Work Text:
As the morning sunrise peaked it way through the vertical blinds, Cynthia began to stir. She tried to roll over but that was a near impossible feat with the three other bodies squished together on their bed. Their first night together, Iris had sworn that they would never fit and Cisco was concerned that they might suffocate to death with all that body heat but somehow they managed to make it work.
Barry lay on one end with Iris’s back pressed against his chest. His arm was draped over both Cynthia and Iris who lay with her face buried in Cynthia’s neck. Cisco had Cynthia as his little spoon and was snoring softly at the other end. Their clothes were strewn all over the room having been carelessly discarded the night before.
She knew she was breaking every rule that both her world had for her and she had to herself. Her job was to uphold the law and bring justice to all those who deserved it and she swore after her last partner was killed that she wouldn’t let anyone get in the way of that. She also wasn’t even supposed to be on this earth—she could actually be killed for it. But somehow here she was on earth 1 surrounded by people that she could never have imagined she would fall for.
Sometimes she wondered if it was worth it. What would happen if someone noticed that she was making one too many trips or Earth-1 or that she now had a habit of disappearing for longer than usual. Or worse, what if one, or all of the people she was seeing decided they were done with her. How was she supposed to go back to her earth and her empty apartment? How could she put herself in such a situation where she had so much to lose?
When she first met Cisco, she had an instant physical connection to him. The powers that she felt coursing through her constantly seemed to resonate with him in a way that she had never experienced before. She was instantly drawn to him and as much as she wanted to pretend that it wasn’t the case, she knew that their lives were probably going to be intertwined forever.
Barry and Iris were a little different. She had no intention of having any feelings for either of them but soon she found herself spending more and more time with them and it became hard to deny the feelings she started to develop. Suddenly they had movie nights where the four of them where sprawled around the living room watching cult classics where Cisco could recite the whole movie and as a result would get pillows playfully thrown at him throughout. Then there were days when Cynthia would find herself on coffee dates with Iris before the two of them met up with the boys at STAR labs. Or there were the nights when Cynthia found herself up at ungodly hours talking to Barry about everything and nothing at all. So when the group of them decided to try this thing out, Cindy was skeptical but knew that this was the most natural and logical step for them. And truth be told, since then, they had been nothing but loving to her.
They all could sense her insecurity though. She felt like she was the outsider trying to fit in. Barry and Iris had been in love with each other for the longest and Cisco was easily the most lovable person she had ever met so he molded together with them so easily. Cynthia on the other hand wasn’t as much of an open book. That’s not to say that she wasn’t a loving person, it just wasn’t as easy for her to show. So how was she supposed to fit in with a group of people who pretty much radiated warmth and kindness?
But Cisco, Barry, and Iris didn’t see it that way. So maybe there were a few more layers with Cynthia that they had to pull back but they didn’t view that as a weakness or a burden. They were happy to have her and they loved her regardless of all the reasons she could come with why they shouldn’t.
So as she lay there, thoughts running through her head at a mile a minute, Cynthia felt warm lips press behind her ear and arms tighten around her waist. She let out a breath that she didn’t know she had been holding in. Cisco didn’t speak a word but they both knew he was able to recognize what she was thinking. Iris, who was still mostly asleep, snuggled up closer to her and sighed contently. Barry, who was the lightest sleeper must have felt her move and woken up. But he also didn’t say a word, just reached his arm over and traced small circles on Cynthia’s arm.
And so that’s how they worked. They were in tune with each other’s feelings and concerns and were always there to reassure each other that they were wanted and important. Cynthia never had too much time to worry about things going wrong because they made sure that she knew just how important and loved she truly was.