Archive of Our Own

Cisco’s apartment was nice. Mounds View was slightly out of the city centre, so his rent wasn’t quite as much, but it was close enough he had easy access to everything. It was just it wasn’t exactly close to S.T.A.R. Labs. But that was fine, the bus was fine, and the bus ran late enough it would still be fine now he’d agreed to work the night shift. Maybe. At least he wasn’t working Fridays so he wouldn’t have to find out what the almost one bus looked like on a Friday. He was assuming not great.

And Doctor Wells had said he could sort a company car out for Cisco. It might take a little while for it all to go through, but a company car would mean he wouldn’t have to rely on the bus. He just hadn’t driven for a while. Not since-

It wasn’t that far from S.T.A.R. Labs. Doctor Wells wouldn’t mind Cisco stopping off on his way to put some flowers down. He still couldn’t believe it had been five months already. His mother had picked the lilies, but Cisco was going to put them at the spot.

He bowed his head for a few minutes. He and Dante might not have been the best of friends, but at least he’d been there. He’d only been there because he was on his way to pick Cisco up. If he’d just got the bus after his interview instead-

“I was late,” he heard someone whisper from the alley. That almost sounded like- “If I’d been five minutes earlier-”

“I get it,” another voice Cisco didn’t recognise said.

“Hello?” Cisco asked. “Is someone there?”

“What?” the second voice asked. “No, don’t you, don’t- Why.”

A lanky guy with glasses stumbled out the alley and waved.

“Um,” he said. “Hi.”

“Who are you?” Cisco asked.

“I apologise for any distress,” he said. He pulled out a card and showed Cisco. “Barry Allen, I’m with C.C.P.D.”

“This says you’re a C.S.I.”

“Yes,” Mister Allen said. “I am.”

“It’s one in the morning.”

“I work night shift? Why are you here at one in the morning?”

“I work night shift at S.T.A.R. Labs, I’m on my way to work.”

“Let me walk you,” Mister Allen said. “There’s all sorts around here at night, trust me.”

“You still haven’t explained why you’re here,” Cisco said.

“Investigating a cold case. Just double checking for evidence, you know.”

“Right,” Cisco said. “Who were you talking to?”

“What? Oh, um, I was on the phone, to, um, my colleague.”

“You’re not a good liar. Are you actually a C.S.I.?”

“Yes,” Mister Allen said. “I showed you my laminate. I was talking to my colleague about a case we’ve been working on that took place here, so it’s not important unless you know anything about-”

“I’m Cisco Ramon,” Cisco said. “Dante Ramon’s brother.”

“Oh. I am so sorry for your loss. I actually am working on a different case-”

“You’re lying.”

“What? How could you- Okay, I cannot talk to you properly now, this isn’t a professional setting, and I’m a C.S.I., not a detective, I rarely deal with the people involved in cases themselves, and we only have one little piece of information, it might be nothing, but I am here to see how feasible it was rather than just throw it out. We have plenty of tip-offs a year which are false information or rumours, but we investigate everything, we’d rather investigate six dead ends than lose one credible piece of information. If you really really want to talk about this, or you have information you think might be relevant, I recommend you contact Detective Ralph Dibny. I can give you a number if that helps.”

“It would,” Cisco said. Mister Allen sighed, then scribbled something in his notebook he must have been holding already because Cisco didn’t see him pull it out from anywhere. He ripped the page out and held it out to Cisco. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it,” Mister Allen said. “The offer of walking you to S.T.A.R. Labs is still open.”

“I’ll be fine,” Cisco said. “It’s only around the corner.”

“Then once again, I am sorry for your loss, and I’m sure if we have any strong leads someone will be in touch, but I know you don’t want to hear it, but there is a strong chance this might be nothing. Some cases don’t get solved for years, if ever. And maybe it was just an accident.”

“I know,” Cisco said. “I need to go to work.”

“Of course.” Mister Allen turned back to the alley and Cisco walked away. “I was being realistic.”

“I’m glad you didn’t follow your dad into medicine,” the other voice said. It really did sound like Dante, but when Cisco turned around again, Mister Allen was gone, and presumably alley voice was too.

He’d left the piece of paper for a week. Mister Allen was probably right about it going nowhere. Especially if no one had contacted them. And he hadn’t mentioned it to his parents.

But he had got the number. And he’d rather know than not.

He’d dropped by Jitters Saturday morning before heading out to do groceries. At least having a company car didn’t mean he had to bring it all back on the bus. Even though going back on the bus would save the traffic.

He didn’t even see the guy before bumping into him.

“I am so sorry,” Cisco said. At least neither of them had been holding coffee.

“It was my fault,” the guy said. “I wasn’t watching where I was going. I’m Ray.” He beamed.

“Cisco,” Cisco said.

“I hope you have a nice day, Cisco,” Ray said. “Sorry for bumping into you.”

Ray wandered out of Jitters with no coffee. Maybe he’d drunk it in the shop.

“Can I help you?” the barista asked, and Cisco forgot about Ray to go order his drink.

Ray was not the only person Cisco bumped into. No one else introduced themselves, but some of these people were familiar.

Maybe he should call Detective Dibny. Because he was pretty sure someone was following him. Or multiple people, but they must all be working for the same person. There was something about all of them Cisco couldn’t put his finger on. Except now everywhere he went he felt like there were people following him and his skin kept crawling.

Finding Mister Allen unconscious outside S.T.A.R. Labs was not helpful.

Cisco should leave him. Right? But he worked for the police, and something had clearly happened if he was unconscious.

Cisco tapped his shoulder and he shot back quickly and bared fangs. He slapped his hand over his mouth and looked horrified at Cisco.

“Um,” Cisco said. “What?”

“We cannot talk here,” Mister Allen said. Half past eight in the morning there were people starting to arrive for their shifts and people looking over at them.

“I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“Fair,” Mister Allen said. “I don’t suppose you’d believe that I’m drunk.”

“No,” Cisco said. “Why are your teeth like that?”

“Not here.”

“I want the truth.”

“I’m a vampire,” he blurted out, then covered his mouth again. “Not here, please.”

“I’m definitely not going anywhere with you now,” Cisco said. “You might drink my blood.”

“Eww, why would I do that?” Mister Allen asked. Cisco raised his eyebrow. “Oh right. Actually, there are only three known species of vampire bat, most bats are insectivores. Fruit bats are also far more common.”

“Great,” Cisco said. “Which one are you named after?”

“Fine.” Mister Allen got up and tucked a piece of paper into Cisco’s shirt. “I’m not explaining anything here. You want explanations, you can meet me there. Not between one and nine though, I have work then.”

Mister Allen shot off, running so fast he practically vanished.

Cisco looked at the second piece of paper. Calling Detective Dibny would probably be the smart thing to do. He should absolutely not go and meet a vampire. His dad would be furious. And the address Mister Allen had given him was in Lawrence Hills. Lawrence Hills had a reputation. It was the most deprived area of Central, and they were always talking about the crime rate in Lawrence Hills compared to the city on the news.

He was curious though. And free Saturday.

Whitehawk Crescent was tucked away in a little corner of Lawrence Hills, behind some much taller buildings. And the apartment building looked old. But he pressed the buzzer for the number Mister Allen had given him.

“Hmm?” a voice asked.

“It’s Cisco Ramon?” Cisco asked. “Barry Allen gave me this address?”

“Oh, right,” Mister Allen said. “Hang on. I’m on the third floor but you probably want the stairs, not the elevator.”

He buzzed the door open and Cisco headed in. The building looked slightly nicer from inside. It was clean at least.

He walked up the stairs and knocked on the door for room 302. Mister Allen opened in in shorts and a mostly unbuttoned shirt with very messy hair. He yawned.

“Hey,” he said. “Come in. Do you want coffee or tea or something?”

Cisco followed him in, and Mister Allen shut the door. The room was almost pitch black with thick blackout blinds across the windows and no lights on. Mister Allen yawned again, then rushed across the room to pull one of the blinds for Cisco. He smiled and gestured at the room.

“You can sit anywhere; I’ll make you coffee or something. I have chamomile tea?”

“Um,” Cisco said. “The tea sounds good, thanks.”

“One chamomile tea,” Mister Allen said. He went over to a small corner that was obviously the kitchen with the room now bathed in sunlight. Cisco perched in one of the chairs and waited. Mister Allen handed him the tea then nodded. “Just let me get dressed, then we can talk.”

He darted out the room and Cisco waited. It wasn’t a big apartment. There was a shelf of books, a small television, the kitchen was in the corner with a tiny table, and the only chairs were the small armchair Cisco was sat in and three chairs around the small table. It was clean though, and it looked completely ordinary.

Mister Allen walked back in dressed in a shirt and jeans with his glasses on. He pulled one of the chairs around the table out and sat on it.

“So,” he said. “How’s it going?”

“Is this where you live?” Cisco asked.

“The rent’s cheap and I have nice neighbours,” Mister Allen shrugged.

“Nice neighbours like they-”

“Like they’re the sort of neighbours you can go and ask if you’ve unexpectedly run out of sugar, and who understand I work nightshift so usually I am not awake during the day so they don’t bother me, and sometimes I’ll help the kids with the homework if they need it,” Mister Allen said.

“Do they know you’re a you know what?”

“No, that’s a secret. I shouldn’t have told you and I don’t know what you did to make me, but I don’t appreciate it, thanks.”

“I didn’t do anything,” Cisco said.

“Sure,” he said. Now there was proper light Cisco could take him in better. His teeth were sharp, but his fangs weren’t as noticeable now, and his hair was still scruffy and fluffy and now tucked behind his ears, which it couldn’t have been before, because his ears were huge, and pointed. Other than that, he looked human.

Or he did until he grabbed an orange from the table and bit into it instead of peeling it.

“Um,” Cisco said. “So. You’re a vampire.”

“Yes,” Mister Allen said. He put his now shrivelled orange down. “And you can’t tell anyone.”

“I’m pretty sure people have a right to know there are vampires in-”

“A vampire,” Mister Allen said. “It’s possible the one who bit me is still in Central, but there’s been no sign of him, so I’m the only known vampire in Central City.”

“But there must be other people who know about this if you know that?”

“I’m not telling you anything about them. Do not magic me.”

“I told you, I didn’t-”

“I’m willing to believe you’re not a Snuffer,” Mister Allen said. “Dante would have mentioned it.”

“You knew my brother?”

“Long story.”

“I want to hear it.”

“I can’t tell you without breaking a promise. I won’t do that, Cisco. Ask me anything else.”

“All right,” Cisco said. “How did you become a vampire?”

“Some dick jumped me in an alley and bit me, and the next day I woke up hypersensitive to sunlight with stomach cramps, severe toothache, and generally felt awful with an urge to bite something myself. I thought it was rabies until I didn’t die, then I thought maybe iron deficiency with the odd cravings, so I ate two bowls of spinach and also a moth that was flying around.”

“How long ago was this?”

“Three months ago.”

“Oh,” Cisco said. “How did you know you were...”

“A doctor. More than that falls under things I won’t tell you.”

“Because you can’t break a promise. What happens if you do?”

“I feel really bad? I’m not Folk, I’m not bound by their Laws, I’ve been a vampire for three months, I don’t even know how it all works yet, but it’s a promise I made to keep some people safe.”

“Okay,” Cisco said. “You eat moths.”

“Only sometimes.” Mister Allen’s cheeks flushed, and they did seem slightly greyer than a normal blush. “I mostly eat normal human food with a bit extra spinach and red meat for the iron. And oranges are great, I can bite them and drink all the juice without having to work out how to peel them.”

“Can you turn into a bat?”

“I don’t think so. I’m fast though, and I have very good hearing, and I think I can echolocate?”

“And you’re as blind as a bat?”

“Oh, no, I’ve always needed glasses, that’s not new, my eyes just got a little worse, and I’m mostly nocturnal now so they get a little strained during the day.”

“But other than that, you’re fine with sunlight?”

“And with silver, and I do show up in mirrors, but I haven’t tried garlic yet, so I don’t know. Again, no other vampires in Central I know about so there’s no one I can ask, I’m just winging it and reading up on bats and hoping some of it’s relevant.”

“You were unconscious.”

“Yes. That’s happened a few times, I went to see my doctor and they’re looking into it.”

“You were also outside S.T.A.R. Labs.”

“That alley. I don’t remember much about being bitten. Just that there was someone on me. I don’t remember where I was, or how I got home afterwards, but that alley seemed so familiar and I think that’s where I was.”

“Is that what you were investigating? But you were looking into Dante’s crash-”

“Yes,” Mister Allen said. “Because I don’t remember anything, probably the blood loss, but I found the file in my desk with a note from a colleague asking me to take a look and when I went to the alley I got such strong deja vu, and the only reason I could think of for me being there was looking at that case. I just wanted to see if I’d missed something important, but there was nothing there, no blood traces or anything. I don’t even know for sure that’s where I was, it’s just a guess.”

“You didn’t find anything?”

“I’m sorry, Cisco.”

“It was my fault.”

“Why would you say that?”

“He was there to pick me up. I had a job interview at S.T.A.R. Labs and Dante was borrowing my car on the condition he picked me up after. He wouldn’t have been there if I’d just got the bus home.”

“That doesn’t make it your fault,” Mister Allen said. “And he wouldn’t want you to blame yourself.”

“Are you sure you actually knew Dante?”

“There’s a difference between hate and two brothers who squabble. You lent him your car; would you have done that if you hated him? Would he have gone to you for help if he hated you? He might not have been the best at showing it, but you’re his little brother, Cisco, and he loves you. You wouldn’t be feeling this way if you didn’t love him.”

“I suppose. I should go.”

“I understand. I’ll keep looking. I won’t promise you; I can’t promise you, but I’ll keep looking.”

“Thank you.”

Vampires. Cisco had met a real-life vampire. He’d gone to said vampire’s home and had tea. He probably should have not done that. But Mister Allen didn’t seem so bad. He was keeping something from Cisco, but he’d been upfront about that and said it was to keep people safe, whatever that meant. Not telling anyone he’d met a vampire and had tea would probably be for the best. Both because people wouldn’t believe him, and because clearly Mister Allen didn’t want anyone to know.

He’d been noticing more weird things though. He’d seen Ray from Jitters again, not to bump into again, just unexpectedly in places where Cisco also was, he’d noticed other people who showed up frequently even if they never introduced themselves or spoke to him at all, and he kept thinking he’d seen Dante. Just out the corner of his eye and Cisco knew chances were it was just wishful thinking, or maybe even the guilt, but it was getting too much, he had to talk to someone.

The goose following him was the last straw. None of this had happened before he met Mister Allen, and he’d said he’d been looking into Dante’s crash before, maybe he was wrong about being the only vampire, maybe Dante-

Mister Allen had said he worked from one till nine before, if Cisco went straight there after work maybe he’d still be awake. And he was a C.S.I., he worked for the police, maybe he’d know what to do, and Cisco could trust him. Cisco was sure he could trust him.

He didn’t have to press the buzzer this time, Mister Allen was getting off the bus right as Cisco was rushing to the door.

“Hey,” he said. “What are you doing here?”

“I think I’m being followed.”

“Come inside.” Mister Allen let Cisco go first and checked around before he followed and led him upstairs. “Chamomile tea again?”

“I’m sorry, I know you said you’re nocturnal-”

“I’d be up for a little while longer anyway,” Mister Allen waved him off. “Have you eaten? Wait, no, it’s breakfast time for you. Do you want breakfast? I could do with a snack and I have eggs and so many oranges.”

“Um,” Cisco said. “I, um-”

“I’ll cook you some eggs,” Mister Allen said. He opened his door and went over to the kitchen. “Unless you have allergies or you’re a vegan or you just don’t like eggs?”

“Eggs are fine,” Cisco said.

“Great! No allergies.”

“None,” Cisco said. “Do you have allergies?”

“No, but my ma’s allergic to nuts. Unless I’m allergic to garlic now, I don’t know, I still haven’t tried but I am very close, I really miss garlic.”

He pulled out a frying pan and cracked some eggs into it.

“Help yourself to a seat again. Maybe at the table?”

“Okay,” Cisco said. He sat down and waited while Mister Allen cooked some toast and squeezed some oranges into a glass. He put the two plates down and smiled. “Thanks.”

“I usually have a snack when I get home,” Mister Allen said. There were a few sandwiches on his plate and Cisco couldn’t quite tell what was in them. “So. What’s going on?”

“It’s probably nothing,” Cisco said. “But I keep seeing the same people in different places and I wouldn’t even have noticed except it keeps happening, and I keep feeling like I’m being watched, and, it sounds ridiculous.”

“You’re talking to a vampire.”

“There’s been a goose or something perched on the roof every day this week when I’ve got out of work? And it’s just a goose, but it feels like I’m being watched, and I just…”

“Okay,” Mister Allen said. “And you came here?”

“It’s only started since I met you.”

“Um.”

“I’m not saying it’s you. But what if you were right about you being bitten being linked to Dante, and you were wrong about you being the only vampire in Central, and-”

“Okay,” Mister Allen said. “Hang on.” He walked over to the window and opened it. “Lisa, I know you’re there, he’s noticed.”

The goose flew in. Except now Cisco could see more clearly it wasn’t a goose. Except it swung its wings around until there was a woman holding a cloak made of feathers. She hung the cloak on the back of Barry’s armchair.

“Cisco, this is Lisa Snart,” Mister Allen said. “Sandwich? Orange juice? I have sardines, I can get you sardines on toast.”

“Tempting,” Lisa said. She didn’t take her eyes off Cisco. “Why is he here?”

“Because he noticed you following him.”

“And he came to you?”

“I know, right?”

“Is there something I should know?” Cisco asked.

“I’ll make more toast,” Mister Allen said. He stepped into the kitchen and Ms Snart took the third seat at the table.

“Are you scared of him?” Ms Snart asked.

“What, Mister Allen?” Cisco asked. “Should I be?”

“Barry is fine,” he said from the kitchen.

“He’s a vampire,” Ms Snart said like that explained everything. “But you came here.”

“Was that a mistake?” Cisco asked.

“Here you go.” Barry put another plate in front of Lisa and sat down to finish his sandwiches.

“Do you think it was a mistake?” Ms Snart asked, somehow eating sardines on toast gracefully with a knife and fork.

“No,” Cisco said. “He’s harmless.”

“I am?” Barry asked. “Awesome.”

“Have you told anyone about him?” Lisa asked.

“No,” Cisco said. “He said it’s supposed to be a secret.”

“Good,” Lisa said. “A few of us were concerned about a human knowing about Barry, so we thought we’d see exactly what sort of human you are.”

“What sort am I?” Cisco asked.

“A curious one,” Lisa said. At least that was the truth.

“You’re the people Barry was protecting with his promise.”

“It can end badly when the wrong people find out about us,” Lisa said. “I know first-hand. Have you ever heard of swan maidens? Selkies?”

“Maybe,” Cisco said. “Something about your cloak?”

“The old fairy-tales say if a swan maiden’s cloak is stolen, they have to stay and marry whoever stole it,” Barry said. “And they can’t leave until they reclaim their cloak, usually by their children revealing where its hidden.”

“That’s awful,” Cisco said.

“My mother’s cloak was the first thing I ever stole,” Lisa said. “It’s not a Law, but I don’t know anyone who would leave their cloak. It might be called a cloak, thought of as clothes, but it isn’t. It’s part of me, like, like-”

“It would be like if someone took your skin,” Barry said. “Or a lung or something. I think?”

“So, you don’t trust humans,” Cisco said.

“We have a blanket rule to stop people like my father finding out,” Lisa said. “Exceptions are very rare. My mother had several issues after she decided to take my brother when we left, even though he wasn’t her son by blood and entirely human. Barry hasn’t been able to tell anyone from his human days, including his parents, yet he told you.”

“Why?”

“I was hoping you could tell me that,” Barry said. “I didn’t mean to; it just came out.”

“You’d passed out,” Cisco said. “Maybe you just weren’t thinking straight.”

“Maybe not. I don’t know. I still don’t think following him was the right answer.”

“I’ll talk to the others,” Lisa said. “But you know now he knows…”

“I know,” Barry said.

“I could just give you my phone number?” Cisco suggested. “And if Barry gives me his if I have a problem, I’ll just call him and you can call me if you have one. Assuming you have a phone?”

“That’s a good idea,” Barry said.  He yawned. “Um, it’s getting late, or early I guess, do either of you need a bed?”

“Thanks,” Cisco said. “But I think I can get home.”

“I can walk you if you need. No, wait, you drove, I can’t drive. I’ll write down my phone number for you. My phone is in my pocket.” He pulled it out and Cisco told him his number, and then his own phone vibrated. “I suppose I’ll see you around? I’ll talk to them.”

“Thanks,” Cisco said. “Nice to meet you, Lisa.”

“You too,” Lisa said. She kept watch as Cisco left, but he didn’t feel anyone watching him as he went back out to his car. And Barry had sent him a text. That would probably be it.

And somehow Cisco had ended up texting with a vampire.

Barry had honestly just sent him a message to see how he was feeling, and Cisco had stopped noticing people now and things mostly seemed normal. Cisco was the one who started the conversation and it hadn’t ended yet. But Barry was nice. He actually understood most of what Cisco was talking about when he talked about work, and what he didn’t he asked and he’d understand the explanations, and they talked about Star Trek, and aliens, and dinosaurs, and they had a lot in common. And it was nice having a friend who was awake at the same time as him four days of the week.

And Cisco got the feeling Barry was lonely. He never mentioned any other friends other than someone called Iris who he’d known since he was a child, which meant she was presumably one of the people he hadn’t been able to tell about the vampire thing. And he had mentioned he hadn’t seen her much since he’d got bitten. He also let slip he’d passed out again a few times. He hadn’t mentioned Dante, but that was probably because he didn’t want to upset Cisco. And Cisco wasn’t sure exactly how Dante had known Barry, but Cisco hadn’t known Dante’s friends anyway. He didn’t recognise Barry from the funeral, but it wasn’t as if he’d been paying much attention to anything other than the coffin containing his brother.

He’d stopped seeing Dante so much. Maybe he’d just hoped when he’d felt someone watching him that it had been his brother. And Barry hadn’t mentioned finding anything else to suggest it had been anything other than accident, so maybe he hadn’t found anything, or maybe he just couldn’t talk about it with Cisco.

It had been Cisco’s idea to get coffee. He’d joked that it was a way Barry could say he was still keeping an eye on Cisco, but Cisco had never had a lot of friends, and he’d been shut off ever since Dante, and switching to the night shift when there were only a few people around didn’t help. And somehow Barry had known where to get a coffee at nine in the evening.

He’d never noticed Waveriders before. It was a tiny café, tucked out of the way, and the opening hours on the door were twenty-four hours. But it wasn’t far from C.C.P.D., so maybe that was how Barry knew it.

It seemed cosy when Cisco walked in. Almost like walking into a forest. It even looked like there was a tiny horse lying down in one corner.

“Hi, Barry,” a woman said.

“Hey, Kendra,” Barry said. “This is Cisco.”

“Nice to meet you,” Kendra said. She offered her hand and Cisco shook it. Wings flashed behind her. “He’s the one who…”

“Yeah,” Barry said. “It is okay he’s here, right?”

“I’ll make sure Rip knows what he is. Here you go, I’ll be back in a bit for your orders.” She passed Barry two menus and Barry led Cisco to a table and sat pulled out a chair for Cisco to sit. He glanced over at the horse again. There was something really off with that.

“I wouldn’t,” Barry said. “Gideon’s a kelpie.”

Cisco blinked and looked at the horse again. They were almost glowing white, and their mane seemed to be tangled and green, more like plants than hair. Gideon snorted and looked right at Cisco. His toes curled.

“He’s with me, Gideon,” Barry said. He showed his fangs a little and Gideon looked away again. “Thank you.”

“A kelpie,” Cisco said. “So…”

“Rip and Miranda are fairies,” Barry said. “Rip was raised by the sort of Folk you do not want to meet, especially not at night near water, hence Gideon, Miranda was mostly raised by her uncle, Master Dobbs, you know the stories about the fairies who help with chores? That kind. Anyway, they fell in love and moved here and they’re very nice. They own the café, Kendra’s just here while her wings settle in.”

“Kendra’s a fairy too?”

“Rip and Miranda aren’t that sort of fairy,” Kendra said. “And no, I’m a reincarnated Egyptian Priestess.”

“You’re what?” Cisco asked. Kendra looked around then shrugged huge hawk wings out of her shoulder. “Wow.”

“Thank you. My lover and I were murdered four thousand years ago, and I prayed to Horus and now we reincarnate until our now immortal murderer catches up to us again.”

“Wow, that sucks,” Cisco said.

“It’s not fun,” Kendra agreed. “And Savage already found Khufu in this life, it’s only because of Rip and Sara I was able to get away. Anyway, what can I get you? Barry, the usual?”

“Do you want food as well as coffee?” Barry asked. “It’s all fine, maybe a bit sweet, but Rip is a very good cook.”

“Oh, um, maybe something small?” Cisco said.

“There’s sandwiches,” Barry said.

“Sure,” Cisco said. He looked down at the menu. “Egg, sausage, and bacon?”

“That one does smell nice. And sandwiches probably make a better breakfast that steak.”

“I know your order,” Kendra said. “And drinks?”

“Could I have a coffee, please?” Barry asked. “With milk and sugar?”

“Same for me, please,” Cisco said.

“Two coffees and two sandwiches coming right up,” Kendra said. She smiled and headed back to the kitchen.

“So, you come here a lot?” Cisco asked.

“Quite a bit,” Barry said. “Most of us do.”

“I didn’t even know this place was here.”

“It’s not hidden, but it is small. And some of us discourage humans, even if they don’t realise.”

“Like Gideon,” Cisco said. He glanced over at her again.

“I guess. Though usually kelpies use magic to do the exact opposite, but maybe if she turned that off.” Barry glanced over his shoulder. “You are okay here, right?”

“Yeah,” Cisco said. “Yeah, it’s nice. But you said you were protecting people and that’s why you couldn’t tell me everything.”

“And I’m still not telling you everything,” Barry said. “We’re called the Underground. Central’s isn’t very big. I don’t know about anywhere else, Amaya says there used to be more of us, but even she doesn’t know much about vampires, they’ve always kept to themselves.”

“I’m guessing the rest of the Underground discourages biting humans and turning them into vampires? That’s probably why.”

“Makes sense,” Barry said. “Oh.”

Kendra brought over a tray then put two mugs and two plates in front of them and smiled.

“Enjoy.”

The door opened and someone else walked in. Kendra showed them to a table and Gideon slunk off. Barry frowned a little, but he seemed far more focused on the thick sandwich.

Cisco picked up his own sandwich.

Meeting Barry had become a regular thing. Usually at night, and Cisco had never really appreciated how beautiful a lot of Central was at night. And it was so much quieter than during the day. It was just nice.

Barry was nice.

He didn’t talk about the Underground much. Cisco got it, he had said he wouldn’t, but he’d met Rip and Miranda, and Detective Dibny- Ralph- was a werewolf, Cisco and Barry had met him and his wife Sue at Waveriders, Mona who was part Kaupe, Ray from Jitters who was a sasquatch, and Lisa introduced her brother Leonard after they broke into Cisco’s house because when Lisa had said the first thing she’d stolen what she’d meant was the first thing of a lot and probably the only justified thing. They hadn’t stolen anything of Cisco’s that he’d noticed, Lisa had just looked at Barry like she was trying to make a point.

But they all seemed nice. Considering they’d been following him at one point.

And someone was again. He could feel that prickle on his neck again. At least this time he knew he could call Barry.

The prickle had stopped when he’d got to work again, so he’d sent Barry a message and Barry had said he’d meet him outside when he finished. Barry could run there pretty quickly, so Cisco wouldn’t even be waiting around.

Barry was intently staring at S.T.A.R. Labs when Cisco got out of work, by the alley where they’d first met, even though Cisco had said if he got there first, he could wait by Cisco’s car. But maybe he’d only just got there, or something had distracted him.

“Barry.”

“Hi,” Barry said. “Are you okay?”

“Fine,” Cisco said. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah, you drove, right? Can I wait here?”

“What’s wrong?”

“I just need five minutes.”

“Did you remember something? Or-”

“It’s fine,” Barry said. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”

“Yeah,” Cisco said. “Seems like nothing. Did something happen I should know about? Is that why I’m being followed again.”

“Cisco-”

“That would be me.” A man dressed in dark green with thick-rimmed glasses holding a pipe stepped out the alley. “Barry.”

“Hartley. I really think-”

“Try not to,” Hartley said.

“Hey, leave him alone,” Cisco said. “Who even are you?”

“Hartley Rathaway. I’m the Pied Piper.”

“Of Hamelin?”

“It’s a family title, do I look eight hundred years old to you?”

“I don’t know, you just told me you’re the Pied Piper. Wait, are you Rathaway in Rathaway In-”

“No,” Hartley spat. “Why don’t you go and get your car while Barry and I talk?”

“I don’t think I want to leave him alone with you.”

“Even a baby flittermouse can protect themselves,” Hartley said. “I’d be more concerned with yourself.”

“Hartley’s fine, Cisco,” Barry said. “Just prickly.”

Cisco nodded and went to find his car. Barry and Hartley seemed to be having a very animated conversation, and Hartley stomped off before Cisco got back. Barry climbed into the passenger seat and scowled.

“Everything okay?” Cisco asked.

“Fine,” Barry lied. “Sorry about Hartley, I know he’s a bit difficult.”

“He’s actually the Pied Piper?”

“The latest one. It goes from grandparent to eldest grandchild on their twenty-first birthday, only Hartley’s grandfather died when he was nineteen right after his parents found out he’s gay, so right after the funeral he took the pipe which does belong to him, and he left. So, don’t ask him what happened in Hamelin because that’s one of the things he should have found out when he officially became the Piper and his father has refused to tell him because he refuses to acknowledge Hartley exists. And don’t mention Rathaway Industries either, he is that Rathaway.”

“Owning one of the biggest companies in Central can’t be a good hiding place for members of the Underground.”

“No, but I never met Hartley’s grandfather so I can’t say why he started the company. Hartley’s parents are otherwise human and Mister Rathaway might have a little of the gift, enough to help his business along, but he isn’t the Piper. Hartley is the only person in the world that pipe will work for. And because his parents won’t talk to him even if he has a grandchild, he won’t know how to pass it on.”

“Oh. You know you don’t have to defend him though.”

“One day I’ll explain everything.”

“Do you want me to drop you off at home? You came all this way.”

“I ran, it didn’t take long, I can run home after. Actually, do you want to stay at mine today?”

“What?”

“If- If it would make you more comfortable than going home alone, I know you don’t have work again tonight and you’re supposed to be meeting me later anyway, right, so you were probably already going to sleep during the day. And if you’re at mine you won’t have to meet me because I’ll already be there, and I can’t be late if you’re already there, and we can go to yours and get you bed stuff if you want or I can lend you stuff, we don’t have to go to mine, I just thought it would presumptuous to invite myself to yours, and you’ve already been to mine, and-”

“Barry, relax,” Cisco said. “Are you sure that’s okay?”

“You don’t have to.”

“I’m pretty sure it would make you feel better. And it would mean you can’t be late later. Sure. Just let me swing by mine and grab my toothbrush.”

Barry seemed on edge right until he shut his apartment door.

“Um,” he said. “So, I don’t know if you want to stay up longer, I’m on the five to one shift right now so I have been up since the afternoon and my plan was just bed, but I-”

“Sleep sounds good,” Cisco said. “I think your nocturnal habits have been rubbing off on me, it’s like college all over again.”

“Maybe,” Barry shrugged. He opened a door. “So, that’s the bedroom, you already know where the bathroom is. I’ll, um, I’ll change the sheets quickly, actually, I have clean ones-”

“Where were you planning on sleeping?” Cisco asked. “It’s not like you have a couch.”

“Oh, the floor’s fine,” Barry said. “I have blankets and I’ve slept in worse places.”

“But it’s your home.”

“Which makes you the guest so you should take the bed.”

“Or it’s a double,” Cisco said. “There is room for us both, that was why they make them that size.”

“And you...”

“Barry, we’re two grown men who have known each other for a while now, I’m pretty sure we’ll be fine sharing a bed.”

“Oh.” Barry’s cheeks flushed lightly. “If you really don’t mind. I’m still going to change the sheets quickly.”

Cisco wasn’t sure exactly what woke him up, but it wasn’t Barry. He’d curled up at some point and wrapped his arms around his legs. And his hair looked especially fluffy, and his ears were visible. He’d taken his glasses off too, and Cisco hadn’t seen him without them yet, hadn’t been able to see him like this, so-

A knock came from somewhere and Barry bolted upright.

“I think someone’s in your apartment,” Cisco said. The front door shut.

“At least it’s not a ghost,” Barry said.

“Bare?” someone called out. “It’s me, are you in here?”

“Just a second, Iris!” Barry yelled. He looked at Cisco with wide eyes and Cisco brushed Barry’s hair back over his ears. Iris was from before; Iris didn’t know.

“Barry, it’s half past six in the evening, I know you’ve been on night shift, but you cannot possibly still be in bed. If you’re ill again- Oh.”

Iris West presumably was standing in the doorway to Barry’s bedroom looking at both of them.

“I am so sorry,” she said. “I didn’t realise Barry already had company.”

She looked very pointedly at Barry who grabbed his glasses from the bedside table then looked at his phone.

“Sorry I missed your calls?” Barry said. “Um, Cisco, this is Iris, my best friend, Iris, this is Cisco, um, he’s, um, he’s-”

“You know what,” Iris said. “Why don’t I let you get dressed, then you can introduce us.”

“We’re wearing pyjamas?” Barry said. “Um, yes. Good idea.”

Iris nodded then shut the door.

“Sorry,” Barry said. “She’s got a key?”

“It’s fine,” Cisco said. “Come on, your friend is waiting.”

Barry turned around to let Cisco get dressed. He was fiddling with the collar of his shirt when Cisco turned back to him.

“Here,” Cisco said. He adjusted it to cover a scar on Barry’s neck, just above his collar bone. He hadn’t noticed them before, and Barry averted his eyes. Cisco just checked Barry’s hair was over his ears and smiled. “Okay?”

“Thanks,” Barry said. He opened the bedroom door again.

Iris was sitting in one of the dining chairs with a laptop on the table typing. She shut the lid when the two of them walked in.

“Anyway,” Barry said. “Like I was saying, Cisco, this is Iris West, Iris, this is Cisco Ramon.”

“Ah, you’re Cisco,” Iris said. “Barry’s mentioned you. I am really sorry about interrupting.”

“It’s fine,” Cisco said. “Really. Barry’s mentioned you too.”

“Um,” Barry said. “You know I’m always happy to see you, Iris, but why are you here?”

“You’ve been avoiding me,” Iris said. “I think I can see why now.”

“Oh, no. I haven’t intentionally been doing that. It’s just, you know, I’ve been on night shift for a while now so...”

“Which you still haven’t explained,” Iris said. “Dad says everyone misses you and I know you weren’t always great at being on time, but this seems harsh.”

“Actually, I quite like it,” Barry said. “I get the lab to myself, my timing has been way better, weirdly, and I get different shifts, it’s three days on one to nine, three days off, three days on five to one, three days off, so it varies, and night shift is actually slightly better pay, I kind of miss Joe and everyone too, but it’s good. I’m sorry if I made it seem like I was avoiding you.”

“You’re forgiven. But this seems like a very drastic way to not have to work with Julian any more.”

“Ha. Cisco’s on a night shift too, they’re not that bad, right?”

“No,” Cisco said. “If it’s quiet I can get more work done, and no one’s there to notice if I happen to fall asleep. And Barry’s usually up so I can talk to him.”

“Where do you work?”

“S.T.A.R. Labs.”

“The particle accelerator’s due to switch on soon, isn’t it,” Iris said.

“A few weeks,” Cisco said.

“Do you have anything to say about it?”

“The accelerator? Are you a scientist too?”

“Journalist,” Iris said. “I work for Picture News.”

“Oh. I think you have to go through P.R.”

“That’s what everyone else has said, but Mason’s avoiding it for some reason.”

“Mason’s writing the piece on S.T.A.R. Labs?” Barry asked. “Did he do something to annoy Mister Larkin?”

“He volunteered,” Iris said. “It’s a big story, and not just for Central, but he’s asked me if I find a way for him to talk to someone from S.T.A.R. Labs who has worked with Harrison Wells personally and knows the accelerator. Everyone keeps directing him to P.R.”

“It’s company policy,” Cisco said. “Who’s Mason?”

“Mason Bridge. He’s an investigative journalist, editor of the section now. Won a Pulitzer?”

“He’s Iris’ grumpy, reluctant mentor,” Barry said. “He’s great.”

“You must have been keeping up with news on the accelerator, Bare,” Iris said. “Especially if Cisco works there.”

“I think I’ve fallen behind a bit,” Barry said. “You know, with switching shifts and everything I’ve been a bit busy.” He pinched the bridge of his nose and screwed his eyes up a little. “Sorry, headache.”

“Do you need water or something?” Cisco asked.

“Henry said you were referred to a specialist because of this anaemia,” Iris said. “Have they figured it out yet?”

“I’ve just got a little longer on the tablets,” Barry lied. “I have a blood test in a few days, it’s probably just one of those weird things. I’ll just...”

He got up and headed into the bathroom. Iris and Cisco both looked worried.

“He doesn’t do that a lot, does he?” Iris asked.

“Not that he’s mentioned,” Cisco said. “He’s only mentioned his doctor a couple of times though.”

“He’s been acting different for a few months now. Distant. Henry- his dad- he’s a doctor, he knows what sort of things they would be looking for and honestly everyone was expecting he was hiding something awful when he started acting off. Finding out he’s been sneaking around with you is honestly a relief. I’m not sure why he felt like he needed to sneak around, but he wouldn’t have let you in if he’d got bad news.”

“He probably really didn’t mean it,” Cisco said.

“Still. He’s never hidden something like that from me before.”

“I’ve only known Cisco for a few months,” Barry said. He sat back down with a glass of water. “I was planning on introducing you when it was convenient. There hasn’t been a good time yet.”

“How about tomorrow?” Iris asked. “That is why I’m here.”

“Tomorrow,” Barry said. “What’s tomorrow?”

“Jenna’s first birthday? The thing I told you about, and I know Dad told you about, and Nora and Henry, but you haven’t replied to any messages yet?”

“Right, yes, I knew that, I was just checking my shifts for this week, I’m free. Um. Yes, I will be there, six o’clock on the dot.”

“I’ll tell Dad quarter past,” Iris said, and Barry rolled his eyes. “You’re welcome too, Cisco.”

“Oh,” Cisco said. “Um...”

“It’s just a small gathering,” Barry said. “But you don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“No, no, I’m free,” Cisco said. “If you’re really okay with that?”

“It’ll be nice. Um. Iris, are you staying? I can order food?”

“Sure, Bare.”

Iris didn’t stay long after they’d finished eating. And Barry seemed to be feeling better.

“You don’t have to come tomorrow,” Barry said.

“No, it sounds nice,” Cisco said. “She’s worried about you.”

“I know.”

“You have been avoiding her, haven’t you?”

“I blurted the truth out to you the second time we met because you knew I was lying,” Barry said. “I’ve known Iris since I was four. We lived around the corner from each other. I half grew up at her house, Joe’s basically my second dad. My parents and Joe are friends. Telling them the anaemia lie was hard enough and I actually think I do have some kind of anaemia.”

“That blanket rule Lisa mentioned. It’s really hard, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know what I am any more, Cisco,” Barry said. “I’m not human any more. I don’t know what’s normal and what’s not and there’s no one I can ask and someone attacked me and I have no idea who so who knows if they’re still in the city or not, hurting other people, I don’t even remember most of it, and I just really wish I could talk to my dad and I can’t. I have to lie to the people I love, I’m still lying to you, and if I sit in the same room as my parents for too long, they start getting uncomfortable even though it’s me.”

“You could tell Iris you’re sick.”

“She’ll worry more. I want to go. I miss them. I love them. I just wish I could tell them the truth.”

“Maybe you could talk to everyone else in the Underground. They’re your family. Lisa would be on your side.”

“Lisa’s already tried to convince them. Exceptions are incredibly rare and I kind of already blew it with you.”

“I’m really sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, you didn’t intentionally make me tell you. I just don’t think I can lie to them, and I know I’m not going to be able to stay long.”

“And six is okay for you? It’ll still be light for a while.”

“Oh, I normally get up about half five or six on days I’m not starting work at five, it means I don’t have a big jump to get up for five three times a week. Today was a lie in, but maybe because this morning was a bit stressful, six will be fine. Is it okay with you that I’m pretty sure Iris thinks we’re dating? Because I can correct her on that, and if not then everyone tomorrow will too.”

“I mean, she found us together in your bed,” Cisco said. “I can see why she’d jump to that conclusion.”

“Yeah.” Barry rubbed the back of his neck. “But I can explain you’re just a friend if you like. I don’t know how you feel about…”

“I’m bi.”

“Snap. But really though if you’re uncomfortable at all-”

“Barry, it’s fine,” Cisco said. “It gives you a reason for why you’ve been acting weird, right? Hiding a boyfriend?”

“I guess.”

“And Iris said she knew you wouldn’t start anything if there was something wrong with you, which is what she was concerned about with your anaemia, so it might even help. Unless this is you not wanting to lie to your parents any more.”

“I don’t really want to lie to them at all,” Barry said. “But Iris is right, if I’d been given bad news from the doctor I wouldn’t have even made a new friend, and if that’s what they’ve been worrying about, maybe it’ll be helpful. We can always say we broke up and decided we’d be better as friends later? It wouldn’t be the first time I have stayed friends with an ex.”

“Sounds like we have a plan,” Cisco said. “And it means neither of us has to say we’re friends because you accidently told me you’re a vampire.”

“Okay. We should probably come up with a basic story though.”

Barry hadn’t stopped pacing. Cisco had got to his at quarter to six, and he’d spent five minutes pacing. He was dressed and ready to go, he just felt incredibly nervous.

“Barry,” Cisco said. “Maybe you should tell them you’re not feeling well?”

“That isn’t going to help anything,” Barry said. “Okay. Okay, I can do this. I can do this. If no one asks if I’m a vampire now it’s not lying, right? Just omitting the truth? I’m going to break my mother’s heart. But she knows I don’t tell her everything, right? I never told her I tried a cigarette when I was sixteen. But this is a lot bigger than doing something stupid to try and fit in at school, this is the sort of thing you should probably tell your mother. Should I have told her about the cigarette?”

“Probably not,” Cisco said. “You probably can now though. But you know we have to get to Danville, and we now have ten minutes and traffic was getting bad when I got here.”

“I’ll run us,” Barry said. “No one will see me, and I know somewhere only a few minutes’ walk from home where I can stop running and no one will see us.”

“Can you really run all that way?”

“Yeah, easy, I do it all the time. I’ve never carried a person that far before, but I have carried people before, so I’m sure it won’t be that hard.”

“All right. You’ve never carried me before, what’s it like?”

“You might want to put your hair up for a bit.” Barry offered Cisco a hair tie. “Iris usually leaves some here and a scarf, in case she stays the night.”

Cisco gathered his hair up into a bun, and then he was moving. He could feel Barry’s arms around him, and so much wind, and the city was racing past in a blur. Barry stopped running behind a few trees and laughed.

“What do you think?”

“Wow,” Cisco said. “Why have I been driving if you could do that the whole time? You get the bus to work.”

“Not all the time, sometimes I run. I just have to know no one will notice me doing it. Also, I can’t see myself so…”

“Your ears are still hidden,” Cisco said. He took the bun out of his hair again and Barry pocketed the hair tie. “How’s mine?”

“A few loose strands,” Barry said. “Here.” He brushed his hand through Cisco’s hair and Cisco ignored how close they were and how close they’d just been. “Joe’s is just around the corner. See that one there with the green door? That’s my parents’ home. Give me a second?”

“Sure,” Cisco said. Barry ran off again with a gust of wind. Huh.

He looked up and down the road. No one seemed to be around. The houses all seemed quite nice, not that different from where Cisco’s parents lived. And Barry’s childhood home looked cosy from the outside.

Barry appeared in another gust of wind holding a plate just when Cisco was starting to wonder where he was.

“Brownies and Jenna’s present,” he said. “Ready?”

“If you are,” Cisco said. He looped his arm through Barry’s, just to add onto convincing everyone they were dating.

Iris’ dad’s house looked very similar to Barry’s parents’ from the outside, but Barry led Cisco around the back instead of knocking on the door. The only person there was a young man.

“Hey, Wally,” Barry said.

“Barry.” He hugged him. “You feeling okay?”

“Better than I have been.”

“Are you sure? Because you’re seven minutes early.”

“I’m what now?”

“Hey, Dad!” Wally yelled. “Guess who’s here first for the first time in his entire life!”

“Hey, I’m not always late.”

“Are so.”

“Am not.”

“Boys.” A man stepped out the house. “Barry, it’s good to see you.”

“You too, Joe,” Barry said. He hugged him. “We brought brownies. Wally’s not allowed any now.”

“Shouldn’t you do introductions before you and Wally start on the horse play, Slugger?” A couple walked into the garden and the woman hugged Joe.

“Cisco, this is my parents, Joe, and Wally, everyone, this is Cisco.”

“It’s nice to meet all of you,” Cisco said.

“You too,” Joe said. “I’ll tell Cecile you’re here.”

He smiled and took the plate from Barry before heading back inside.

“We weren’t sure you’d make it, dear,” Nora Allen said. “Iris said you were feeling off colour again yesterday.”

“Just a headache, it was nothing to worry about, I probably just strained my eyes a little at work, I’m due a check-up soon.”

“Well, you look pale. And your hair’s a mess again, come here.” She reached up and Barry ducked her hand in a clearly well practised dodge.

“Aww, Ma, give over,” he laughed, then hugged both his parents. “I’m sorry for worrying you so much.”

“As long as you’re feeling better, kiddo,” Henry Allen said. “You’re not working later, are you?”

“No.”

“Good, you can properly introduce me to Cisco.”

“Sure, Dad.”

Barry’s family were nice. Iris had also introduced Detective Eddie Thawne (the newish detective who worked with Joe who Barry didn’t know either, Iris had become friends with, and who seemed to be hiding something to Cisco), Julian Albert who Barry joked he thought he’d got rid of by changing shifts, Captain David Singh who worked night shift like Barry and his husband Rob, Linda Park and Kamillia Hwang who worked with Iris, Cecile Horton Iris and Wally’s not actually their step-mother, Cecile’s daughter Joanie, and the birthday girl, Jenna West, Iris’ much younger sister who’d shown up very unexpectedly. Barry had presented her with a book called The Runaway Dinosaur and a little stuffed dinosaur to go with it, which had made Nora tear up for some reason and Jenna had immediately put the toy dinosaur in her mouth.

Cisco had had fun. Joe was a good cook. Wally and Barry had both made a show of keeping Iris far away from anything to do with cooking and laughed. They were all so nice and Cisco had known them for about three hours and already felt bad lying, it was no wonder Barry had had so much trouble.

But pretending to date Barry was so easy. He just acted exactly the same, omitted any mentions of the Underground from how he and Barry had met and any time they spent together, and that was all. Barry had put his arm across Cisco’s shoulders at some point, and that just felt nice. Cisco would happily have sat under Barry’s arm all night.

But Jenna had been put to bed hours ago, and Nora and Henry were leaving, so it was probably time for the rest of them too. Barry had hugged everyone and promised to visit his parents soon, Cisco had thanked Joe and Cecile for everything, and right before they left Julian caught Barry.

“I know you’ve had a lot on your plate, Allen,” he said quietly. “But you never did get back to me on that case?”

“Case?”

“I know, I know, it looked open and shut, just a collision, they didn’t even need forensics, but with Iris mentioning Mason Bridge looking into Harrison Wells I really think it’s worth another look.”

“Yeah,” Barry said. “Yeah, I’m sure you’re right, I’m not working tomorrow, but the day after I’ll be on the one to nine shift, I can stay a little longer and you can talk me through everything. Sorry, which case are we talking about?”

“Morgan’s.”

“You know what,” Barry said. “I actually have flicked through that one, I will e-mail you as soon as I get home. See you, Julian.”

“Take care, Barry. Cisco.”

Barry kept his arm over Cisco’s shoulders as he walked away, but he seemed completely lost in thought.

“What is it?” Cisco asked.

“Nothing.”

“Barry.”

“That case,” Barry said. “I was poking into that, that is why I was there.”

“Dante.”

“If Julian thinks it’s worth another look there is something in that file I need to see.”

“The driver of the other car was Tess Morgan, Harrison Wells’ wife. You don’t think it was an accident, do you?”

“No, I don’t.”

“The accelerator is being publicised as her legacy,” Cisco said, and Barry pinched the bridge of his nose. “Are you okay?”

“Just a headache,” Barry said. “I really do need to go back to the opticians, I must need a new prescription.”

Another lie.

Barry hadn’t mentioned Dante’s case again. Not even after Cisco knew he’d been planning on talking to Julian. He probably just couldn’t talk to Cisco about ongoing investigations, even if they were supposedly shut and about Cisco’s brother.

He had to know. He had to.

Barry had met him outside work a few times. And he was on edge constantly. And he was always waiting by the alley, not even outside the gate.

And his headaches were getting worse. Any time Cisco mentioned his work, Barry felt ill. And he’d been passing out again. He was tired all the time, and snappish. It probably wasn’t a good time to ask him about Dante.

But Cisco had to know. He had to.

And he’d been seeing Dante again. Just out the corner of his eye, but he kept seeing him.

Barry had never turned down meeting Cisco for coffee. Never. Except he’d now done it three times in quick succession, and he’d been consistently pulling away. Just like Iris said he did after he got ill only Cisco knew he’d actually done it because he had to lie to her. And Cisco had been talking to Iris, Barry still hadn’t fully opened up again. That gathering had been a start, but there was still something bothering him.

Cisco was going to find out what.

He hadn’t expected Detective Eddie Thawne to knock on his door first.

“Hi,” Cisco said. “Can I help you with something?”

“I just have a few questions to ask you,” Eddie said. That off feeling was back. “It’s about a case.”

“Oh. Do you want to come in?”

“Thank you.” Eddie walked in and Cisco shut the door behind him. “You’re dating Bartholomew Allen, correct?”

“Um, yeah,” Cisco said. “This is about Barry?”

“How did the two of you meet?”

“We kept running into each other.”

“Near S.T.A.R. Labs.”

“Yes?”

“Has he ever asked you about your work?”

“No. Actually, the opposite, he tries not to. I can’t talk about a lot of it because of my contract.”

“But you work on the accelerator with Harrison Wells.”

“I work night shift so I don’t work with him directly, but yes, he’s my boss.”

“Why does the accelerator need a night shift? It’s not even been switched on yet?”

“It’s just to keep an eye on everything. What exactly are you investigating?”

“Bartholomew Allen,” Eddie said. “Has he ever mentioned Harrison Wells?”

“No.”

“What about your brother?”

“Barry said he’d looked at the crash, he said he’d been friends with Dante.”

“But did your brother ever mention him?”

“No. But Dante and I weren’t that close, he had plenty of friends he never told me about. I didn’t know a lot of the people at the funeral.”

“Was Allen at the funeral?”

“I don’t remember. What are you saying?”

“This might be hard to hear,” Eddie said. “Does the name Eobard mean anything to you?”

“No.”

“He’s someone very dangerous, and Allen works for him.”

“No, he doesn’t,” Cisco said. “He’s a C.S.I.”

“Yes. Which puts him in the perfect position to make things disappear. Cisco, I don’t think he’s been investigating your brother’s case, I think he’s been burying the evidence for Eobard.”

“Barry wouldn’t do that.”

“Do you feel like he’s hiding something? That he’s lying to you?”

“He told me he was keeping a promise to someone and he couldn’t elaborate because he was trying to keep people safe.”

“But he didn’t say which people. He didn’t tell you why he asked to switch to night shift right after developing a mysterious illness he won’t explain to his own father who is a doctor?”

“He told me why,” Cisco said. “I think you should go.”

“My card,” Eddie said. “Just be careful, Mister Ramon.”

At least Barry had actually agreed to meet him the next day, just for a little bit before Cisco had work. He wasn’t sure if he should mention Eddie stopping by or not.

But he had to know about Dante.

“Did Julian say anything you didn’t already know?” Cisco asked.

“Huh?” Barry asked. “Oh. No. I haven’t been able to look at the file.”

“I guess you’ve been busy.”

“Yeah. I promise you I’ll figure it out though.”

“Maybe there’s nothing to figure out. Maybe they were right, there was a pothole there in the road, maybe it really was just an accident.”

“Maybe,” Barry said. He didn’t believe that though. “Cisco, I-”

“You weren’t at the funeral.”

“It’s complicated.”

“How did you meet Dante?”

“I can’t explain.”

“Why not? You’ve been honest with me about being a vampire even though you shouldn’t have. I’ve met your family. I shared a bed with you. I’m pretty sure you can be honest about how you met my brother. If you even did know him.”

“I know him. But I can’t tell you.”

“Why not? You keep saying you have to protect someone, but you’ve already told me about the Underground, so who else-”

“You!” Barry shouted. Cisco hadn’t heard him shout before. “I’m trying to protect you.”

“From what?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“I’m pretty sure I’d be better protected if you told me what I needed protection from.”

“Yeah,” Barry said. His eyes were watering. “You’d think that.”

“Who’s Eobard?”

“What?”

“What does he want with Harrison Wells?”

“I don’t know, that’s why I’ve been looking into his death.”

“Eobard’s dead?”

“I don’t know who that is?”

“What’s the deal with the accelerator?” Cisco asked and Barry winced. “Tell me the truth.”

“I- I-”

“You’re friends with a pair of thieves and your friends decided to start following me when you let your little secret slip, I don’t know why I thought I could trust you.”

“Cisco-”

“There,” Cisco said. “You can tell your parents we broke up without having to explain why we’re still friends.”

“Cisco, wait-”

He walked off, ignoring Barry calling after him.

He’d left a voicemail for Eddie saying Barry had said Eobard was dead.

Doctor Wells usually arrived at work at half past eight, and he always checked on Cisco. Always. Cisco hadn’t been sure how it would go, not after everything, but Doctor Wells had seemed more worried Cisco would blame him even though it had been Doctor Morgan who hit the pothole, Doctor Morgan who lost control first, and even then she couldn’t really be blamed, not for a pothole. This whole thing was ridiculous and he should just let it go, it was only hurting more, it was an accident, no one’s fault, he’d just been looking for someone to blame because he wasn’t dealing with the fact his brother was dead and buried.

“Is everything all right, Cisco?” Doctor Wells asked when he arrived that morning.

“Everything’s looking good, Doctor Wells,” Cisco said. “I have a few of the newer panels that might need another check, some of these calculations don’t quite seem to add up, but-”

“I’ll pass that onto Ronnie, but that’s not what I meant. You seem upset.”

“My boyfriend and I had a fight,” Cisco said. “I think we broke up.” If Barry could lie about dating him, he could too, and it was a lot simpler to explain than it turned out his vampire friend was still lying to him about maybe being involved in his brother’s death, and Doctor Wells’ wife’s. Cisco wasn’t going to mention that to him.

Cisco wasn’t going to mention the terrible feeling he’d felt in his stomach when Doctor Wells walked in either, but that was probably because he wasn’t being completely honest. Barry Allen had turned him into a liar.

“I’m sorry to hear that. Why don’t you head home early, I’ll pass everything onto Ronnie for you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course. Take care, Cisco.”

Maybe he should apologise to Barry. He didn’t really want to though. It was completely Barry’s fault. But he had been honest about not telling Cisco everything. Cisco just didn’t expect the thing he was hiding to be that he might be involved in Dante’s death. When he’d slipped Barry’s name into conversation with his mother, she hadn’t recognised it, and she’d have had more of a chance than Cisco if he really had known Dante.

And Cisco was still seeing his brother everywhere. Constantly. The only time he didn’t was when he was in S.T.A.R. Labs. And that feeling kept coming back when he saw Doctor Wells and none of this would ever had happened if he’d never met Barry.

And then there was the guilt that he missed him. He just really, really missed him.

He’d said he was trying to protect Cisco. Protect Cisco from the truth probably. Unless he’d really meant that? Even after he’d found out Barry was a vampire Cisco had never felt unsafe around him. Not like Barry had said people got the first time he’d taken Cisco to Waveriders. He’d probably lost all that now. That whole hidden part of Central City, he’d barely gotten a chance to know it, a chance almost no one got, and Barry had shared it with him. Maybe he really had cared.

Maybe he hadn’t meant to. Maybe he regretted it. Maybe he didn’t. Maybe Cisco should call him and ask.

No, he shouldn’t.

He missed Barry though.

He’d just been thinking. Hadn’t even paid attention to where he was going until he ended up at the alley. He’d got used to being in Central after dark, hadn’t even thought anything of it until he got there and realised he’d missed the last bus.

And that there was a commotion in the alley. He’d turned around and snuck in, hoping not to be noticed.

Eddie was holding the front of Barry’s shirt, lifting him off his feet and pressing him against the wall. And Barry’s fangs were bared, his ears pricked, and it was suddenly so hard to forget he wasn’t human.

“You stay away from him,” Barry snarled. Eddie didn’t even flinch as Barry clawed at his hands. “You stay away from him.”

“I know you think your Father is dead, Child, but I can assure you he isn’t,” Eddie was saying. “All I need to know is what he wants with the Seer. He’s dangerous.”

“He’s not! My dad would never hurt anyone, and if you’ve hurt him-”

“He sent you to get close to the Seer-”

“No, I promised I’d watch out for Cisco, he doesn’t even know, what happened to my dad?”

“Barry?” Cisco asked. Eddie sighed and didn’t let go of the still squirming Barry. “What’s going on?”

“You shouldn’t be here,” Barry said. “You don’t work today, you shouldn’t be here. Cisco, you have to run, he’s probably the one who attacked me before.”

“No,” Eddie said patiently. “My child did. The one whose death you’re investigating.”

“What? If I was here then it was that case, and it’s not Dante or Harry so... Tess Morgan?”

“No.” Eddie put him down and Barry scowled at him but didn’t run. “Your father’s case.”

“Dad’s dead? When?”

“It’s your case.”

“No, because Captain Singh would give me the day off and wouldn’t even let me look at that case because of conflict of interest,” Barry said. He slumped down against the wall. “I have to call Mom. I should just run there. I won’t- Dad-”

“When did he meet your mother?”

“They both went to C.C.U. Different courses, but they had a few mutual friends.”

“C.C.- Barry, I’m not asking you about Henry Allen, I’m asking you about Eobard Thawne.”

“Who?”

“You said you were investigating his death,” Cisco said. “That’s why you were so sure you were the only vampire in Central. You knew he was dead.”

“No, I said I was the only one except the one who bit me maybe, the only case I’ve been trying to look into with any links to the Underground is, um, Dante, Harry, and Doctor Morgan’s. You already knew that.”

“Who’s Harry?”

“Harrison Wells? He was driving the car when it hit something in the road, his front tires blew, and the car flipped and Dante coming the opposite way couldn’t brake fast enough. He tried to get out to help, but he had this pain in his neck.”

“No,” Cisco said. “Doctor Morgan was driving, she hit a pothole, her and Dante were both killed instantly, Dante broke his neck.”

“No, Harry was driving.”

“Doctor Wells is alive, Barry, he is my boss, I spoke to him this morning.”

“No, he’s definitely dead.”

“He’s not.”

Barry looked from Eddie to Cisco, then at his hands.

“Is my dad okay?” Barry asked. “My dad, Henry Allen, that dad, the only other person who you might consider a sort of extra dad is Joe West.”

“To my knowledge, Doctor Allen is fine,” Eddie said. “I assumed Eobard would have taken you in, as he should have done after he Made you.”

“Okay,” Barry said. “I need to check that. What time is it?”

"Quarter to three in the morning,” Cisco said.

“It’s too late to call them. I’ll call later. Okay.” He stood up. “I made a promise that I would watch out for Cisco. Promise me you’re not here to hurt anyone.”

“We’re not Folk, our word doesn’t bind us in that way,” Eddie said.

“I don’t care. Make a promise. Cisco, does he feel dangerous?”

“Who did you promise that to?” Cisco asked.

“Please. What does he feel like to you?”

“I don’t know, just a person.”

“Seers can be fooled,” Eddie said.

“What are you talking about?”

“I want you to promise,” Barry said.

“I promise,” Eddie said. “I’m here looking for Eobard to make sure he isn’t hurting anyone.”

“He’s telling the truth?” Barry asked, looking at Cisco.

“I don’t see why he wouldn’t be? Barry, I want an-”

“I have proof Harrison Wells is dead,” Barry said. “I’ll show you. He can come too, but only because I think the Underground needs to know what he knows. Only if you come, you might not be able to go to work any more.”

“Why not?”

“Because there’s an enchantment around S.T.A.R. Labs that stops us getting close. I can’t even watch the news or get the file I need out of records; Nate says he’s never seen anything like it.”

“Your headaches,” Cisco said. Barry nodded. “I want the truth, Barry.”

“Okay.”

Cisco let Barry carry him and run. Eddie could keep up himself.

Barry stopped in Lawrence Hills, not far from his home. Most of the buildings seemed abandoned, but one little one had the light switched on. Barry knocked on the door. A fairly young-looking woman with white hair, piercing blue eyes, and blue lips opened it and looked at Cisco.

“I’m afraid we’re closed,” she said. “Is it an emergency?”

“Someone’s pretending to be Harry,” Barry said. “And he’s a vampire, his kid is the one who attacked me. Caitlin…”

“Wait there.”

She shut the door again and Barry stepped back.

“A banshee?” Eddie asked.

“Doctor Snow is lovely,” Barry said. “And she’s a very good doctor. She just has cold hands.”

“She’s a what?” Cisco asked.

“A banshee,” Doctor Snow said. She had the door open and a woman was next to her with a golden necklace. “We cry and mourn when someone has died or is about to.”

“You’re late, Barry,” the woman she was with said.

“I know,” Barry said. “I actually have a really good excuse this time.”

“I can see that. I’m Mari McCabe.”

“You’re a Guardian,” Eddie said. “That’s the Tantu Totem, I thought it was lost.”

“It used to be,” Mari said. “Come in.”

Cisco stepped inside and Barry offered his hand to hold them close together. Doctor Snow’s office was buzzing, like the air itself was alive.

Mari led them downstairs and a group of people all sat on a circle of chairs looked up at them. Cisco recognised some of them. Rip, Miranda, Ray, Kendra, Hartley, Ralph, Sue-

“Barry!” Ray said. “I saved you a sandwich.”

“I love you,” Barry said, practically pouncing on it and cradling it close.

“You brought company with you,” a woman with black and white wings and weird shaped feet said.

“This is Eddie Thawne and you all know Cisco,” Barry said. He bit into his sandwich. “Ray, you are so good at these. Anyway, Eddie’s a vampire and his kid was the one who attacked me or something so by vampire rules I’m his grandkid or something like that? I don’t know. Hey, do you know if I can eat garlic?”

“What?” Eddie asked. “A little bit should be fine, if anything you might be slightly intolerant.”

“Awesome. But I think Cisco needs to know the truth now please.”

“And you two just let them in,” bird lady said.

“I trust Barry,” Caitlin said.

“He’s been telling us since the beginning we should tell the truth,” Hartley said. “And he’s been right since the beginning. Even if he’s been hidden until now we’ve found him, and another vampire proves others can sense what he is too, it would be impossible to hide from someone that cast an enchantment as strong as the one over S.T.A.R. Labs.”

“I’m not saying we shouldn’t trust Barry,” bird lady said. “I’m saying it’s dangerous.”

“And it’s a little late now, Sara, they’re both already here,” Doctor Wells said, except he was translucent. He did not look like that normally.

“Um, Barry,” Cisco said. “When you said you had proof.”

“Introductions,” Barry said. “Introductions first is much politer. Everyone, this is Cisco Ramon and Eddie Thawne, Cisco, you met Ray, Hartley, Rip, Miranda, Kendra, Ralph, Sue, Mona, Lisa, and Caitlin and Mari just now, this is Sara, Zari, Nate, Harry, Amaya, Charlie, John, Jax, and Mick. And you, um…”

“Hi, Cisco,” someone who absolutely should not have been there said. Cisco swung his fist and it went straight through Dante’s face. “I’m a ghost, that’s not going to work.”

“You’re supposed to be dead.”

“I am.”

“I went to your funeral; I saw them bury you.”

“I am dead,” Dante said. “I died. I just ended up as ghost afterwards.”

“Barry promised you he’d watch out for me. It really was you I was seeing.”

“You noticed me?”

“I thought I was hallucinating. You made him promise not to tell me, didn’t you? And you really do know Dante, but you met him after he died.”

“Yes,” Barry said. “He was just trying to protect you.”

“I have been mourning my brother for months and this whole time you’ve been here? I know about the Underground, Barry told me months ago, I know magic is real, you could have shown yourself. I know there’s rules, rules you should probably consider some exceptions some time because Barry’s family are worried he’s been seriously ill and the anaemia was a symptom of something worse, but he already told me so what harm could it do?”

“So much,” Dante said. “I still don’t really understand, but I know I want to keep you safe.”

“Perhaps you should sit down, Cisco,” the lady ghost- Amaya, Cisco was sure that was who Barry had meant by Amaya- said. She smiled gently, and Barry led Cisco into the circle. There were a few empty seats between Dante and Doctor Wells. Mari sat next to Amaya and Zari, the other lady with a necklace, and Caitlin was on Dante’s other side. She looked like she had tears in her eyes.

“You’re Amaya Jiwe,” Eddie said.

“I am. Mari is my granddaughter. After my death I stuck by the Tantu Totem until Charlie was able to give it to Mari and she claimed it.”

“Are ghosts common?” Cisco asked.

“No. I spent my life tied to magic, though I was human. We believe magic was cast at Harrison’s death, which is why he became one.”

“What about Dante?”

“The way we understand magic is that it has six aspects,” Zari said. “Air, earth, fire, water, life, and death. But Magic itself is a living force.”

“It’s alive?”

“Think of this way,” Nate said. “A forest is a group of trees, and each individual tree is the thing that’s alive. But it’s a living ecosystem, there’s the carbon cycle and nitrogen cycle, decomposition, there’s life. And no ecosystem exists in a bubble, there’s the water cycle so water from the sea is taken inland, air circulates so you could be breathing oxygen that was photosynthesised by a tree in the Amazon, the Earth is a rock floating in space, but because everything is connected it’s also a living breathing thing, and Magic is energy from that.”

“Okay,” Cisco said. “I still don’t understand what this has got to do with Dante being a ghost now?”

“Energy can’t be created or destroyed, only transformed,” Ray said. “Magic is the same. Sorcerers and warlocks transform magic. Nate’s a witch, they focus mostly on healing and the natural world, not everything they do is magic like spells or enchantments, but they do sometimes use a little magic. And then there are Seers, people born with a natural ability to channel raw magic.”

“I was told Seers could talk to Magic in a way no one else could even understand,” Charlie said.

“They’re rare,” Zari said. “There was at least one Seer involved in creating the six original totems.” She touched the glowing red stone around her neck. “This is the Air Totem, my family have been it’s Guardian for centuries. Mari has the Tantu Totem, for Life. There were originally six, one for each aspect of magic, but the other four have been lost for generations. There also hasn’t been a Seer for generations.”

“Eddie was talking to Barry about a Seer though,” Cisco said. “So there’s one somewhere in Central?”

“Hartley’s family have been in Central for a while,” Mari said. “I recently found out my sister is alive too, and she’s been after the Totem for herself, and looking for her led me to Central. Zari came looking for the other Totems. Sara came looking for the sorcerer who took her sister from her.”

“Sirens don’t normally come this far inland,” Sara said. “Which is exactly why Damien Darhk would hide somewhere like here. And I know he was looking for the Totems too.”

“And then two ghosts were formed with no prior knowledge of magic,” Amaya said. “And then a vampire was Made, despite there being no knowledge of vampires in Central.”

“But if someone’s pretending to be Harry, that explains him, right?” Barry asked.

“It seems likely,” Amaya said.

“There’s been a huge surge in Magic flowing through Central in the past few months,” John said. “It’s why Sara called me.”

“And Dante got caught in that,” Cisco said.

“It was a theory,” Amaya said. “Until we discovered you. Or perhaps, most correctly, Barry discovered you.”

“What?” Cisco asked.

“You aren’t scared of me,” Barry said.

“Should I be?”

“I unnerve people. My parents get jumpy around me. That’s the other reason I’ve been avoiding them, lying is hard, and they can’t be around me for too long anyway.”

“Since when?”

“He’s a vampire,” Eddie said. “Have you ever been to a zoo, anything like that, and stood in front of a tiger, or any large predator? And you know you’re safe, but your instincts still scream at you that there’s a danger and you should get away? That’s how people feel around vampires. Learning to mask that takes time. It took me forty years.”

“You weren’t talking about Gideon that time, were you?” Cisco asked. “You were talking about yourself. But I’ve never noticed that.”

“When I’m with you, people aren’t scared of me,” Barry said.

“So? Maybe you’re just a faster learner than him.”

“Me, the guy who knows pretty much nothing and mistook it for rabies? It’s not me, Cisco, it’s you. And you magicked me, and you know when people are lying to you.”

“I think I’d know if I could do magic,” Cisco said. “And if my boss isn’t the real Doctor Wells then someone’s been lying to me for months and I didn’t notice.”

“Someone’s cast a very powerful enchantment to keep you hidden,” John said. “I’ll wager they’re redirecting it to S.T.A.R. Labs, that’s why you’ve suddenly been noticed.”

“Incredibly powerful for even dragons not to notice a Seer in their city,” Jax said. “Mick and I will talk to Grey and Clarissa.”

“You’re dragons?” Cisco asked. Jax flicked, a red scaled dragon around the size of a Shetland pony briefly taking his place.

“I am,” Jax said. “Mick’s not, he just hangs around sometimes when he’s not with Lisa and Leonard. There’s a few of us up in Granite Peaks.”

“Oh. But if you would have noticed a Seer then I can’t be-”

“Cisco,” Dante said. “You’ve always been good at telling when people are lying to you. You know no one in this room is. And wouldn’t growing up with a brother concentrating magic without even knowing he could, let alone how to control what he was doing, explain how I ended up as a ghost?”

“But I-”

“Maybe you’re not,” Barry said. “Captain Singh is completely human, he still knows, maybe Cisco can do the same as him? Notice the weird things going on in the Overground and direct the relevant people? Either way he still works at S.T.A.R. Labs, and there’s something going on there. I know you’ve got a contract, but if you’re supposed to be working for Harrison Wells, you can talk to Harry, right?”

“This is a lot,” Cisco said.

“Perhaps it’s best we leave it for now,” Mari said. “John?”

“I still can’t get through,” John said.

“You should talk to Grey too,” Jax said.

Cisco zoned out some of the meeting. Most of it seemed to be catching up. None of them could look too closely at S.T.A.R. Labs.

Barry took him home afterwards. He ran them.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I should have told you sooner.”

“Told me that my boss is actually dead and I’m working for a fraud and my brother’s a ghost now and there’s an enchantment over S.T.A.R. Labs and that’s why you get headaches when I talk about work? Or should have told me your friends all think I’m magic.”

“Both.”

“Is that why they were following me?”

“That was because Dante panicked when he thought you might be in trouble and it was supposed to be just checking up on you. But someone else had been following you too, Hartley saw. He hasn’t seen anyone since, but… I should have told you sooner, and I’m sorry.”

“You really believe I’m magic, don’t you?”

“I don’t know enough,” Barry said. “I do know you’re the one living person I know who isn’t scared of me, and that makes you special. Magic or not, you’re Cisco, that makes you special. You’re not working tomorrow, you should come and talk to Captain Singh.”

“How does he know?”

“I don’t know the whole story. I think it’s something to do with helping Lisa once, but apparently everywhere has someone they can trust who’s sort of part of the Underground but not completely, who acts as a go between, I guess. Like, he’s the one who brought me to Doctor Snow and changed me to the night shift. You could do that. You’re trustworthy.”

“Thanks, Barry. You really thought I was magic, didn’t you?”

“At first. It just felt like magic before, when you told me to tell the truth and I blurted it out. You feel, I don’t know how to explain it. Tingly?”

“Tingly.”

“Like John but more. Like there’s always static clinging to you. I don’t know. I don’t know a lot about all this. But I know you’re Cisco, and I know it doesn’t matter to me whether you have magic or not, I just, I don’t want to lie to you, I don’t want to fight, I want to be your friend.”

“I missed you too. I think I need some time to think.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you want to get a coffee some time?”

“Very much,” Barry said.

There was someone in Cisco’s apartment. He sighed and opened his bedroom door. Dante was sitting there, looking at the guitar in the corner.

“I miss playing,” he said.

“Why are you here?” Cisco asked.

“Since you know now, I thought I could come visit you,” Dante said. “Hang out with my little brother.”

“You don’t have anywhere else to be.”

“No, nowhere, I am technically homeless.”

“So, you want something.”

“I know you’re going through a lot right now,” Dante said. “I want to help you. I know I left it too long, Barry kept telling me the longer I waited the harder it would be, I know I’m late, I wasn’t there so many times I should have been, and I know it’s late, I’m late, literally, but I want to fix it. As much as I can. I want to be a better brother.”

“You died,” Cisco said. “It really hurt.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I should have just got the bus.”

“Cisco. It was not your fault. I should have been there when I said I would. Either way it doesn’t matter now. It’s too late. But I’m here still somehow.”

“We get a second chance,” Cisco said. “I’d like that. Where have you been living? Do ghosts need to sleep?”

“It’s a hard habit to break,” Dante said. “Caitlin doesn’t mind me staying sometimes, or Barry, or Mari, she’s used to living with ghosts. And it’s kind of hard for ghosts to actually find somewhere to live.”

“You can stay here if you want. It might be nice having you around. I’ll kick you out if you start being spooky when I’m trying to sleep though.”

“And now everyone thinks I’m magic, my boss is actually someone pretending to be a dead guy, and I’m roommates with my ghost brother,” Cisco said. “And Barry said you might have advice?”

“Well,” David- he’d said David was fine since Cisco didn’t actually work for him like Barry did and this was technically a personal visit even though Cisco was at C.C.P.D., even if he was there with coffee from Rip and Miranda to drop in- said, “I don’t have specific advice.”

“I thought you’d probably say that. I’m not a Seer. I’ve never seen the future.”

“From what I understand, Seers don’t get prophecies or anything like that,” David said. “They might be better at guessing, but it seems to more be they’d be the subject of prophecy? They’re just far more connected to magic than anyone else. I can tell you Barry is far less threatening when you’re around.”

“He’s not scary.”

“I’ve known him for a long time. Joe and I were partners for a while, back when we were both detectives, Iris was around a lot and she often brought Barry. Logically I know he’s Barry Allen, he’s terrible at time keeping sometimes, and when he was younger, he and Iris would get into fights but only defending other people, the idea of Barry hurting other people is laughable. And yet I get goose bumps when I’m in the same room as him, except when he brought you to Joe’s.”

“He covers his ears and hides his teeth.”

“Yes. But you can still make out his teeth sometimes. Sometimes he stands just a little too still, or he forgets his hearing is far better than anyone else’s, and I know his sense of smell is better too.”

“Maybe it’s not that I’m magic,” Cisco said. “Maybe it’s just that everyone else notices those things and I didn’t so I didn’t pick up on him being potentially dangerous. Or because I know and because he’s Barry?”

“I know him too, and I’ve known him longer.”

“Dante’s right about me always being good at picking up when people are lying to me. And Barry said usually Gideon draws people in, but she felt dangerous to me. And I could feel when they were all watching me.”

“Not just them,” David said. “Hartley told me he was sure he found someone else following you too and asked me to keep my eyes open.”

“Barry said. That’s the time he was rude to Barry, wasn’t it? He was actually helping, he just wanted us to leave quickly. I saw Kendra’s wings before too, and when Jax said I was a dragon it was like his form flashed and there was a dragon sitting there.”

“That’s never happened to me. You do seem more sensitive to magic than anyone from the Overground I’ve met.”

“What was it like when you found out?”

“Complicated.”

“And you can’t tell Rob, can you?”

“No.”

“Does it get easier?”

“There are parts of my job I cannot talk about. It helps if I think of it as that.”

“My brother’s a ghost.”

“And we’ll find out what happened, Cisco. Somehow. You should talk to Martin.”

“Martin?”

“Professor Martin Stein. I know Sara called Constantine, but Martin’s been the wizard of Central far longer, and I know Louise- Jax’s grandmother- approves of him more.”

“Professor Martin Stein,” Cisco said. “Thank you.”

Asking Barry to come was just because then Cisco would have an excuse for showing up late evening if Cisco was wrong about which Martin Stein David had meant. Not that Cisco would ever need an excuse for visiting but introducing his (fake) boyfriend would at least be something to talk about if he was wrong. And Barry was probably a better choice than Dante if he was wrong. That hadn’t stopped Dante tagging along. He was just going to hide if Cisco was wrong.

Okay, Cisco was pretty sure he wasn’t wrong, but having Barry there was comforting, and he wanted Barry to come. He’d met Barry’s family already. It was only fair.

Dante had already positioned himself behind the bushes.

“Maybe you should ask Amaya how to turn invisible,” Barry said. “It would be useful.”

“Amaya can turn invisible?” Cisco asked. “And you’ve been a ghost for how long and you haven’t learnt that yet?”

“Barry hasn’t learnt how to turn into a bat,” Dante said. “I was working on floating and winds.”

“I thought you couldn’t turn into a bat,” Cisco said.

“Eddie said I can turn into a whole swarm, that’s how you deal with the conservation of mass, but then I got confused over how that would work and he said don’t think about it, but how can I not consider what happens if one bat gets stuck somewhere, like, do they each get a tiny piece of my brain, does my brain all go in one bat, and then I passed out again.”

“You’ve been doing that a lot recently.”

“It’s nothing. Just overthinking. Anyway, where exactly are we going?”

“Right here,” Cisco said.

Martin Stein- the Martin Stein Cisco had known for longer than he could remember- lived in Englewood, right on the edge of town under the hills or Granite Peak National Park. Which Cisco knew was where Jax had said he lived with his mother and grandmother. And where Sara was staying, since her wings and feet didn’t easily let her blend in either, and they weren’t the only ones. As far as Cisco knew, Martin was a physics professor at Central City University. He’d even taught some of Cisco’s classes. Clarissa worked at the university too, in the finance department, and Lily- their daughter- was at Mercury Labs now. They couldn’t possibly be who David had meant.

Still, Cisco was knocking on their door at eight o’clock in the evening.

“Cisco. What a pleasant surprise.”

“Hi, Uncle Martin,” Cisco said. “Um. This is Barry. Are you busy?”

“No, no, dear boy, come in. And tell Dante he can stop hiding in my bushes.”

Cisco followed him inside and took the offered seats. Martin had already made tea. He always had tea ready. And plenty of room for Barry to perch nervously next to Cisco while Dante floated on his other side.

“So,” he said. “Jax told me they’d found out about a Seer in Central.”

“And David Singh told me you’re a wizard,” Cisco said. Martin smiled and poured some tea from the pot. “They are right, aren’t they?”

“Yes.”

“And you knew.”

“Clarissa and I both did, yes.”

“How long have you been a wizard?” Dante asked.

“Longer than you’ve been alive,” Martin said. “Ever since I met a very charming young sorceress when I was at university.”

“Aunt Clarissa’s magic too?”

“What’s the difference?” Barry asked.

“Wizards are more focused on the theory of magic, and understanding,” Martin said. “We can cast spells, but it’s mostly research based. Warlocks and sorcerers are close enough they’re practically interchangeable, but it tends to be that sorcerers are from long lines of magic users, warlocks train themselves, and sorcerers are more likely to channel magic straight into spells whereas warlocks frequently rely on potions and have components they work with. Warlocks also only tend to focus on the six aspects of magic, sorcerers sometimes draw from other energies.”

“But you teach physics,” Cisco said.

“Nate and Ray said magic is a type of energy,” Barry said.

“Or possibly the change between energies,” Martin said. “I was studying physics before I found out about magic. The two aren’t mutually exclusive.”

“What about Seers?” Cisco asked.

“The last Seer died before Amaya was born. I can’t tell you. They say you channel magic itself, or that you can talk to it, but no one’s fully studied what it means. And part of that might be because it is very hard to keep records when you’re attempting to keep your existence secret, but I can’t give you a book to help, Cisco. You do know more than you think. Clarissa and I made sure of that, even if we didn’t give you magic lessons like Lily had.”

“They said there’s an enchantment?”

“Yes, I know. Clarissa cast it.”

“Why?”

“Because your parents asked her to.”

“Why?”

“They wanted you to have a childhood. They didn’t want this pressure, and danger, looming over you until you were old enough to understand.”

“Wait, they know about magic too?” Dante asked. “This whole time I’ve been hiding I was a ghost now from them and they knew the whole time?”

“Not to anyone else’s knowledge,” Martin said. “Not even Lily. Central City is watched over by a dragon family, and there are very few people who would foolish enough to challenge a dragon to a fight. Still, there are the Thawnes from Keystone, the Rathaways have been here for a few generations now, the Dibnys wouldn’t do anything, but there was danger for you within the city, and news of a Seer being born would spread, and quickly. You were a baby, and your parents wanted to protect you. Clarissa cast an enchantment that would hide you even from Louise, under her advice. They were going to tell you, but Dante died, and they just want you safe.”

“But they already know,” Dante said. “So, I can go home and see them?”

“Yes. I would go with Cisco though.”

“But I still get to go see them.”

“That’s good,” Barry said. “I’m sure they’ll be just as thrilled. But someone’s been filtering Cisco’s protection onto S.T.A.R. Labs.”

“Specifically, the accelerator,” Cisco said. Barry turned a little green. “Because you do that every time I mention it.”

“Some of it,” Martin said. “There’s enough on you to protect yourself still. Clarissa can undo it, but it means losing your protection.”

“And then everyone will know,” Dante said. “All the people you wanted to hide Cisco from before. He’ll be in danger, you can’t.”

“But it’s stopping anyone being able to investigate why you died,” Cisco said.

“Think it through,” Martin said. “You don’t have to decide now. I’m sure Dante would rather you go home.”

“You should talk to your parents,” Barry said. “And tell them Dante’s still hanging around. I can run you there now if you want. I don’t think I can run Dante, but he can probably keep up himself? Maybe? Thank you, sir.”

“Thanks, Uncle Martin,” Cisco said. “I guess I’ll come and see you again soon.”

“Just take care of yourself. Nice to meet you, Barry.”

“You too, sir.”

Barry smiled and picked Cisco up so Cisco was sitting in his arms, his own arms around Barry’s shoulders.

“Oh,” he said. “Actually, you should probably give me your parents’ address?”

“209 Albion Hill,” Cisco said. “It’s not far from here.”

“I think I know where I’m going.”

Barry kept a tight hold on Cisco as he ran. Dante must have been able to keep up because he was at Cisco’s side when Barry put Cisco down right outside.

“I’ll see you soon,” Barry said.

“You can come in,” Cisco said.

“I think you should do this alone. But if you need me, just call.”

Barry stumbled slightly.

“Are you okay?” Cisco asked.

“Just a little dizzy, I think I’m just tired. Talk later?”

“Sure,” Cisco said. Barry shot off again. “You realise this means we could have found all this out months ago if you’d shown up sooner.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Dante said. “You have to knock, I’m incorporeal now.”

“I saw you stroking a cat this morning,” Cisco said and knocked on the door. “And you knocked my chair over. Yet you just broke into my place.”

“I can touch things with a lot of effort.”

“So, you deliberately knocked my chair over?”

The door opened.

“Hi, Dad,” Cisco said. “I think we need to talk.”

“Dante.”

“Hi Dad.”

They’d talked for hours. Explained everything. Dante had almost briefly made himself solid enough to give their parents a hug. He’d already decided to keep working on that.

It was still late though, and their parents still had normal sleeping habits. They should probably go. Come back the next day for a proper family dinner only without the usual arguing and without Dante actually being able to eat. Things could go back to normal.

Except they couldn’t because Dante was a ghost and Cisco…

“We were going to tell you,” his dad said. He sat next to Cisco. “One day. We just wanted you to be safe.”

“I get it. I don’t know what to do.”

“It’s your choice, Cisco. You don’t have to.”

“The accelerator,” Cisco said. “Hang on.”

Cisco pulled out his phone and waited.

“Raymond,” a groggy voice answered.

“Ronnie! Hi, it’s Cisco Ramon, the nightshift guy, sorry for calling you so late, I just needed to make an adjustment on the latest set of calculations I left you? Brain’s firing, you know how it is, I won’t be able to stop it until I know they’re right.”

“What calculations?”

“I left you some more notes on the accelerator the other day?”

“More? I haven’t got any.”

“That’s odd, Doctor Wells said he’d get them to you.”

“I’ll check my desk Monday, if not I’ll ask him.”

“No, don’t worry, I’ll redo them then give them to you personally. Again, I’m ever so sorry for disturbing you.”

“Don’t worry about it. Night, Cisco.”

Cisco hung up again.

“I think I know what I have to do.”

Presumably, someone would notice if they just stopped the enchantment. And Cisco was going to, he just needed some data from S.T.A.R. Labs when he could still get in, just to confirm something.

Dante was not happy about him going back. At all.

But it was still his job. He’d been doing it for months already. He just needed those figures, needed to get Ronnie those figures, then he could find Aunt Clarissa.

He spent most of his shift focused on it. He’d greeted a few people on his way in, same as always, and no one bothered him while at work. He made three different copies of his calculations, left one in the drawer in Ronnie’s desk, then headed upstairs. He’d be in soon. Doctor Wells- not Wells- was probably already there.

Cisco just didn’t expect to see him standing over someone slumped in a chair.

“Barry!” Cisco rushed in and rushed to his side. “Barry, wake up-”

“Cisco?” Barry murmured. He blinked a few times then shut his eyes again. “What happened?”

“You we unconscious outside,” not-Wells said. “We brought you in to wait for an ambulance.”

He sounded sincere.

“It’s fine,” Barry said. He yawned, still with his eyes closed. Maybe the lights were too bright. “I don’t need a hospital. It’s a chronic issue, I already know what it is.”

“I really think you should visit the hospital, Mister...”

“Barry,” Cisco said. “He’s the boyfriend I told you about, Doctor Wells.”

“Mmm,” Barry agreed. “Cisco’s the best. I had flowers, was going to ask you to breakfast.”

“I take it you settled your fight?” not-Wells asked.

“It was a misunderstanding,” Cisco said. “I think I should take you to the doctor now though, Barry. If you’re passing out again. Maybe your medication is affecting your blood pressure again?”

“Maybe,” Barry said. “Just the doctor?”

“Just the doctor. Is that all right, Doctor Wells?”

“If you’re sure he doesn’t need the hospital. Are those the figures for Mister Raymond?”

“Here,” Cisco said. He handed over one of his copies. “Come on, Barry.”

Cisco kept Barry’s arm over his shoulder as he helped him out to his car. He pulled the seatbelt across and Barry smiled dopily, with his eyes still shut.

“Where are we going?” Barry asked.

“To see Doctor Snow,” Cisco said.

“It’s fine, really,” Barry said. “I told you, it’s just a chronic thing. How did I get inside S.T.A.R. Labs?”

“The other Doctor Wells must have brought you somehow. What were you doing?”

“Waiting for you. Dante was worried so he asked me to. I was worried too. Can I go to sleep?”

“Just rest, Barry,” Cisco said. “Everything will be fine.”

Caitlin looked tired when she opened the door. Barry was still half asleep and only standing because Cisco was holding him up.

“He passed out again,” Cisco said. “Outside S.T.A.R. Labs.”

“Come in,” Caitlin said. She helped Cisco get Barry into her practise room and laid him down on the bed. “I’ll run some blood tests, check his iron levels, but the results might take a few days. Blood pressure first. I’m not sure what it should be for a vampire, but I’ve been keeping notes.”

“Would Eddie be any help?” Cisco asked.

“Maybe,” Caitlin said. Cisco nodded and sent a text while she wrapped the cuff around Barry’s arm and pumped. “80 over 56, that’s low for a human, that’s a cause for concern.” She removed the cuff and replaced it with a small strap and rested Barry’s arm on a pillow, slightly raised. “Barry, can you try tensing your arm for me? I just need to take a little blood.”

“Thought I was the vampire,” Barry groaned. “Ow, my head. Fire- Caitlin, I think S.T.A.R. Labs was on fire, I could smell it-”

“Everything’s fine,” Caitlin said. She had damp eyes again.

“Eddie’s here,” Cisco said. He rushed to open the front door right as Eddie was about to raise his hand to knock. “What’s blood pressure supposed to be for a vampire?”

“About the same as a human,” Eddie said. “A little higher isn’t bad.”

“But low is?”

“When was the last time he fed?”

“I don’t know, he’s been outside S.T.A.R. Labs all night, I think, but he must have brought a sandwich with him, he-”

“I don’t mean a sandwich, Cisco, I mean blood.”

“Barry said he can get the iron from spinach and red meat and other foods like people do?”

“That’s not why he needs it,” Eddie said. “Vampires are parasites. We don’t produce our own Life properly, so we have to take it, and it’s contained within blood of a living creature.”

“He ate a few moths?”

“They live a handful of days, that won’t do anything. There are two types of vampire, Born, like I was, and Made, like Barry and Eobard. When we’re Born we have our first feeds from our parents, and usually that lasts our childhoods. When we reach adulthood we have to properly feed. And there are studies into alternatives, I’ve travelled a lot in my life, I’ve met vampires who fed from animal blood, I recently met someone looking into tree sap as a source of Life, and there are those of us who still fed from humans.”

“You did that, didn’t you?”

“My family are very old and not the nicest. My parents are over three hundred, and I’ve never dared ask how old my grandmother is. When I turned eighteen, my parents pointed me in the direction of Eobard. I don’t know what he did to offend them. He was a professor at the university back then, so it might have been as simple as failing my older brother who probably deserved it. Tradition was I- Well, I got halfway through and I couldn’t do it. Which brings us to the second type of vampire, Made vampires.”

“You bite someone, they turn into a vampire.”

“Yes. Well, they aren’t even two types, we’re all the same, but people can get particular with whether you were born or made and, like I said, my family are old. If you don’t fully drain someone when feeding, they become like you.”

“That’s why you said Eobard was your responsibility.”

“It was complicated. I fought with my parents and left my Clan after he was turned, and by vampire tradition I was his sire and responsible for my child. On the flip side, I was eighteen and knew nothing about the human world, so we were stuck together in an odd limbo of both being default and reluctant parent and child to each other. He did become a Thawne, but since I had disowned myself, he wasn’t welcomed into the Clan.”

“Barry, he...”

“I left Eobard with ten years. He had no problems feeding, and I left again. I don’t know how much life Eobard left Barry, but it can’t have been much if he’s already passing out. He needs to feed, Cisco. He can drink from other vampires, that’s what I’ve done, I’ve been given a few years here and there, it’s why I still look young, he can drink from me if he needs Life.”

“He’s sleeping,” Caitlin said from the doorway. “He needs rest.”

“Caitlin-”

“Take him home, explain to him when he’s less tired,” Caitlin interrupted Cisco. “He needs rest today.”

Cisco nodded. He looked past her to where Barry was curled up, breathing softly.

“I’ll carry him for you,” Eddie said. He picked up Barry with ease and Cisco didn’t miss the slight wince.

Dante was hovering nervously when Cisco unlocked his door. He looked at where Barry was still asleep curled up against Eddie’s chest.

“Something happened.”

“He’s not well,” Cisco said. He opened his bedroom door so Eddie could put Barry on the bed.

“I should get to work,” Eddie said. “I’m going to assume Barry doesn’t want me telling Joe about this.”

“No,” Dante said. “He won’t.”

“I’ll drop by later.”

“Thanks, Eddie,” Cisco said. He dropped his last copy of the figures from the accelerator on the table. “Watch that for me?”

“Where are you going?”

“To bed.”

“Barry’s in your bed.”

“I have blankets in there. Good night, Dante.”

Cisco shut the door. Barry was blinking at him.

“Aren’t you supposed to be sleeping?” Cisco asked.

“Mmm,” Barry said. “You shared mine.”

“Barry-”

“’S big enough. I won’t mind.”

“If you’re sure,” Cisco said.

Barry wasn’t there when he woke up again. He could hear talking though.

“-tell him?”

“I wasn’t planning on it,” Barry said.

“Really. How many times have the two of you slept together?” Dante asked.

“He stayed over at mine once, I only have one bed,” Barry said. “We each stuck to our own sides. I’ve shared a bed with Iris, you’ve probably shared a bed with Cisco, what’s the big deal?”

“The big deal is you’re-”

Cisco pushed open the door and both of them stopped and smiled. Barry was looking a little better.

“Hey,” he said. “Did you sleep okay?”

“Fine,” Cisco said. “I think we need to talk.”

“Yeah,” Barry said. “Because your fake boss smells like Eddie, so I’m pretty sure he’s a vampire? Only vampires can’t change appearance like that, at least, I didn’t think we could, Jax told me the only reason he can is because of a spell from Lily, so-”

Someone knocked on the door.

“Dante, go get Aunt Clarissa,” Cisco said. “Tell her I made my mind up. Go.”

“Cisco-”

“Go, Dante.”

Dante shot through the wall and Cisco opened the door. Not Doctor Wells was stood there, only this time he knew exactly what Barry meant when he said people were unnerved by him. And he was with four other people, people Cisco didn’t recognise, but Barry must have, because within seconds Barry was between them, standing at full height, eyes piercing and teeth fully visible.

“This Child is supposed to be the Seer’s Protector?” the blond man laughed.

“Cisco, close your eyes,” Barry said.

“What?”

“Close your eyes. Please.”

“Really, Child,” not Wells said. “Settle down. You wouldn’t be able to fight even if you weren’t almost drained.”

“I won’t let you hurt Cisco.” Barry swayed slightly. “I won’t.”

“You should get rid of him, Eobard,” the third man said.

“I’m rather curious about him,” not Wells said. “Why don’t you sing to him, Black Siren?”

One of the women stepped forward and started to sing. Barry was swaying more than before.

“You’re-” Barry gasped. “You’re Laurel-”

He hit the floor and Cisco rushed, only managing to grab Barry’s fallen glasses before not Wells grabbed him.

“Let go of me!”

“Cisco, we need to talk about your continued employment with S.T.A.R. Laboratories,” not Wells said.

“Just get him there, Eobard,” the blond man said. “Is the accelerator ready?”

“I need a few more hours to undo everything Mister Raymond did today thanks to Mister Ramon here,” not Wells- Eobard, Eobard Thawne- said. “But I have somewhere he can wait until we’re ready.”

And then he was running.

Cisco had been in Doctor Wells’ office before. He’d had his interview in here. Presumably with Harry, not with Eobard Thawne though. But Thawne had run him there and dropped Barry’s limp body on the floor.

Cisco stepped back.

“Unfortunately, my associates want you breathing, Cisco,” not Wells said.

“You’re Eobard Thawne.”

“Yes.” He took his glasses off and his appearance shifted to a man with blond hair and blue eyes. “I was wondering how much you knew. I knew people had become aware of you with Damien siphoning off some of the spell keeping you hidden, it was how we found out about you, but I wasn’t sure if you were aware of that or not, not until you called my blasted sire.”

“Hey,” Barry said. “You look kind of like that blur who stole all my blood, I was using that. Cisco, are you the other blur?”

“What’s your name, Child?” Thawne asked.

“How can you not know?” Cisco asked. “You bit him.”

“I didn’t intend for him to survive. He was poking his nose into things which did not concern him, and I was hungry. I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone, as you might say.”

“Or just one Barry,” Barry said. “Good to know I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and got my whole life screwed up, thanks for that.”

“You survived,” Thawne said. “You’re so much stronger than I imagined. And by vampire law you are-”

“Don’t care,” Barry said. “Give me my glasses.”

“I don’t need an Heir, Child, I don’t care if you turn down this offer. But if you change you mind before sunrise, feel free to have a little snack.”

“Wait, what?” Cisco asked. Thawne shut the door again. “I-”

“I’m not going to hurt you, Cisco,” Barry sighed. He rested against the wall and half shut his eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“Barry.” Cisco sat next to him and offered him his glasses. “I talked to Eddie. He said you’re dying.”

“I know,” Barry said. He was breathing heavily. “My doctor’s a banshee, Cisco, and every time I see her, her eyes are damp, it wasn’t a hard leap to make.”

“You knew?”

“Well. Assumed is probably the proper word. I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you better.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“I’m still sorry. How about those Diamonds?”

“You want to talk about a terrible baseball team right now? Barry, just take some of my blood, I’ll-”

“No.”

“Eddie said you need the Life in it, it’s never been about iron, just-”

“No, Cisco.”

“You’ll die.”

“I was supposed to die months ago. This has just been extra time.”

“Time you should have had if he hadn’t stolen it from you.”

“And I will not take anyone else’s,” Barry said. “Especially not yours.”

“You won’t kill me, I know you-”

“I don’t know what will happen if I start, and I have no intention of finding out. Even if I don’t, you’ll be like me, and I have been so lost and confused, I won’t do that to anyone else.”

“You’d rather die?”

“Yes.”

“Aren’t you afraid?”

“Yes. And sad, thinking about what this will do to my parents, to Iris, Joe, Wally, you. I have regrets. But that’s just the way of life sometimes. I won’t do it. I am sorry, Cisco. I know that losing people hurts and I don’t want to hurt you. I especially don’t want to leave you alone with them. But I won’t do that.”

“But you don’t have to die. In theory you could live for-”

“I don’t want to live forever, I want to live with you!”

Cisco froze and Barry sighed.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say that.”

“But you mean it.”

“Yes. You’re wonderful. How could I not?”

“You weren’t going to say anything?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“What would be the point? Sunrise sounds right. I think I’d like to see it once more; I can hang on until then. Cisco, it hurts to lose friends. You would be hurting enough already. I didn’t even want to be friends, but you insisted, and I couldn’t stop myself.”

“Iris was right. You were pushing her away because you knew you…”

“I didn’t lie, it was also because I hate lying to her so much. At first it was just about the lies. But I thought maybe if I stayed away, they’d get used to not having me around and it would hurt less. It hurt me less, less time lying to them, less time imagining what I was going to put them through. But I love my family, Cisco. And you gave them back to me.” Barry sighed. “I know I can’t stop people being sad. Much as I want to. When you get out of here, can you make sure they know I love them so much and I am so sorry? Just makes sure they know I love them, and I don’t want them to only be sad.”

“There has to be something we can do, you won’t drink my blood, but there has to be something, I’m supposed to be magic, there-”

“Cisco,” Barry said. “Please tell them. You will get out of here. You will. Tell them. And I want you to know too. I love you so much, you understand? I love you, and I don’t want to make you sad. That’s not the way life turned out, and there’s nothing you can do about that. Don’t regret our friendship. I don’t. I might have regrets, I regret lying to you, but knowing you, having your friendship, that isn’t one. Knowing you, loving you as I did, that will never be something I regret, whatever happens next.”

Cisco blacked out.

He woke up sitting in his childhood bedroom, with Dante. Only Dante wasn’t translucent.

“Barry-”

“You don’t have to worry about him right now, Cisco,” Dante said. He didn’t sound like Dante either.

“What happened?”

“You asked for us,” Dante said. Cisco’s eyes narrowed.

“You’re not my brother. Who are you?”

“We can take a different form if you’d rather.” Dante flickered into Barry, then Amaya, then each of Cisco’s parents, Doctor Wells, and finally settled on Nora Allen. “Perhaps this will do for now?”

“You’re not Barry’s mother either.”

“No. But she is connected to Barry, and he is connected to you.”

“You’re Magic, aren’t you? When Charlie said Seers could talk to Magic, she meant that literally.”

“We have many names,” they said, “but that is the one you know us by.”

“I was in the middle of something. Why now?”

“The enchantment hiding you was broken, as you asked. You were more connected than you have ever been, and we need to talk.”

“But Barry-”

“Time need not pass here in the same way. He will survive a little longer. Damien Darhk intends to release Mallus.”

“Mallus?”

“You would likely call his kind demons. Darhk intends to use the excess power of the accelerator to tear a gateway between your dimension and his.”

“Why?”

“Mallus feeds on Time in the same way Barry’s kind feed on Life. In a sense, he is immortal.”

“And Darhk wants that,” Cisco said. “He wants to transfer Mallus’ immortal life to himself. But not all of them can have that, right?”

“They plan to double cross each other,” Magic said. “Eobard Thawne intends to feed from Darhk. Malcolm Merlyn wishes to use Mallus to change Time. Nora Darhk is the only one Damien should trust, she simply wants to please her father. Kuasa Jiwe wants a Totem of her own, she does not need Mallus to achieve this. Mallus being released would hinder her goals. Laurel Lance is not in full control.”

“If they’re all fighting each other, they aren’t going to be able to go through with this,” Cisco said. “Would you let Darhk take Mallus’ energy?”

“Many of your predecessors have spoken to us on your ideas of good and evil, of morality, of justice, of truth.”

“But you’re not mortal,” Cisco said. “Gravity doesn’t judge who you are. It just makes you fall.”

“Yes. But you are mortal. It has been a while since we have chosen a Seer.”

“Why me?”

“You are a good man. You have the potential to truly understand.”

“Understand what? You? I get the energy thing, I think, fire is heat and light, life needs energy to survive and I guess there’s chemical energy stored in everything, maybe death’s the absence of energy I don’t know and air and water and earth can have kinetic energy and other energies, but they aren’t energy themselves. Air’s a mixture of gases, water is hydrogen and oxygen. But they’re connected, right? That’s what Nate said, no living thing exists alone, and because everything is connected, it gives the Earth itself life? If no energy is created or destroyed then that’s all connected. All energy comes from the Sun and it travels around the world between us all. Life leads to death, which decomposes to earth and leads to new life, or sometimes you get rocks or fossils, we’re made of chemical elements that existed before we were born and will continue to exist after we die as something new, it’s...”

“Magical?” they asked, with a slight smile. “You are intelligent, Cisco Ramon. And you have so much more to learn. But you do not have time now.”

“I have a question,” Cisco said. “If Mallus can convert Time to Life, does that work with other energies? Is time an energy?”

“Yes,” Magic said. “And no.”

“Which is it?”

“You asked two questions. You have to go now, Cisco. We will speak again, many times. But you were in the middle of a conversation.”

Cisco gasped and opened his eyes. Barry was kneeling over him. He looked worried, and his face was so gaunt. His eyes were dull and almost looked bruised, and he was so pale. How hadn’t Cisco noticed before?

“Don’t get up,” Barry said. “I think you had a seizure. It almost felt like the room was being electrocuted.”

“Magic just wanted a conversation,” Cisco said. “Clarissa undid the spell. You said you love me.”

“Magic wanted a conversation?” Barry asked. Cisco sat up. “What?”

“You really mean it?”

“That I love you? Yes, of course, but what do you mean magic wanted a conversation?”

Barry had probably become his best friend in the few months he’d known him. He always felt completely safe with Barry. Having Barry’s arms around him, whether it was over his shoulders like at the West gathering, or Barry picking him up to run, it felt right. He didn’t want to lose Barry. He’d do anything to spend the rest of his life with Barry.

Oh. Two questions.

“Can I kiss you?” Cisco asked.

“I’m sorry?”

“I would like to kiss you, please.”

“Is this a good time?”

“Yes. It’s exactly the right time.”

“And you’re not doing this just because I’m dying? You actually want to?”

“It’s both,” Cisco said. “Do you not want me to?”

“I was just making sure,” Barry said, and he darted forwards, his hands cupping Cisco’s face, and he pressed their lips together. He was being so gentle, so cautious, and Cisco reached into the ground beneath them and tugged. Just a little. Just a little he could give to Barry. Please, he only wanted what Eobard had stolen, just a little, Magic said it didn’t have to start as Life.

Barry gasped against Cisco, and Cisco kept pulling. A tiny bit more, a tiny bit more-

Barry fell backwards and caught himself with his hands. He started down at them, then at Cisco. He still looked ill, but there was colour in his cheeks that hadn’t been there before.

“What did you do to me?”

Barry pulled Cisco close again, this time inspecting his mouth.

“You didn’t hurt me,” Cisco said. “It wasn’t blood. Magic explained everything. You needed Life energy, I found other energy to convert. I think it’s only about fifty years, but-”

Barry laughed and hugged Cisco.

“I’m going to kiss you again now,” he said. “No magic, just kissing.”

“Cool,” Cisco said. Barry did kiss him, quickly this time, then he laughed again. “Again, please.”

Barry obliged, and then let go of Cisco. He sat back.

“You’re still going to have to explain this whole talking to magic thing.”

“Later,” Cisco said. “We have to figure out how to stop the bad guys first.”

“Kissing me was important and that isn’t?”

“Yes. We need a way out of this room.”

“The door is spelled,” Kuasa said from the doorway. “The vents aren’t. And your spell is broken.”

“You’re Mari’s sister,” Cisco said. “I know what they’re planning. If you release Mallus-”

“I know,” she said. “Nora Darhk sought me out to search for the Totems. I’m older than Mari. The Tantu Totem was my birth right.”

“But your family died,” Cisco said. “Amaya said she stayed with the Totem until Mari was able to claim it.”

“She was a baby when we lost our home. I have searched for that Totem all my life.”

“And you found it, and you found your sister. Isn’t that better? She didn’t mean to take it from you, she didn’t know, and if she hadn’t found it, you would never have known she was alive. I just got my brother back, he’s a ghost now, but I still get him back after losing him, you get your sister and your ghost grandma because you found it.”

“They have four Totems. They believe they need six to open the rift.”

“Do they?”

“Not now they have you. But combining the six Totems can seal Mallus away again. And they will still try and take my sister’s Totem.”

“And Zari’s,” Cisco said. “And they’re guarded?”

“None of your Underground friends will get close.”

“So, unless you happen to know a thief with no magic...”

“I do,” Barry said.

“Kuasa,” Merlyn said. “What are you doing?”

“Checking on the Seer. Your plan won’t work if he’s dead.”

“And?”

“He’d be better if Thawne hadn’t locked him in with a dying night leech.” She grabbed Barry’s arm and pulled him up.

“What are you doing?” Barry asked. “Cisco-”

“Barry,” Cisco said. “Barry, don’t hurt him.”

Kuasa locked eyes with Cisco, just for a moment. Merlyn didn’t seem to notice.

“I’m sure we can find a better place for him,” Merlyn said. He grabbed Barry’s other arm and Barry went limp. He was supposed to be dying.

Cisco really hoped he was making the right decision.

The door opened and Thawne walked in. His eyes narrowed.

“You’re still human.”

“Yes.”

“Care to explain how that blasted mistake escaped?”

“Merlyn took him somewhere else, I’m guessing it was him,” Cisco said.

“He won’t make it far,” Thawne said. “Especially if he’s wasting the last of his energy shifting.”

“And what do you want?” Cisco asked. “Because I assume you’re not here for a friendly chat.”

“I want to know if you’re going to be any use.”

“What’s your plan if I’m not?”

“I’m quite fond of you, Cisco. I could keep you around. If your boyfriend’s going to turn down my offer, maybe you could take his place.”

“No thanks,” Cisco said.

“We’ll see. I’m sure you won’t let us down. Imagine my surprise when I found out Harrison Wells’ latest hire was a Seer, and one who’d managed to remain hidden for years.”

“You didn’t know?”

“Know? No, not until I spent enough time in your presence. We simply needed the energy from the accelerator, and needed Harrison Wells out the way. I wasn’t even going to bother killing him, just interview for the same job you did. I am sorry about your brother.”

“No, you’re not. The enchantment you were using.”

“Damien and Nora are both sorcerers, and Malcolm a warlock, they found traces of the spell, if not the centre of it. It took a few months to wear down enough to realise it was you.”

“Was that when you moved me to the night shift?”

“No, that was because I wanted to keep you and Mister Raymond separate.”

“It was the day I met Hartley,” Cisco said. “You were the one really following me.”

“I heard the Pied Pipers made their home in Central. Rathaway, I should have guessed.”

“So, what exactly do you need me for? The accelerator’s going to blow up, you know that.”

“Yes. It was designed to. To give each Totem the energy the need so Darhk can combine each aspect and open the rift.”

“Rift? What rift?”

“A gateway to another dimension. I’ve heard Seers can focus Magic, that just by existing they radiate magical energy. You certainly seem to.”

“You’ve heard? You don’t know?”

“I was Made in 1904, on my sire’s eighteenth birthday, to my knowledge there have been no other Seers in my lifetime.”

“1904? You don’t look it. Maybe it explains the weird name?”

“Not even the era could explain my parents’ choices,” Eobard said. “Vampires age relative to their feeding habits, and I had reached my mid-twenties as a human already.”

“Eddie said his parents wanted him to kill you. If you want revenge, or-”

“Cisco, you aren’t going to be able to pry into my backstory and find redemption. I don’t want it. Some of us are just bad people and have no regrets or moral quandaries with that. Though it does tell me enough. What did Kuasa tell you?”

“She said something about some guy called Mallus? And Magic told me he’s a time demon or something and Darhk wants his immortality and then you’re going to take it from him. Does he know that?”

“Magic told you. It seems you are going to be useful after all, Cisco.”

“What? But-”

“Think of it this way,” Eobard said. “The Darhks need powers for their spell. Opening a rift is very draining, it’s tearing through our dimension, perhaps our universe, into another. The accelerator is going to release that energy all at once, but it won’t be a controlled enough release. The Totems were there to act as a conductor, to direct that energy to the Darhks. Perhaps Merlyn too. You would make a far better conductor, to direct the initial energy.”

“You want me to stand next to the accelerator while it blows up, absorb the entire blast, then push it to people who want to use it for evil? No way.”

“We just seek Life.”

“Immortality. And Sara said Damien Darhk killed her sister.”

“You already met Laurel Lance, she isn’t dead. Just spelled.”

“You took her control away and you expect me to believe this isn’t one step into a much bigger evil plot?”

“It hardly matters. We planned this before knowing about you. You aren’t an essential component. Just a useful coincidence.”

An alarm went off. Eobard sighed.

“Wait there, Cisco,” he said. He got up and shut the door again.

It opened again.

“Hi, Cisco,” Iris West of all people said. “You okay?”

“What are you doing here?”

“Research for an article. Also, Mason said he was doing his usual spying on Wells and saw Barry, so I came to see what was going on.”

“You broke in?”

“No, the door was unlocked.”

“The door was unlocked.”

“It was after I unlocked it,” Leonard Snart said. “We should go. I don’t quite have my sister’s talents for hiding in plain sight.”

“Um,” Cisco said. “Hi, Leonard.”

“Constantine gave me something for the door.”

“Great,” Cisco said. “We should go really quickly, Iris.”

“Sure,” Iris said. “What’s going on?”

“Long story.”

“Are you in some kind of trouble?”

“You could say that. We really have to go though.”

Iris nodded and followed Cisco out the door. He could feel something tingly.

“Merlyn’s coming,” he said. “There’s a fire escape this way.”

Cisco pushed open the door. No one seemed to be around. Eobard must have sent everyone away, that was why he wasn’t bothering with the Harrison Wells disguise.

There was one small car though. Leonard Snart jumped into the driver’s side, and Cisco and Iris dove into the back after him.

“By all means,” he said. “Help yourselves to my get away vehicle. Put your seatbelts on.”

“Cisco!” Barry said. “You’re okay! Iris?”

“Barry?” Iris asked. “What is wrong with your ears?”

“Oh no,” Barry said. “Are you sure you’re okay with me not getting ready to-”

“Everyone put your seatbelts on,” Leonard said. “I won’t say it again.”

“Fine,” Cisco said. He and Iris strapped themselves in and Leonard shot off. Oh, so that was why he needed the seatbelt.

“I could have driven,” Barry said.

“You don’t have a licence,” Iris said.

“Neither does he.”

Merlyn was outside the main door, with Laurel Lance next to him. He seemed to be creating a fireball, and Laurel was-

“Leonard, drive,” Cisco said. “Don’t listen.”

“I do know a siren when I see one, Ramon,” he said and put a cassette tape in the radio. Cisco stared at him.

“Sorry, a what?” Iris asked. “Barry, what is going on? What did you get Barry involved in?”

“Me?” Cisco asked. “He got me involved in this!”

“Let’s all just blame Barry,” Leonard said.

“Why is it my fault?” Barry asked. “It’s not like I asked for any of this.”

“You explicitly asked me to go rescue your boyfriend.”

“No, I asked you to go steal some things, I wanted Cisco rescued but I figured that would be our next step.”

“Are we being followed?” Cisco asked.

“No, Mick went to deal with it,” Barry said. “John said even warlocks and sorcerers can’t resist a Wisp.”

“A what?” Iris asked.

“A will o’ the wisp? They lead people astray. Also, Snart, Cisco and I aren’t actually dating, that was just a cover.”

“We could actually date if you want,” Cisco said. “You did tell me you’re in love with me like two hours ago and I’m pretty sure I’m in love with you and we kissed three whole times.”

“Really?”

“It would give us an excuse to kiss again.”

“Awesome.”

“A cover?” Iris asked. “A cover for what?”

“Why can’t Lisa have normal friends,” Leonard sighed.

Granite Peak was just above Englewood and New Brighton. And it was big. There were big hills, and some sheer cliffs faces, and a lot of trees. And Leonard drove up a track Cisco was pretty sure was not actually supposed to be used, at least not by anyone other than maybe the rangers, maybe the fire service or ambulance in emergencies, but still. He was really glad for his seatbelt with how much it was bumping around. This car clearly did not have any suspension.

Leonard turned the engine off right under a cliff Cisco didn’t even know about. There were a couple of lights shining from between the trees.

“There you are,” Leonard said. “Off you go.”

“Oh,” Barry said. “Um. Could you maybe take Iris home?”

“Excuse me?” Iris said.

“You want me to take the reporter home to her cop dad,” Leonard said. “Me, the very human thief who will get arrested for breaking and entering which, might I remind you, was your idea.”

“I’m not going anywhere until I get an explanation, Bartholomew,” Iris said. She got out the car and Cisco quickly followed.

“Your name is Bartholomew?” Leonard asked.

“Shut up, Leonard Snart,” Barry said.

“Perhaps I will offer Ms West a ride home,” Leonard said. “I’m sure there’s plenty the two of us can talk about.”

“I’ll tell Lisa you decided to do the heroic thing.”

“Don’t you dare,” Leonard said.

“Barry,” Iris said. “You owe me the truth. You are supposed to be my best friend and you have been lying to me for months. You have worried everyone. We thought you might be dying.”

“I’m not any more?” Barry offered. He rubbed the back of his neck.

“You’re not any more. So you were.”

“Cisco kissed me and made it better.”

“Barry.”

“I want to tell you, Iris, I do, but I made a promise and everything’s complicated.”

“Barry,” a large voice rumbled. “You brought another human?”

“I- I-”

“She’s with me,” Cisco said. “I need her help. Magic told me what the Darhks, Merlyn, and Thawne are planning, and I need her.”

A large grey dragon was suddenly visible against the rock. She uncurled and a wave of something washed over them and then there were three people standing there. Jax. And not just Jax, that was Jax’s mother, and his grandmother, and the whole Underground was surrounding them. Even Captain Singh was there, and Zari was standing with someone Cisco didn’t recognise but he looked similar enough they were probably related. Kuasa was there, with Mari and Charlie standing very close to her.

“Cisco,” Dante said. “You’re okay.”

“I’m fine,” Cisco said. “For now.”

“You talked to Magic?” Martin asked.

“Yeah,” Cisco said. “Apparently it’s a literal thing? They want to use the Totems, including Zari and Mari’s.”

“Behrad told me someone came looking for ours,” Zari said. “He arrived earlier to warn me.”

“And Kuasa said Laurel’s alive,” Sara said. “Is that true?”

“Yes,” Cisco said. “It is. And they’re going to blow the accelerator. They have four Totems.”

“Nope,” Leonard said. He reached into his parka and pulled them out. “You were a distraction.”

“You found them all?” Mari asked.

“Yes,” Kuasa said.

 “Seer,” the lady who had been a dragon said. Lily Stein was sitting down. She looked exhausted. “I understand you have been raised human, but I have guarded Central for seventy years, I will not endanger her now.”

“I know,” Cisco said. “I’m not asking you to. I am telling you that those four will if they succeed in their plan. Even if they don’t, this explosion, people will get hurt. Please, ma’am. Trust me.”

“She’s a journalist,” Caitlin said.

“And Iris knows how to keep a secret,” David said. “Especially when it’s important and it helps keep Barry safe.”

“From everything Barry told us, I think we can trust Iris, Grandma,” Jax said.

“And Cisco has always had good judgement, Louise,” Martin said. “He knows what he’s doing.”

“And you understand you can’t share this, Ms West?” Louise asked.

“If Barry starts dying, I am going to tell his parents,” Iris said. “But I assume there’s a reason you want to keep this secret.”

“I don’t think we have time to do the full introduction,” Clarissa said. “Ms West, magic is real.”

“That explains some things,” Iris said. “What’s this about the accelerator exploding?”

“A group of bad guys want to use it to tear a rift into another dimension, invite a demon who converts Time to Life here so they can steal his life and become immortal, and probably tonight because I left Ronnie all the figures that the accelerator was dangerous and Eobard said he’s been undoing all the fixing Ronnie’s been doing all day and that’s why they haven’t turned it on again which means Ronnie will notice tomorrow,” Cisco said. “So, whether they have anything or not, they’re going to turn it on tonight.”

“I think I lost them.” Mick walked into the clearing. He had a burning glow around him. “Should have let Gideon have them.”

“I would rather we not go back to doing that,” Rip said. “And she’s looking after Jonas.”

“No, we need the Totems,” Cisco said. “They can stop Mallus. Zari, Mari, how did you know?”

“It’s been handed down our mother’s line for centuries,” Zari said. “Both Behrad and I can use it.”

“Mari bonded with hers,” Charlie said. “Her connection is stronger than any I have ever seen, and I have been around for a long time.”

“Kuasa, could you use one of the other Totems?” Cisco asked. “I think we need six people.”

“I was able to use the Water Totem before,” Kuasa said. “And Fire and Earth, but Water was easiest.”

“You need Water for Life,” Mari said. She smiled and Kuasa took the Totems from Leonard. “David has been doing the job of a Guardian already. Earth, perhaps?”

“Me?” David asked. Mari just smiled and gave him the Totem.

“If you give Behrad the Fire Totem we can make a fire tornado,” Zari said. She high fived him and Mari rolled her eyes before giving Behrad the other Totem. “Which leaves Death.”

“Miss West?” Amaya asked.

“What is that?” Iris asked.

“It’s a magic totem that lets you tap into death energy,” Mari said.

“Death.”

“Death is part of the cycle,” Amaya said. “And an aspect of Magic. The ground beneath your feet was once living. It will live again. Death is one stage.”

“Okay,” Iris said. “Barry?”

“You got this,” Barry said. “I think I’m a bit lost too.” A huge boom came from the city. “But I do have a terrible feeling that might have been S.T.A.R. Labs.”

Naturally, the first thing that happened after an explosion was someone called the emergency services. Several firefighters were already there. Normally Cisco would be happy to see them but that was really going to cause some issues in them getting in. It wasn’t quite the entire Underground who’d joined them, but it was close.

“I can talk to them,” David offered.

“Or I can run really fast,” Barry offered. “I bet I could run past all of them, as long as the building isn’t on fire.”

“Zari and I can deal with that,” Behrad said. “Us first?”

“Yep.” Barry vanished, with Zari and Behrad. Eddie was just as fast; Cisco was sure it wasn’t just Barry running. But it was Barry who carried Cisco in, he knew it was.

Alarms were blared in the Cortex. Cisco jumped onto a computer. It wasn’t critical yet, but it was close. At least according to the logs there was no one else in the building. That was why Thawne hadn’t seemed concerned about taking his glasses off.  

There would be soon though.

“We need to keep the firefighters out,” Cisco said. “If they get involved.”

“Leave that to me,” Hartley said. He swung a cloak over his shoulders and pulled a pipe out of seemingly nowhere.

“I can cast protection wards,” Clarissa said. “It’s temporary, but it might buy you enough time. Lily-”

"She can do this," Martin said. "I'll look after her."

Clarissa nodded and walked out the Cortex with Hartley.

“The accelerator’s this way,” Cisco said. He rushed them to the elevator, and a beautiful voice came from the path. Oh.

Another song came from behind them. Sara stepped through, huge black and white, sleek wings spread behind her. Her sister’s wings matched perfectly, and Laurel smirked.

“She’s spelled,” Cisco said.

“I think I can fix that,” Nate said. “I think. I need time. Sara.”

“You can’t expect her to fight her sister,” Iris said. “Here.” She pulled out headphones and her phone and shoved them in Nate’s hand. “I think the only audiobook I have downloaded is Rebecca Silver’s latest though.”

“Sara,” Kendra said. She put her hand on Sara’s shoulder and her own wings emerged behind her. “Iris is right, we can’t ask this of you, and you don’t have to. You have another task. Let me.”

Sara shook her head.

“Can’t enchant a wisp, Blondie,” Mick said.

“You lot go,” Kendra said. “We’ll handle this.”

Barry grabbed Cisco’s hand and pulled him down the corridor as Kendra swung a mace. They didn’t stop running until the singing stopped. Sara was still with them.

“She would never,” Sara said. “Darhk-”

“He did this to her,” Jax said. “You’ll get her back, but you have to stop him first.”

“This way,” Cisco said.

The way into the particle accelerator was not that big.

There was a circle drawn on the floor, and a blue, swirling vortex with hands coming through it. The Darhks were focused.

“Lily drop the spell,” Jax said. “You need to shut the rift.”

“I can’t, not on my own,” Lily said.

“I’ll help all I can, duck,” John said. Lily nodded and Jax’s dragon form took up most of the corridor.

“Mallus is almost through,” Kuasa said as a head followed the hands. “All six totems are needed to defeat him.”

“It’s been a long time, Sara,” Merlyn said from behind them. He had a bow drawn and an arrow was heading straight for Sara.

Eddie grabbed it.

“Cisco,” Barry said. “Can you shut down the accelerator?”

“If I can get over there,” Cisco said. He pointed at a panel by the Pipeline. “Maybe.”

“Hold on to me,” Barry said. He picked Cisco up and ran.

Doctor Wells and Doctor Morgan had made sure to put fail safes into the accelerator so it could be switched off in emergencies. Cisco had learnt all of them when he’d transferred to the night shift, just in case. It might be too late for a lot, but he could at least stop some of the damage. Maybe. He just had to get the shutdown value to activate.

Thawne was waiting by the panel. Sara, Rip, and Jax were fighting Darhk. Charlie, Ray, and Mona were fighting Nora Darhk. Mona had shifted. Eddie, Lisa, and Ralph were fighting Merlyn. Lily and John were trying to shut the rift while Zari, Mari, Behrad, Kuasa, David, and Iris were keeping Mallus back.

“I don’t think so, Cisco,” he said. “Now you’re here, maybe you can be useful.”

“Let me,” Barry said. He leapt forward and the two of them tumbled out of sight, through the door into the Pipeline.

“Barry!” Sue said.

“Cisco,” Martin said. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

“Yes,” Cisco said. He looked at the panel. “I think I have to go inside.”

“That’s a terrible idea, Ramon,” Harry said.

“You can help Uncle Martin,” Cisco said. “You know how it works better than anyone. I know it’s too late to stop it going up, but I can stop it blowing the building.”

Harry nodded.

“Are you sure?” Martin asked.

“Yes,” Cisco said. “Shut the door behind me.”

“No,” Dante said.

“We don’t have the time,” Cisco said. “Just trust me.”

He darted into the Pipeline. He couldn’t see Barry or Thawne, but he could see the valves he needed to turn. Surely Ronnie had thought maybe this should be able to be done manually from outside the accelerator too.

“Cisco, don’t,” Dante said. “Cisco-”

“I know what I’m doing,” Cisco said.

“Cisco-”

“I know what I’m doing, Dante. You should go.”

“What’s it going to do, kill me again? I’m not leaving you.”

The valve was jammed. Cisco tugged. Thawne, he-

Dante’s hands were on his. They were so cold, and felt almost like liquid, but they were on Cisco’s.

“This is not going to last long,” he said. “Tell me what you need me to do.”

Dante was here. Dante was here, and he knew what he was doing.

Cisco pulled on the last valve.

“That’s it,” he said. “The door needs to be shut.”

“And you need to be through it,” Dante said.

“No time,” Cisco said. He sat down. He could already see the wave of energy coming for them.

Cisco shut his eyes.

When he opened them, he was presumably in Granite Peak. He was lying on something soft. And Caitlin was kneeling by him.

“Oh, good,” she said. “You don’t seem too hurt.”

“What happened?” Cisco asked.

“Barry ran you here,” Caitlin said. “He’s still helping Louise and Beverly get everyone clear. I need to check on everyone else, do you think you’ll be all right?”

“I think so?” Cisco asked. He sat up and watched Louise land and Barry help several people off her back. Iris rushed over and hugged Cisco. “What happened?”

“We stopped Mallus,” Iris said. “Lily and John shut the Rift before that did too much damage, and then I was here.”

“S.T.A.R. Labs has a very big hole in it,” Dante said. He sat on Cisco’s other side. “I would hug you, but I’m not sure how right now.”

“I’ll do it,” Barry said. He smiled widely and hugged Cisco tight. “You’re okay.”

“So are you,” Cisco said. “Thawne-”

“Got away. I can’t stick around, work is going to be so busy, but I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow,” Cisco promised. “Do you think we can just go home now?”

Cisco had no job to go back to. At least no one came to ask him questions. He had no idea how he was going to explain what had happened.

Ronnie had called though. Just to check up on him. And Martin had called and offered to help Cisco learn more about magic. Iris had dropped a message in, even Hartley had, but there was nothing from Barry.

There was a knock on his door at around ten though. He opened it to find Barry, Iris, and Caitlin. Barry smiled.

“It’s tomorrow,” he said.

“How was work?” Cisco asked, inviting the three of them in.

“So busy,” Barry said. “Did I leave my phone here when I passed out yesterday? I can’t find it anywhere.”

“It’s on the table,” Dante said. Oh.

“How are you feeling?” Caitlin asked.

“Fine,” Cisco said. “Thawne and everyone-”

“Eobard got away,” Barry said. “Damien Darhk fell through the Rift before it shut. It wasn’t very stable because they didn’t have a conductor for the energy when they risked it without the Totems or you, but Lily and John managed to get it shut before it did too much damage. The Snuffers showed up though, Nate said they already took Merlyn, but Ray and Mona saved Nora.”

“They saved her?” Cisco asked.

“It’s not the first time,” Caitlin said. “Nate comes from a long line of Snuffers; he was supposed to be going into research until he met Ray and Mona and ran off to be a witch instead. He’s arguing with some of the ones who showed up. At least they’re planning on covering up what happened yesterday. An unfortunate accident. No magic involved. Unfortunately, it means they’re going to be around Central a lot more and we need to hide even more than before.”

“And I am being very careful to avoid all pointy things,” Barry said. “Especially people with pointy things. But Eddie said that thing about vampires and garlic not mixing is a very common belief so if I eat so much garlic bread they’re never going to believe I’m a vampire, and I have several months’ worth of garlic to catch up on eating.”

“What about everyone else?” Cisco asked.

“Harry moved on and went to find Tess,” Iris said. “I might give the Totem back to Kuasa. You don’t need anything, do you, Dante?”

“Nah,” Dante said. “I still have stuff to do. Mostly spooky stuff at Cisco’s while he’s trying to sleep.”

“I will test your theory that you can’t die twice,” Cisco said. “Sara-”

“Laurel’s recovering,” Barry said. “Sara’s taking her back home to help. Kendra’s gone with her. And Zari and Behrad have gone to see their parents, John’s planning on going off to do whatever it is John does, but I think they’re coming back. Mostly people are sticking around for a while, to sort all this out. Eddie’s going to teach me about being a vampire.”

“Uncle Martin’s going to teach me more about magic,” Cisco said. “What about-”

“Hartley, Jax, and Lisa talked to Louise,” Barry said. “She said Iris and I should probably talk to my parents and Joe. I was going to leave out the bit about me almost dying but I should probably tell them the whole truth. Including the bit about us not actually dating but you did say we could actually date yesterday so I could ask you to dinner sometime? I would have called, but I couldn’t find my phone.”

“I would like that very much,” Cisco said.

“Awesome. Anyway, the three of us were going to Waveriders. If the two of you want to tag along? Rip even promised he wouldn’t complain too much about my sandwiches.”

“I’ll do it for him,” Caitlin said. “We already established you have no issues with iron.”

“But they taste good.”

“What sandwiches?” Iris asked.

“Liver and spinach,” Barry said.

“In what universe could that possibly taste good?”

“I wonder what it would be like with garlic.”

“Barry, please don’t,” Caitlin said.

“I’m only coming if you promise not to eat that,” Cisco said.

“Fine,” Barry said. “No garlic.”

Cisco grabbed his shoes and keys then slipped his hand into Barry’s and Barry kissed his cheek.

“Waveriders then?” Cisco asked.