Get this,” Barry said, getting all excited. “He loses an arm!”

Cisco’s mouth dropped in horror, “That’s terrible!”

“No, it isn’t!” Barry objected, “Because he gets in the ambulance and the paramedics realize they can just,” Barry made a funny gesture with his hands, “Pop! Attach his arm back where it was just like that! No blood no nothing! Just like that he gained complete motion of his arm!”

“What?” Cisco screeched. “You mean like a mannequin?” Cisco paused. “Mr. Mannequin, that’s a good one.”

“Uh huh,” Barry nodded, “And it gets crazier. This guy claims he had this from birth. And not just that, his whole family can do it. His mother, father, maternal cousin…”

Cisco frowned, “But how is that possible? Metas only started appearing due to the particle accelerator or Devoe’s bus metas.”

“And the similarity in both were the dark matter,” Barry agreed. “But this guy’s medical tests show none.”

“There are more metas out there,” Cisco said. It’s not a question. It would’ve been, two years ago, but not anymore. Not since Cisco vibed with Caitlin her repressed memory where she had turned into Killer Frost as a kid. Caitlin asked him not to tell anyone, so he hadn’t. He kept quiet, but now he wondered if maybe he should be speaking up.

Barry threw his hands in the air, “Maybe there were other types of metas this whole time!” He looked around the room, realizing it was quieter than usual. Ralph was away in Wisconsin but... “Wait, where’s Caitlin?”

Cisco sighed, “She’s sick. She caught a cold so she’s staying home. Ha! That’s ironic.”

“Okay,” Barry said slowly, and you could tell he was calculating something in his mind. “Okay, that’s good actually.”

Cisco scrunched up his face in confusion. “You want Caitlin to be sick? That’s not being a good friend…”

“No, there’s a reason.”

Barry sat down next to Cisco and explained to him that apparently there was a doctor who researched into the possibility of superpowered humans about seventeen years ago with several examples. It was pretty much ignored by academia and dismissed as a joke paper, buried away. It was obvious however, based off descriptions of abilities, that one of them was a relative of Nolan Fisher. The problem? The contact information on the file was an old phone number and home address for the doctor, which was great. Except for the fact the research was published posthumously after the doctor’s long battle with multiple sclerosis.

“Who was the doctor?” Cisco asked.

Barry looked down at the brown folder. He opened it, then silently slid the papers across the table to Cisco.

Mr. Ethan Snow.

Cisco’s eyes widened. “Caitlin’s dad?”

“Yeah. Does Caitlin ever talk about him?”

“No,” Cisco admitted, “I know his death hit her hard, it inspired her to become a doctor, but it was also the driving force that put a wedge in the relationship Caitlin had with her mom.”

Barry worried his bottom lip into his mouth, giving Cisco a look.

Cisco knew where this was going.

“You want to go back in time and meet him, don’t you?”

Barry at least had the audacity to look sheepish. “Before you freak out, I asked Jay Garrick. If we meet him several months before he dies, Jay said us being there shouldn’t have much impact if we’re careful.”

Cisco mulled it over. He was still stunned. Caitlin’s dad. That was really interesting. It seemed too coincidental, for this to not have anything to do with Killer Frost. The more he thought about it, the more bothered he got. If Caitlin’s father knew about her, he should’ve told her. Maybe it could’ve helped, if Caitlin was prepared…

“I’m in,” Cisco said. “But we’re not telling Cait.”

Barry nodded, “I know you don’t want to keep secrets from her, but I think that’s the wisest choice.”

Cisco started to get excited. He heard all of Barry’s adventures from time travelling and after the Flashpoint fiasco. Unless he quit Team Flash and joined the Legends, he always thought it was something he’d never get to experience.

Cisco took a deep breath. “When do we leave?”

~.~

It’s 2004, and the first thing Cisco does is pull a Diggle and puke into a public garbage can.

“I’m sorry man,” Barry said apologetically as Cisco gagged.

It took a minute for Cisco’s stomach to settle. “I’m usually good with your speed travels but we were going really fast.”

Barry found a map somehow and located Caitlin’s old home address. They were using the face morphing tech made for H.R. so to not alter anything should they run into Caitlin.

Hopefully they won’t. It’s the middle of the day and she should be in middle school.

Cisco flexed his fingers and opened a breach. They ended up right in front of Caitlin’s house.

To use the word house was being modest. It was a mansion.

They both took a minute to soak it in.

Cisco whistled softly, “Damn, I knew Caitlin’s family had money but this house is…”

“Bitchin?” Barry joked, nudging him forward, “Come on, let’s go.”

They ring the doorbell and a middle aged nurse opens the door. Barry told her they’re visitors for Dr. Snow and the nurse beamed delightedly.

“It’s been a long time since he’s gotten any visitors from young people like you. Sickness scares people away, you know. It’s a shame, really. How about I go for my lunch and leave you with him for an hour? He’s having a good day. If you need anything, you can ask Meyrielle, the cleaning lady. She’s in the basement. Mr. Snow is in the living room.”

She stopped after she grabbed her purse.

“Who did you say you were, again?”

“We used to work with him when we were residents,” Cisco made up on the spot.

“Oh, that’s nice!” The nurse gave them another sunny smile and left.

Barry and Cisco shared a look. That was ridiculously easy.

They walked down the luxurious hallways with mahogany wooden floors and walls lined with what looked like expensive original paintings.

“Caitlin’s mom has an interesting taste of interior design,” Cisco mumbled as they made their way to the living room.

Barry knocked on the side of the door and peered in.

There was Dr. Snow, the Mister Dr. Snow, on the couch watching television.

Cisco marvelled. Caitlin looked a lot like him. He was very thin in places people only were when they were chronically sick, and he hunched over himself in an awkward angle. But he still had a full head thick of Caitlin’s brown hair. They had the same complexion, and a very similar face shape as well. A wheelchair was next to him and there were many pills in a pouch on the adjacent coffee table. Cisco was rather surprised, he was bracing for him to appear a lot worse.

“Hello, Dr. Snow? I’m Barry Allen and this is Cisco Ramon. We came to ask you some questions about something sensitive regarding your research and we were wondering if you had the moment to talk with us about it.”

Dr. Snow perked up immediately. “Oh, I’d love to discuss medicine with you. I miss practicing.”

Barry glanced at Cisco who nodded. They agreed to just go ahead and tell him everything. The man only had two months left to live and it was unlikely he would deny their story if Barry and Cisco could show him their powers to prove it.

“Bear with us,” Cisco warned, “This is going to sound crazy.”

Barry retold the entire tale. The time travelling, him being struck by lightning due to the particle accelerator explosion, his job at CCPD, including the particle accelerator explosion and being best friends with Caitlin. Finally, Barry asked about the Fisher case and what Dr. Snow thought about genetically hereditary powers.

Dr. Snow listened carefully throughout and explained his theory of mutant genes being a genetic possibility for having powers from birth.

“You mean like the X-Men?”

Dr. Snow nodded. “Maybe Stan Lee’s comics aren’t so fantastical after all. I believe although rare, there might have been...Metahumans as you say...Since the beginning of time.”

Barry was leaning forward absorbing every word that came out of Dr. Snow’s mouth, reminding Cisco a lot of how he used to act around evil Wells.

“How on Earth did you get so involved with this?” Barry wondered outloud.

Something twisted in Cisco’s gut. No matter how awesome Caitlin’s dad seemed, he was still hiding this from his daughter. How could he say all of this to two people he just met but not Caitlin, who should know?

“Because of Caitlin!” Cisco blurted out, and Barry turned to Cisco, wide-eyed.

Dr. Snow was so shocked he began to cough and he shouted out in pain.

“I know that you know about Caitlin’s secret,” Cisco confided. “I understand you want to protect your daughter, but keeping her in the dark about this isn’t a good idea—”

“That’s enough, Cisco,” Barry cut him off, immediately apologizing to Dr. Snow, and tending to his side.

“I’m fine boys,” Dr. Snow waved off, but Barry asked Cisco to get him some water from the kitchen anyways.

“Please, let’s keep this secret between us,” he requested, his voice a little horse, as Cisco left the room.

Cisco was glad for the excuse to leave. Being here felt wrong. He was sorry he came. Cisco had to do something. He could feel it in his bones, there’s no way that he’s leaving 2004 without altering the timeline in some way. He realized these were a dying man’s last wishes to respect, but it also went completely against everything he stood for when it came to Caitlin: Doing what was best for her.

Cisco had his hand on the fridge handle when footsteps went thundering down the stairs.

Cisco froze.

A young girl shy of fifteen made her way through the house. She wore blue jean shorts and a yellow spaghetti tank. Her hair was in a ponytail and she looked downright frazzled.

It was Caitlin. Oh god. It was fourteen year old Caitlin. Cisco couldn’t breathe.

“Daddy?” She called, rushing past Cisco so fast she didn’t even notice a stranger was in her kitchen.

“Daddy are you okay, what’s the matter?”

Cisco could hear Dr. Snow reassuring her from the living room that he was alright but it was clear she wasn’t taking no for an answer.

It went quiet for a while, undoubtedly her father and Barry diverting questions about who Barry was and what he was doing.

“I’m getting you water,” she informed, and marched into the kitchen.

Cisco knew he was wearing a different face but he still felt utterly exposed.

“Why are there two strangers in my house?” Young Caitlin snapped.

“I’m also visiting,” Cisco told her. She opened a cupboard for a glass. Cisco opened the fridge and handed her a water bottle, trying not to stare at her like a creep.

He glanced at the time on their fancy electrical stove. “Shouldn’t you be at school?”

Caitlin’s face was very matter of fact as she poured the water from the bottle into the glass. She added some vitamin tablets and said, “I can stay home sometimes when Dad is having a good day. We don’t know how many of those he’ll have left.”

“You don’t seem to be the type to miss school,” he couldn’t help but say. Caitlin, his Caitlin, who managed two doctorates and a PhD in what…? Five years? She must’ve skipped some grades in high school. Cisco skipped two. That rigorous work ethic made even taking an early dismissal for a dentist appointment in eighth grade sound impossible.

Caitlin shrugged, “I don’t mind not going as long as I get the homework.”

Ah yes, there she is.

Caitlin continued, “Besides, there’s this girl, Lexi, she torments me at school for who knows why. Why would I want to spend my days there when I can be with him, right?”

No wonder Caitlin didn’t talk much about her life before college. This all just seemed so sad.

Cisco rested his chin on the palm of his hand and leaned his elbow against the marble counter, fascinated by this version of his best friend.

“You seem like a smart girl. What do you want to be when you grow up?”

Caitlin lit up, “A zoologist!”

Cisco snorted. The glare Caitlin shot him was a fetus compared to some of the ones he receives at Star Labs now.

“What about a doctor?” Cisco asked.

“Eh,” She sounded disinterested, “we’ve got enough Dr. Snows around here. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to give this to Dad.”

Cisco watched Caitlin go.

Barry walked into the kitchen as Caitlin walked out. He swiveled around her awkwardly in the doorway looking down at her and then up at Cisco repeatedly mouthing out Cait! and So Freaky! accompanied with many weirded out facial expressions.

“I got what I needed,” Barry said out loud, pulling out a high stool from the kitchen island to sit on.

“That’s great,” Cisco told him, sounding a little flat.

“I’m really confused,” Barry admitted, “How does Dr. Snow know anything about KF?”

Cisco took a deep breath. “I vibed it with her the day we defeated DeVoe. It turns out...Caitlin’s first encounter with KF in fact happened four years ago, as in 2000. Not 2017,” he whispered. “She’s been repressing the memory.”

Barry’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head, “What the hell?”

“He knows Barry, he knew this entire time and just let her go on by herself.” Cisco was so anguished. Barry patted his shoulder sympathetically.

“It sounds like he’s trying to do the right thing. He really doesn’t want her to be burdened with this fear. Can’t you imagine how scary that would be for a teenager?”

Cisco knew to some extent that Barry was right. Still, it didn’t sit well with him. It would be so easy to fix it all right there and then. If Killer Frost is triggered psychologically, wouldn’t being mentally prepared for her arrival actually work to keep her at bay?

“Can’t we do something?”

Barry sighed. He got up quickly, looked left and right and then flashed Cisco out the house.

Barry started scolding Cisco in front of the Snow’s peonies.

“You know the answer to that already. We should be going. Now.”

“Please, Barry,” Cisco pleaded, “She’s had so much pain in her life. What if we could change that?”

“You’re not getting it,” Barry cried, “It’s because of me time travelling to try and save my mom that I screwed up the timeline! If it wasn’t for my interference, Caitlin never would’ve been Killer Frost to begin with!”

“And if we don’t do something now, she’ll run away terrified of Killer Frost in sixteen years because we kept our mouths shut instead of helping our best friend!”

“Anything dealing with Killer Frost is too risky!”

“Maybe it’s a risk I’m willing to take,” Cisco replied stubbornly.

Barry crossed his arms across his chest.

“Like Dante?”

The hurt on Cisco’s face was so evident Barry could’ve slapped him and it wouldn’t have looked any different.

“I’m sorry,” Barry apologized genuinely.

Cisco sat down in the grass, stunned into silence.

“That’s what happens when you tamper with fixed events,” Barry explained softly, ridding the patronizing tone from his voice this time.

“I know how much you care about Caitlin,” he continued, “I should’ve known this would be incredibly hard for you to stand back and watch. I shouldn’t have asked you to come with me.”

“I wanted to see a slice of Caitlin’s life when I assumed would’ve been a happier time. But when I spoke to her...She’s had it so hard, man. Since the beginning. All I can think about when I’m in this house is how she’s going to lose her father and then she’s going to fall out with her mom and then she’s going to lose Ronnie and her career. Her entire life has been like this.”

Barry kicked some fancy fertilized dirt. “I know.”

“I just wish we could do something.”

“I know,” Barry said again.

Cisco squinted at the 2004 sky. “Hey,” he said, an idea forming in the back of his mind as a Ferrari blasting Usher’s Yeah! drove by. “Maybe we can.”

~.~

They went back inside. They waited for Caitlin to go to the bathroom for Cisco apologized and promised Dr. Snow he’d keep the secret for Caitlin to find out—-If she ever does—In 2018 and not 2004. They also showed him some pictures of Team Flash and their Caitlin from their phones and reassured him that, all in all, Caitlin was happy and successful. He should be proud.

Dr. Snow brushed away tears, eternally grateful.

He really was a nice man. Cisco had to turn away for a moment to collect his emotions. If only Caitlin could have one more moment with him. Cisco shook his head, clearing his thoughts. He couldn’t even tell her about it.

They waved goodbye to Caitlin as she returned with blankets and snacks to cuddle up with her father and watch a VHS.

“Hey,” Cisco said to Caitlin, who looked up from the television to him.

“Don’t give up, okay? Promise?”

Young Caitlin smiled a little, intrigued if not slightly confused.

“Promise the young man,” Dr. Snow nudged at his daughter, teasing her.

“...I Promise?”

Cisco hid his smile. “That’s all I wanted to hear.”

They left the house as the nurse came back from her lunch. “Aww, leaving already?” She pouted.

“Yeah, we’re pressed for time,” Barry told her, and they quickened their paces down the Snows cobblestone walkway.

“Come again!” The nurse called cheerfully.

~.~

Central East Middle School was just beginning their after school cheerleading practice of the day when Cisco breached right in front of Lexi Laroche and her stupid clique gossiping under the bleachers.

The girls all screamed.

“Hi!” Cisco enthused, “Which one of you little snakes is Lexi Laroche?”

The leader of the group stood up on wobbly legs. “Me.”

“I’m a superhero from the future,” Cisco said, “And I got informed that you bully Caitlin Snow.”

Lexi Laroche turned white. “I wouldn’t call it bullying…” She stammered. How quaint, Cisco thought, she had a french accent to accompany the French last name.

Cisco threw a vibe blast at a soccer ball. All of the air exploded out of the ball. The girls jumped, then huddled together. “Yeah,” Cisco said sarcastically, “And I wouldn’t call that exploding a soccer ball with my bare hands.”

Lexi gulped.

“This is what’s going to happen. You’re going to read this pamphlet about the dangers of bullying. It has a whole list of ugly things nobody wants to be called or have done to, but guess what? You did those. And you said that. There are far better things to do with your life. Like, say, expand your wardrobe beyond hot pink juicy couture sweatpants and bubblegum pink tube tops.”

Cisco pulled out the bullying pamphlet from his Vibe Jacket and gave it to her.

“Next, you’re going to stay away from Caitlin. I don’t want to see you behaving despicably like that to Caitlin or any other girl. Is that clear?”

Lexi Laroche nodded her head so fast she looked like a bobble head.

Cisco put his hands on his hips, satisfied. He seemed to have caught their attention well enough. He didn’t want to traumatize them.

“Good.” He opened a breach. “Bye.”

~.~

Barry brought them back to 2018.

As soon as Barry was certain Cisco wasn’t going to get dizzy and faint, he went straight to CCPD with his new information.

On the other hand, Cisco breached to a certain sick friend’s apartment.

Cisco walked down the hall towards Caitlin’s room. The lights were shut off and she was fast asleep.

He turned on her bedside table lamp and knelt on the floor next to her sleeping form. He whispered for her to wake up, placing a hand on her forehead.

No fever, that’s good.

She opened an eye and mumbled a groggy hello at Cisco. He waited for her to get her bearings and sit up in her bed. Cisco would’ve normally sat on her bed if she was injured or upset in the past, but she’s sick and he really doesn’t want her germs so he pulled up a chair instead.

“How are you feeling?”

Caitlin swallowed purposely and blinked a few more times, obviously attempting to come up with an adequate self-evaluation. “Better.”

“Good to hear,” Cisco threw a paper bag onto her lap.

She raised an eyebrow. “What’s this?”

Cisco bounced in his seat, “Just open it!”

Caitlin emptied the bag and out fell a box of cookies.

Caitlin gaped, “Choco-Hearties!? I thought they don’t make these anymore! Cisco!!” She slapped at his arm excitedly, “These were my favorite cookies growing up. How did you find them?”

Caitlin busied herself with opening the flaps and stuffed two in her mouth right away.

“I don’t even care that this hurts my throat,” she mumbled happily around her mouthful.

Cisco laughed, very much proud of his accomplishment. Also very glad that Caitlin was still too tired to notice Cisco blacked out the expiry date.

“Hey,” Cisco said casually, three Brooklyn-Nine-Nine episodes later. Caitlin was getting drowsy and her cookie box was three-thirds eaten. Cisco tried one and he too now understood why she wrote a letter of complaint to the company in ninth grade. Good thing he bought two more.

Caitlin hummed in response.

“I ran into one of my childhood bullies today, it reminded me of what you said about that girl who put gum in your hair, what was her name? Alexis?”

Caitlin frowned. “Lexi? She picked on me for maybe three months in eighth and then stopped bothering me. I heard she moved to France...Cisco I’m sorry I’m really tired.”

Cisco ran his hand through her hair and tried to keep the silly grin out of his voice. “That’s alright. You sleep. I’ll check on you tomorrow.”

FIN.

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