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Chapter Text

Twirling slowly around and around in his chair behind the Cortex's main desk, Cisco moaned unhappily, "I don't wanna."

"You have to," Caitlin said unsympathetically from her spot by the hospital bed of their resident comatose man.

"But I don't wanna," Cisco insisted.

"You call yourself a child genius," Caitlin pointed out. "So you're supposed to be smart. It isn't very smart to skip out on your schoolwork, Cisco."

"It is very smart to skip out on your schoolwork when it's just Language Arts and you know you're going to be a mechanical engineer," Cisco countered hopefully.

"Even mechanical engineers need to know basic reading and writing skills. How else would they communicate their ideas and learn about the ideas of others?" Caitlin pointed out.

"But it's not 'basic reading and writing skills.' It's like eleventh and twelfth grade reading and writing," Cisco complained, gnawing on his licorice unhappily.

"Yeah, and you're going to have to know eleventh and twelfth grade reading and writing to do college reading and writing, and you're going to have to do college reading and writing to graduate from a college, and you're going to have to graduate from a college to get your engineering license," Caitlin told him.

Cisco puffed out his cheeks in obvious displeasure. When that didn't seem to convince Caitlin of anything, he let out all the air in a huff and took an angry bite of his candy. Somehow the kid even made chewing and swallowing seem annoyed.

"Not to mention your dad wants you to do it," Caitlin reminded.

"I knowwwww," Cisco whined. "But it's so boring."

"So do it, get it over with, and then do something fun," Caitlin offered. "You know you're going to have to do it eventually, so put down that candy, stop complaining, and just go get it done. Then you and I can hang out, because I'll probably be done with this check-up by then."

Groaning, Cisco put down his candy on a napkin on the desk, stood, and sulked around the desk. "Fineeeee."

"There you go," Caitlin stated, ruffling Cisco's long, wavy hair approvingly as he passed her by. "Head on over to your workroom, get your schoolwork done, and let me do my job."

Patting his hair back into place, Cisco left the room without any further hesitation, and Caitlin returned to her check-over of their coma-bound patient.

"I'm back!" Cisco announced cheerfully, footsteps pounding against the floor as he ran back into the Cortex.

Caitlin turned and gave him a stern look, eying him up and down. "That was nowhere near enough time to get your schoolwork done. That was five minutes, maybe ten at the absolute most."

"I'm a child genius, what can I say, I work fast," Cisco dismissed, shrugging his shoulders dramatically and nearly dropping the computer he was holding in the process.

"Yeah, but not that fast," Caitlin told him. She folded her arms and arched an eyebrow at him. "What's the deal?"

"I grabbed my computer so I could do my schoolwork in here instead," Cisco admitted.

Caitlin considered that for a moment.

"C'mon. Dad doesn't care where I do my school stuff as long as I do it and do it well, and that's the nice thing about online schooling, you can do it anywhere. C'mon, lemme work in here with you," Cisco coaxed.

Caitlin sighed. "Fine."

Whooping with glee, Cisco dashed over to the main desk and set his computer down there. "And I've got just the soundtrack for work!"

"No," Caitlin warned flatly.

"Yes," Cisco mimicked her tone of voice back at her and pressed a button on his computer. A mildly familiar song came blasting through the speakers.

"No," Caitlin said again, more strongly this time.

Ignoring her, Cisco snatched up his candy from where it lay abandoned on the desk, practically bounced over to the hospital bed where Barry Allen lay unresponsive, and looked at him very closely.

"What are you doing?" Caitlin asked exasperatedly.

Cisco looked up at her with wide eyes, an overly innocent look on his face that she had seen too many times to believe, and explained, "He likes this song!"

"How could you possibly know that?" Caitlin wondered as flatly as she could manage when the corners of her mouth threatened to twitch upward in amusement. She bit back her smile, watching Cisco stare intently down (as far down as his short stature could, at least) at the man in the hospital bed as if the power of music could wake Barry Allen from a nine-month-long-already-and-probably-going-on-forever coma.

"I checked his Facebook page," Cisco said, biting off a bit of his candy smugly.

"How did you even get on Facebook? You have to be thirteen to have an account, and you won't be thirteen for about two and a half years," Caitlin pointed out, continuing to check over her patient.

"Yeah, but you don't need an account to stalk somebody's page, especially when they don't put their settings on 'private,'" Cisco countered. "It's gotta be good for him to have music he likes. I mean, he can hear everything, right? That's a thing, right?"

"Auditory functions are the last sensory facilities to degenerate," Caitlin allowed as she finished with her check-up, although she secretly doubted that the man in the coma had any of his facilities left. She wasn't telling Cisco that, though. The kid liked to see the bright side of things too much.

Cisco started dancing a little beside the hospital bed, singing along under his breath with the song that was playing. Somehow, despite the fact that the song had come out when he was maybe five or six (Caitlin wasn't completely sure when the song was made), he knew it very well.

Smirking, Caitlin headed over to her mobile console and was just starting to input her data from the check-up when behind her there came a gasp and a surprised shout from Cisco, a sort of "Yahhh!"

Whirling around, Caitlin saw Barry Allen sitting up in bed.

"Where am I?" He demanded.

"He's up!" Caitlin exclaimed. She took only a fraction of a second for her own shock as she hurried over to him and started to look him over. "150 over 110, pulse 120."

Behind her and far to her left, she could hear Cisco saying into the intercom, "Dad, you've gotta get to the Cortex, really, right now."

Barry Allen groaned and tried to push her away, but Caitlin persisted, checking his eyes and declaring, "Pupils equally reactive to light."

Still trying to get away, Barry Allen swung his legs over the side of the bed and started standing up.

"Look at me, look at me," Caitlin directed, trying to get the rest of the observational data she needed from him even as he stood and stumbled forward.

Cisco was trying to help in his own way, kind of, telling Barry Allen, "Hey, hey there, whoa, whoa, relax. Everything's okay, everything's going to be okay, you're okay."

In a way, he sounded like he was imitating someone, Caitlin reflected, and she realized that was almost exactly the boy's adoptive father sounded like when the man was comforting Cisco for one reason or another.

"It's fine, you're fine, you're at STAR Labs," Cisco was telling Barry Allen.

"STAR Labs?" Barry Allen repeated, sounding incredibly confused and dazed. (Caitlin couldn't blame him; she probably would be feeling the same way if she had been struck by lightning, put in a nine-month-coma, and woken up to strangers trying to get her to calm down.) Barry Allen continued, still sounding very out of it, "Wha- Who are you?"

"I'm Cisco!" Cisco practically chirped, pointing at himself.

"Cisco?" Barry Allen repeated, bleary eyes going wide. "Cisco of STAR Labs? Cisco, the child genius, that Cisco?"

"Told you I was a child genius," Cisco told Caitlin, lifting his chin and sounding incredibly satisfied with himself.

Caitlin barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she turned away, grabbed the sample collection cup she needed, and turned back around.

"Who's she?" Barry Allen asked, trying to gesture at Caitlin herself.

"She's Caitlin, sorry, Dr. Snow, she probably won't let you call her Caitlin. Not yet, at least," Cisco said, not resisting his own urge to roll his eyes.

Caitlin held out the sample cup to Barry Allen. "I need you to urinate in this."

"Not now," Cisco practically chided, plucking the cup from Caitlin's hands much to her irritation.

"Wait, wha- what is happening? What is going on?" Barry Allen asked, pushing them away and stumbling across the room.

"You got struck by lightning!" Cisco enthused.

Caitlin tried very, very hard not to slap her own forehead and only narrowly succeeded. Never let it be said that the kid had any tact. If it had been up to her, she would have broken the news much more subtly.

Clearly still not caught up on what was going on, Barry Allen turned away from them as if looking for a second opinion but then stopped, staring into a nearby mirror. He stated slowly, "Lightning… Gave me abs?"

Cisco shrugged. "Guess so?"

"Your muscles should be atrophied, but instead they're in a chronic and unexplained state of cellular regeneration," Caitlin told him, her voice barely betraying just how amazing that was to her.

"C'mere, have a seat," Cisco directed, tugging Barry Allen by the arm back to the hospital bed.

For some reason, probably some combination of Cisco's general small-child adorableness and sheer won't-take-no-for-an-answer attitude as well as his own bewilderment, Barry Allen went and sat willingly.

"You were in a coma," Cisco told him in probably the most serious tone Caitlin had heard from the boy in the three and a half or so years they had known each other.

"F-for how long?" Barry Allen breathed.

"Nine months," came a very familiar voice.

Already grinning, Cisco spun on his heel. "Dad!"

"Hello, Cisco, hello, Caitlin. And hello and welcome back, Mr. Allen," Dr. Wells stated. He stared intently at Barry Allen in much the same way Cisco had stared not five minutes ago. "We have a lot to discuss."

Chapter Text

Lollipop stuck firmly in his mouth, Cisco paced the Cortex, watching the little dot on the map that showed where Barry was. "C'mon, c'mon, get there quick."

The dot shot towards the location of the fire and came right up to it… Then the dot kept on going.

"Barry?" Cisco asked around the lollipop, and then again, more urgently, "Barry!"

"What? Did I miss it?" Barry wondered from the other side of the comm.

"You went past by a whole like six blocks," Cisco told him, frowning a little. This was very important, people could get really really hurt, maybe even die or something, and Barry still wasn't in total control of his powers.

"My bad," Barry breathed, and then there was just the rush of wind through the earpiece.

Cisco waited and waited, but Barry didn't say anything. "You there yet?"

"What are you doing?"

That was Caitlin's voice! Cisco shut off all the monitors. Spinning around in his chair, he gave her his best pair of big, wide, innocent eyes and said sweetly, "Nothing."

"Who are you talking to?" Caitlin wondered.

"Nobody," Cisco stated, but it came out as more of a mumble.

"Are you talking to Barry?" Caitlin asked, stepping menacingly closer.

Uh-oh. Cisco gave her a nervous grin around the stick of his lollipop. "Who?"

"Barry Allen? Struck by lightning, was in a coma for nine months, woke up being able to run faster than the speed of sound, ring a bell?" Caitlin demanded, coming all the way up to him.

"Nope, haven't talked to him," Cisco said.

At that moment, Barry's voice came blaring through the speakers. "Cisco, there's fire everywhere, Cisco, are you still there?"

Aaand there went Cisco's last chance of getting out of this without getting in serious trouble. Bad timing, Barry.

"Cisco, I can't believe you!" Caitlin exclaimed. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm helping people?" Cisco tried.

"By putting Barry in danger?" Caitlin seethed.

"He's not in danger! He's too fast to be in danger!" Cisco protested hurriedly. "And it's just the one time, really."

"Really?" Caitlin repeated.

"Really really," Cisco said.

Of course, Barry chose that moment to speak up through the comm. "Everybody's out, what else you got for me, Cisco?"

Oops. And that was proof that this wasn't a one-time thing. Even worse timing, Barry.

Giving Cisco a warning look, Caitlin leaned over the microphone and hit the "on" button on the keyboard. "Barry, it's Caitlin."

"Heeey, Caitlin," Barry said cheerily, although he sounded super nervous too. "How's your day?"

"Get back to STAR Labs. Now," Caitlin stated into the microphone, turning to look at Cisco with the most stern expression he had ever seen on her face.

Taking out his lollipop, Cisco gave her his best, sweetest, most innocent and pleading I'm-just-an-adorable-little-kid-what-do-you-want-from-me grin.

She frowned at him and crossed her arms, arching an eyebrow. That wasn't a good sign; in fact, it was exactly the opposite.

"On my way," Barry said seriously, and if Barry was taking this seriously, Cisco should do the same thing, especially given the fierce look currently situated on Caitlin's face.

"Oh, we're in trooooouble," Cisco muttered nervously, setting his candy aside on a paper towel like his dad always told him to do. He turned and focused his eyes on the telemetry from his suit that Barry was wearing so he wouldn't have to look at Caitlin's angry face. Randomly, the signals fluctuated, and he frowned, leaning in for a closer look.

"You sure are. Big trouble," Caitlin informed him coolly.

Forgetting about the weird signals from his suit for a second, Cisco shrank back in his seat on instinct, then he thought better of it. Standing up, he faced Caitlin. "We were being heroes! We were doing good! It's not like we were doing anything wrong!"

"You were doing everything wrong!" Caitlin hissed. "Barry doesn't completely understand his powers yet and neither of you understand how very dangerous what you're doing is!"

"What is it that Cisco's doing that is so dangerous, and who's he doing it with?" His father's voice inquired.

Cisco spun around and stepped back several steps, leaning oh-so-casually against the wall. "Uh. Hi, Dad. Um. I'm not doing anything. Nothing. With nobody. Really."

"He and Barry have been running around the city playing firefighter," Caitlin said exasperatedly, turning to face Dr. Wells, who was just rolling in.

"Technically, Barry did the running. All I did was the telling-him-where-to-go," Cisco corrected.

"Cisco!" Caitlin chided, walking past him up into the side area as she threw her hands up in the air angrily.

At that moment, Barry sped in, stopping across the doorway from Cisco. He looked around. "Oh. Hey, Dr. Wells. Fancy seeing you here, I guess?"

Dr. Wells' eyes danced then hardened, the two familiar expressions telling Cisco that his adoptive father was amused, but nowhere near amused enough to let them off the hook.

Turning around at Barry's voice, Caitlin immediately began laying into them. "Have you both lost your minds? Who do you think you are?"

"I think that I'm the eyes and ears, and he's the feet!" Cisco informed her, trying to get her to see his reasoning and adding a touch of humor to it in the hopes that she'd respond well.

"This isn't funny," Caitlin scowled at him, then she turned to Barry. "You could've gotten yourself killed! You can't be running around the city like some super-sonic fireman."

"Why not? This is what we talked about, me using my speed to do good," Barry argued.

"Yeah, you agreed to that, you said so," Cisco said.

Caitlin held a commanding finger up in Cisco's direction and kept talking to Barry. "We talked about you helping us contain other people who might've been affected by the particle accelerator explosion, meta-humans, and, aside from Clyde Mardon, we haven't found any."

"People in this city still need help, and I can help them," Barry told her.

"We can help them," Cisco corrected, emphasizing the "we." He hated being ignored more than almost anything, probably more than anything except being underestimated, and in a way this situation had him both being ignored and being underestimated at the same time.

Caitlin groaned and turned to Dr. Wells. "Will you please say something?"

Dr. Wells cleared his throat quietly. "I think what Caitlin is saying, in her own spectacularly angry way-"

Cisco choked out a snorting giggle and then, at the three quick looks he was given ranging from disbelief (Barry) to anger (Caitlin) to simple warning (his dad), promptly covered his mouth.

"-Is that we are just beginning to understand what your body is capable of," Dr. Wells continued. "Not to sound like a broken record, Mr. Allen, I do caution restraint."

"Dr. Wells, I doubt restraint is how you got to be the man you are today," Barry practically pleaded, eyes wide.

Cisco winced and held back a sigh. He knew his father wasn't going to let Barry get away with the comment easily, and from the look on Dr. Wells' face, Cisco was right.

"In a wheelchair and a pariah," Dr. Wells said firmly. "Lack of restraint made me these things. Know your limits."

With that, he began motoring away. Cisco watched him go, amazed that they were getting off so lightly. The last time he had done something so far behind his dad's back as this, he had gotten grounded from inventing for a week. Granted, that time Cisco had accidentally blown up the guest room bathroom with a miscalculation (a very slight one!), but still.

"Don't expect me to patch you up every time you break something," Caitlin said to Barry firmly, and she turned and walked away, not looking back.

Cisco ignored that. Caitlin would often get angry, freeze him out for an hour or two, and then be back to normal when Cisco did something kind of clueless. He figured she would do the same when it was both Barry and Cisco himself in trouble. Instead of focusing on her, Cisco approached Barry and tried to reach up and put a hand on his shoulder, but was faced with the length of his arm not quite doing the job. Barry was just too stupid tall, and Cisco was still waiting to get to that growth spurt his dad kept claiming he'd get. Pouting, Cisco pulled back his arm, thought for a second, and reached out and grabbed Barry's hand instead, tugging the man closer to himself.

"What?" Barry asked, looking down at him in confusion.

"Hey, did anything happen out there today?" Cisco asked, peering up at Barry's face. "The sensors in the suit were giving me some weird telemetry, like your vitals and stuff spiked for a few seconds."

"Never felt better," Barry said mildly.

That was good by Cisco's standards. However, it might mean his suit was malfunctioning, which he couldn't have happening. He'd spent forever making that thing! Like, actual hours and hours! Maybe-

Before Cisco could drift off in thought about his suit, there was the vibrating of a phone from his pocket. That startled him; Cisco didn't have a phone yet, as his dad said that was more a teenager thing, and no matter how smart Cisco was, he wasn't a teenager yet. It took a moment of Barry staring at him expectantly for Cisco to remember that he'd held onto Barry's phone for him. Digging in his pants pocket, Cisco pulled out Barry's phone and handed it over to the man.

"Hey, Joe, everything all right?" Barry started, but Cisco wasn't paying much attention to him. Instead, Cisco headed over to the main desk where his dad and Caitlin were waiting.

"I'm sorry," Cisco said quickly. "We just wanted to help people."

"I know, but you can't rush into things, you've got to think-" Dr. Wells began.

"Before I act, yeah, I know," Cisco said sadly.

"Exactly," his dad agreed. "You've got an incredible mind, Cisco, you've just got to remember to use it sometimes."

Cisco grinned shyly. His dad wasn't too mad if he was still complimenting Cisco's intelligence. That just left Caitlin being mad. Cisco darted her a cautious glance.

"I'm still mad," Caitlin warned him with a glare.

Cisco sighed. Oh well. She'd get over it soon enough, she always did.

Behind him, he heard Barry say resignedly, "I'll be right there. …My day job beckons."

Then there was a whoosh of wind messing up Cisco's hair as Barry sped past them out the door. Cisco brushed his hair back into place and looked at his dad, who Cisco was sure would have something disapproving to say about Barry racing out of there so soon after Dr. Wells' caution to use restraint.

"When do you think he'll realize he didn't take his clothes?" Dr. Wells mused.

The mild tone of his father's voice, plus the ridiculous words, all combined with the release of tension from the whole saving-people-from-a-fire-then-getting-yelled-at-for-it was too much, and Cisco completely lost it laughing.

"-And he's got, uh, friends and trust me, they're all dangerous," Detective Joe was saying to Simon Stagg as Cisco followed his dad into the police station lobby. Cisco guessed they were talking about the replicating guy who seemed to be after Stagg, although it was totally possible that somebody else was after Stagg too. Cisco's dad really didn't like Stagg, and Cisco's dad was pretty much always right, so it stood to reason more people felt the same way.

"I've increased my security, detective. I hope Black comes looking for trouble, 'cause he'll find plenty," Stagg said gravely.

Stopping in place, Dr. Wells began slow-clapping, startling both Detective Joe and Stagg into looking at him. Quitting his slow-clapping and beginning to wheel forward, Dr. Wells began, "Spoken like a true philanthropist, or is it humanitarian? Oh, I'm sorry, I can never remember which one you're pretending to be, Simon."

Trotting alongside his father's wheelchair, Cisco grinned. His dad's sharp tongue was always amusing, especially when it was pointed at someone Cisco didn't like, and from what Dr. Wells had said about Simon Stagg, there was plenty about the man for Cisco to not like.

"Harrison." Stagg greeted coolly, completely ignoring Cisco. Stagg motioned down with his hands at Dr. Wells. "Don't get up."

"Don't say that to him!" Cisco objected even as his father gave a single harsh laugh from beside him.

"Oh, I'll only say to him what he deserves, boy," Stagg stated, giving Cisco a severe look. Looking back at Detective Joe, Stagg gave the detective a meaningful look, then Stagg began walking away.

As soon as Stagg was past him, Cisco stuck his tongue out at the man's back. (He would've done it when Stagg could see him, and he would've liked that a lot better, but his dad didn't like him making faces. If Stagg saw Cisco making a face, the man would probably get mad, and then Dr. Wells would figure out what had happened, and then Cisco would be in trouble again.)

"Not a fan of yours, Doctor?" Detective Joe asked Cisco's dad as Stagg left the building.

Dr. Wells didn't answer the question. Instead, he shot a question of his own back. "Can we talk, Detective?"

Detective Joe glanced at Cisco. "Is he going to-"

"Cisco doesn't have to listen if you don't want him to," Dr. Wells interjected. He looked at Cisco. "Would you mind staying out here for a minute?"

"Sure," Cisco said with a shrug, moving over to a bench against one of the walls and sitting there.

"Excellent," his dad stated, and he began wheeling toward the back offices.

Detective Joe frowned and looked over at Cisco thoughtfully before following Dr. Wells.

Cisco put his hands behind his head, leaned back, closed his eyes, and pretended not to be listening. It was way too easy to hear them in the deserted building to not listen, and besides, Cisco wanted to know what was going on.

"So you were right. Barry's not the only one who's special. This guy that tried to kill Simon Stagg today, he could-" Detective Joe was saying.

"Replicate spontaneously?" Cisco's dad interjected. "Yeah, we know."

"Did you know about Barry? When he was first in his coma," Detective Joe paused, then kept going, "You came to the hospital and you asked me if you could take him to STAR Labs. Did you know what he could do?"

Dr. Wells laughed, a dry little chuckle. "I-I-I had my suspicions that he was... Affected."

"Mm-hm," Detective Joe said, sounding skeptical, but why would anyone be skeptical of Dr. Wells? Oh, then Cisco got it. Cisco must just be misinterpreting what was going on because he couldn't see it.

"Hey, Joe, I was never looking to become the senior member of a secret crime-fighting unit. You and I both know we are the only ones equipped to protect Central City," Cisco's dad said gravely.

"Maybe I'm more interested in protecting Barry," Detective Joe shot back. "And I think you would feel the same way if it was your son running around in burning buildings and after men with guns."

Cisco's eyes popped open, then he quickly squeezed them shut again. Him? Being a hero like Barry? If he had the chance, would his dad let him?

"Cisco is ten years old. Barry is twenty-six. There is a world of difference in what we allow them to do," Cisco's dad stated.

Cisco slumped. Yeah, he had figured.

"And I should allow Barry to fly into the fire right along with you? 'Cause that's what he's doing," Detective Joe challenged.

Cisco frowned. Didn't Detective Joe know?

"No, he's not. Not anymore. He quit," Dr. Wells stated casually, then he paused. "He didn't tell you?"

"I haven't seen him," Detective Joe said, and the sad tone of his voice said much more than his words.

"Well, I'm sure it's only temporary," Cisco's dad allowed.

Cisco barely kept himself from shouting with joy. His dad thought Barry was coming back! Cisco was going to get to see Barry again, talk to Barry again, help Barry again!

"You know Barry, when he sets his mind to something no one's gonna talk him out of it," Cisco's dad was continuing. "But the next time he suits up, pshew-"

Was that the sound effect Dr. Wells was choosing for Barry suiting up? It wasn't a very good one, not that Cisco would ever tell his dad that.

"-Runs headlong into danger, he will fail," Dr. Wells kept going.

Cisco frowned again. Why?"

"Why?" Cisco's dad asked, almost as if he knew what Cisco was thinking. "He doesn't think he's capable. Doubt is his real enemy, Joe, not whatever's lurking out there, and as long as you continue to doubt him, he'll keep doubting himself."

Oh. That made sense. Mostly. Now Cisco just had to hope Barry would believe in himself and come back to Cisco and his dad, come back to STAR Labs, and come back to being a really awesome hero.

The sound of his dad's chair's motor started up, and Cisco opened his eyes and saw Dr. Wells beginning to turn around in the office.

Then Dr. Wells paused and looked at Detective Joe. Gently, Cisco's dad stated, "And for the record, I care about him too."

Cisco grinned and stood up from the bench as his dad wheeled out of the back offices and into the lobby, leaving Detective Joe to his thoughts.

"Ready?" Dr. Wells asked.

Cisco nodded eagerly, already anticipating what they might do next, and he followed his adoptive father away.

Chapter Text

"All ready for bed?" Dr. Wells asked without turning around or even looking up from his laptop. Probably the sounds of Cisco's bare feet on the floor had alerted his dad to his presence, Cisco knew.

"Uh-huh," Cisco confirmed, coming closer.

"Shower?" Dr. Wells questioned, still not turning.

"Done," Cisco told him.

"Pajamas?" Dr. Wells queried, looking up and over his shoulder.

Cisco pointed at the old too-big t-shirt top and pajama bottoms covered in little graphics of wrenches, hammers, and screwdrivers he was wearing. "Yup. All set."

Dr. Wells raised his eyebrows. "Mmm. And your teeth?"

"Brushed and all of it," Cisco confirmed.

"But did you floss?" Dr. Wells countered.

Cisco pouted. "...No. Do I have to? We didn't even have anything for supper that would get stuck between my teeth."

Dr. Wells pointed toward the bathroom. "Go."

"Awww," Cisco moaned, but he went and did as he was told. After finishing, he trotted back out and announced, "Fine, now I'm ready."

"Go get in bed, I'll be there in a minute," his dad said absentmindedly, scrolling through something on his computer.

"But you'll be there? You won't get distracted and forget to come back until after I'm asleep?" Cisco checked.

"You get caught up in your work to help change the world and don't tuck your son in one time, and he never lets you forget it," Dr. Wells said dramatically.

Cisco laughed and pointed out, "You did it more than once."

"No, I didn't," his dad insisted, and before Cisco could say anything else around his own giggles, his dad added quickly, "Go get settled."

Still giggling, Cisco headed down the long, winding hallway to his bedroom, past all the modern art and hanging glass sculptures intermixed with all the blueprints of Cisco's earlier inventions, from a device for making orange juice with just the right amount of pulp to the Heat Gun, and all the pictures of him with and without his dad. Turning most of the lights off and climbing into his bed, Cisco smoothed his blankets down and settled in, staring at the ceiling and wondering whether using a negative-stiffness vibration isolator fixture would work better than an air table to lower the compression preload on his latest invention.

It took only a few minutes of wondering before Cisco was yawning and fighting to stay awake. Just when he was certain his dad had gotten swept up in work again and wouldn't be there until long after he fell asleep, the now-familiar sound of whirring came from the hallway and Dr. Wells motored on in.

"Thought you weren't gonna come," Cisco said around a yawn. "Thought it was time to change the world, not time to say good night to me."

"You thought wrong," his dad teased, reaching out and ruffling his hair gently. "It's definitely time to say good night to you. Look at that yawn."

Cisco was going to say "I'm not tired," but a yawn came out instead, so he gave up. Instead, he just snuggled deeper into his blankets. "G'night."

"Good night," his father stated fondly, wheeling away toward the door.

Cisco tried desperately to keep his eyes open long enough to watch his adoptive dad go, but they closed against his will, and Cisco knew no more.

The hairs on the back of his neck prickled, like someone was watching him, and Simon Stagg swung around in his office chair, clutching his paperweight. Probably the last person he'd ever expected to see was sitting there.

"Wells. Who the hell let you in here?" Simon asked incredulously. "And where's your little shadow? The kid of yours, Cecil or Craig or whatever, it past his bedtime or something? Usually he'd be right behind you."

Wells just hummed in response and jerked his chin toward the outdoors. "They having a party out there?"

Simon huffed. "I'm sure you saw on TV. Former employee of mine tried to kill me."

"Former employee with the ability to replicate, faced off against a man who could move at super speed," Wells noted.

Simon almost dropped the paperweight he had been fiddling with. Putting the paperweight on his desk, he stood. "You've seen him too, haven't you?"

"Indeed I have," Wells agreed.

"Extraordinary," Simon breathed, coming around his desk to stand in front of Wells. "The power he possesses, it's like the, it's like the gods of old, like Mercury on earth."

Wells just watched him approach, face not betraying what he was thinking.

"Can you imagine if you could control his power, if you could, if you could harness it? You could change what it means to be human. The man in the red mask is the key, and I'm gonna get him," Simon said viciously. Wells would be jealous, mad, bitter even, but Wells would have to deal with it. Simon was going to get his hands on the man in the red mask.

"The man in the red mask. He's called the Flash, or at least he will be, one day," Wells said slowly, and on the last two words, he was-

He was getting up.

Wells was getting up.

A paralyzed man was getting up.

"What the hell-" Simon began, then Wells' hand moved fast, and pain exploded in Simon's chest.

It was a stab wound.

Simon had been stabbed.

Wells had stabbed him.

Simon almost fell to the ground, but Wells was holding him up.

"Forgive me, Simon," Wells was saying.

Simon could barely hear the man over the panic and the pain.

"I worry that you will think that this is personal, and it's not, it's just that the man in the red mask, the fastest man alive, must be kept-" Wells paused, and with a smooth, swift motion, yanked whatever he had stabbed Simon with up and out.

Simon choked out a gasp, and he fell to the floor.

"Safe," Wells said softly.

Simon tried desperately to get up and get to the phone to call for help as Wells turned to go, but Simon's heart stuttered against his will, and Simon Stagg knew no more.

Chapter Text

"Is something bothering you?" Dr. Wells asked, pausing in the doorway and looking back into the bedroom when Cisco didn't immediately say good night back.

Already tucked fully into bed, Cisco did a kind of half-shrug as best he could while lying down. At the thoughtful look on his dad's face, he rolled over, positioning himself so his back was fully to the door.

"Cisco," his dad sighed. Cisco could hear the mechanics of his father's wheelchair whirring as he returned to the bedside. "What is it?"

"Nothing," Cisco said.

"Nothing?" Dr. Wells parroted.

"Nothing," Cisco said quietly but firmly.

"Ah," Dr. Wells said. "Nothing is what's making you upset?"

"I'm not upset!" Cisco exclaimed loudly, shoulders scrunching up by his ears with the force of his almost-yell.

"Ah, because not-upset people shout at their fathers like that," his dad said, tone close enough to calm to pass for truly mild if Cisco didn't know him so well. But Cisco did know him well, so he knew better than that.

"Sorry," Cisco muttered sheepishly. Slowly, he turned back over to face Dr. Wells. "It's just. Uh. I don't."

Dr. Wells raised his eyebrows and leaned forward slightly, showing he was listening.

Cisco sighed and tried again. "Um, we've seen a couple meta-humans now. Clyde Mardon, Multiplex, the Mist. And we're probably going to see more. But what've those three got in common?"

"Other than being meta-humans?" Dr. Wells asked.

"Yeah," Cisco said. "And other than the m's in their names, I guess. It's that they're criminals. They, all of them, uh, they wanted awful things, and they tried whatever to get what they wanted. They had superpowers, basically, so they could've been superheroes, but they used their powers to be supervillains."

Dr. Wells nodded, letting Cisco trail off.

Cisco cleared his throat, starting again. "And Barry stopped them. Well, we all stopped them, but Barry did the stopping part."

Dr. Wells simply nodded again when Cisco paused again.

"But, but Barry's a meta-human too," Cisco said softly after a moment of silence. "If he decides to be a supervillain, who's gonna stop him?"

"You're scared of Barry," Dr. Wells said as if that was the answer to whatever question he'd come back into the bedroom with.

"No," Cisco said immediately. "I like Barry. He's fun. And he's funny. And I'm not scared. I wouldn't be scared of him, or of anybody, or anything, or-"

"It's okay to be scared," Dr. Wells said slowly. "You know, I've always found fear to be a source of energy. Some people use the energy from their fears to worry mindlessly, but do you know what other people do?"

"What?" Cisco asked, sitting up a bit.

"They use the energy from their fears to be productive," Dr. Wells said. "They recognize what they're scared of and they work to keep it from happening."

Cisco rolled that thought around in his head. "Huh. I can see it."

"Turn your fear into productivity," Dr. Wells said. "That's my advice."

"You know, that's actually not bad advice," Cisco admitted.

Dr. Wells laughed. "Have I ever given you bad advice?"

Cisco sat up all the way and deepened his voice in imitation of his father. "Being an acoustics engineer is absolutely a great idea for a Halloween costume, Cisco, and everybody will totally recognize what your costume is, so go for it."

"Other than that," Dr. Wells said.

Cisco kept going. "I certainly will make it to that science fair on time, Cisco, so it's one hundred percent okay to include a part for me to be sure to do in your exhibit."

"Other than that!" Dr. Wells said.

Cisco grinned and kept going. "Anyone who hopes to accomplish anything needs to know how to-"

"I'd stop while you're ahead," Dr. Wells cut in.

Giggling, Cisco flopped back down on his bed.

Dr. Wells sighed, but it sounded fond. "Try productivity instead of worrying. Okay?"

"Okay," Cisco agreed, eyes starting to droop with sleep. "Good night."

"Good night," Dr. Wells said as he wheeled out of the bedroom and started to shut the door behind him.

Cisco's eyes popped wide open again as he stared out past his dad into the hallway.

Just as the door shut all the way, Cisco sat up. He'd looked into the hallway without much thought, just following his dad's movements, but now he had a thought, a big thought. While he'd watched his dad leave, he'd glimpsed a few of his old blueprints…

Including the Heat Gun. That invention hadn't gone much of anywhere. Microwaves were so much more efficient for moving molecules fast and for making them heat up.

But what about an invention for making molecules slow down, even an invention that could halt even someone as speedy as Barry in his tracks? That would have to be-

"A Cold Gun," Cisco whispered to himself. "I'm going to make a Cold Gun."

Chapter Text

Cisco ran hard, the hurriedly-slapped-together device swinging beside him, his legs pumping as fast they could go, Caitlin and Felicity scrambling through the rubble with him. They needed to get close enough to Captain Cold to stop him from hurting Barry! For a moment, Cisco wished he had metahuman powers too, just so he could get closer faster. Maybe not the power of running super fast, though, because that seemed to be causing a lot of trouble for Barry. Maybe his power could be teleporting, or something along the lines of-

No, focus, Cisco!

They kept running as they got within conversational hearing range among the fiery ruins of the train, but they slowed down some to be careful, trying to approach quickly but quietly, desperately not wanting to be seen until they were ready.

"Pretty fast, kid, but not fast enough," Captain Cold was saying as he got even closer, even more dangerously even closer, to Barry.

Part of Cisco's mind recognized that someone calling Barry "kid" would be funny, hilarious even, to him in most other situations. But this wasn't most situations. This was a Barry's-life-or-death-by-Cisco's-own-invention situation, because Captain Cold had one hand raised and out in front of him, holding the Cold Gun angled right at Barry.

Barry struggled on the ground, clearly trying to find a way out of the situation.

Cisco was struggling too, creeping closer with Caitlin and Felicity on either side, trying not to show he was there, but he was almost there…

"Thank you," Captain Cold said almost-casually.

"For what?" Barry panted out.

Captain Cold hummed a little. "You forced me to up my game, not only with this gun, but with how I think about the job. It's been… Educational."

That sounded like the very end of a villain speech. Cisco was out of time, but he was also out of distance to cross. Scrambling over one last piece of rubble and hoping against hope Caitlin and Felicity followed along, hoping this plan would work, hoping Barry would be okay, Cisco aimed and started up the device as he screamed, "Drop it!"

He pointed his end of the device right at Captain Cold.

Slowly, Captain Cold turned his head to stare him down.

Cisco stared at Captain Cold.

Captain Cold stared at Cisco. Then, without twitching his Cold Gun away from Barry, Captain Cold turned his head back toward Barry and mused, "You know, I was wondering who you were talking to. I guess they start them younger than I could've guessed."

"Drop it," Cisco said again, more firmly, grateful to see Captain Cold turn to look at him again. Cisco jerked his chin down toward the front of the device he held. "This was my prototype of the Cold Gun. It's got four times the size and four times the power."

Captain Cold raised his eyebrows high up over his goggles. "Mmm."

"So unless you want a taste of your own medicine, you need to back up," Cisco said firmly.

"Little man, your hands are trembling," Captain Cold said coolly. Coolly, which was a pun that would've made Cisco break down giggling in most other situations, but not this one.

Especially not when Cisco could feel that Captain Cold was speaking the truth. Well, about the fact that his hands were trembling.

"Go ahead, call me 'little' again," Cisco said invitingly, hefting the end of the device.

"You're an actual child. You're practically an infant," Captain Cold said.

Cisco's lower lip was starting to tremble now too. He needed to end this now, before his rage gave way and only his fear was left. "I made your Cold Gun for a reason, you know. And I knew that if I had to use it, I would use it."

"But yours just is a prototype," Captain Cold said, and could that be a hint of uncertainty in his voice? "You said so yourself. Why should I think it might work?"

"I'm an actual child, you idiot, you said that yourself, Captain Cold. Would I be out here facing down a dangerous criminal if my gun didn't work?" Cisco bit back.

Captain Cold stared at him for a long moment, a small smirk on his face. Then he pointed his Cold Gun up at the sky.

Cisco narrowly avoided dropping his own device in shock and joy. It worked!

Beginning to back away, Captain Cold looked at Barry. "You win, kid. I'll see you around."

Still holding his end of the device, Cisco watched Captain Cold walk away.

Captain Cold looked far too delighted about strolling through the wreckage. But why-

"Oh, he's still got the diamond!" Cisco exclaimed, and he started to bolt forward.

Caitlin grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "Let's count our wins where we can get them, okay?"

Reluctantly at first, Cisco turned back. Then he saw Barry. Cisco dropped his part of the device and raced over. "Barry! Are you okay?"

"A bit chilly," Barry said, sounding like he wanted it to be a joke even though it really wasn't. "But I'll be okay."

"Let's get you back and warmed up," Caitlin said, putting down her part of the device so the whole thing sat slumped on the ground.

Already having dropped her part of the device, Felicity was already trying to help Barry to his feet, putting an arm around his shoulders.

Cisco came to Barry's other side, grabbing Barry's hand as Caitlin came to join them.

"You really had a four-times-as-powerful Cold Gun this whole time?" Barry asked as he stood and started to limp forward, one arm over Felicity's shoulders, the other over Caitlin's.

Cisco started to laugh. He stepped to the side and kicked the device where it sat in a heap. A whole line of the hastily-added lights blinked out. "That's the STAR Labs vacuum cleaner plus a bunch of LEDs."

Barry's jaw dropped. "So it didn't work."

"Well, yes, the device didn't work," Felicity said.

"But the plan did work," Caitlin said.

"Teamwork," Cisco said proudly, then he ducked his head a little. Maybe he shouldn't be proud. "I'm sorry, Barry. If I could've known-"

"You couldn't have known a villain would steal your Cold Gun," Barry said reassuringly.

That wasn't as reassuring as Barry probably hoped it would be. Cisco winced, and he added, "I meant, if I could've known you'd always be a good guy. I wouldn't have built it. I was just, I was scared, I'm still kinda scared, and I didn't, I don't… I'm sorry."

Barry took one arm off of Caitlin's shoulders. He reached forward toward Cisco.

Cisco watched him, confused for a moment, then Barry's hand came down and landed in Cisco's hair, giving a tussle and accidentally-on-purpose messing it up to the point that some of it drooped over Cisco's eyes.

"Hey!" Cisco protested automatically, swatting the hand away. Then he paused. Fixing his hair, Cisco peeked tentatively up at Barry. "So… Is that 'I forgive you,' then?"

Barry grinned. "I forgive you. You were scared, and you didn't know what to do, and it's okay. We're okay. Plus, if I didn't forgive you, I think you and Caitlin and Felicity would probably shoot me with the 'prototype.'"

"I wouldn't!" Cisco protested.

"I might," Felicity said casually.

"I would," Caitlin said in a tone that left no room for disagreement.

"But it's a fake, and also you're forgiven, so it's fine," Barry said hurriedly, starting to limp forward again. "And yeah, let's get going."

Cisco laughed and followed along.

Chapter Text

"I'll admit, when you said Barry was picking a place for an evening hang-out, this wasn't what I first thought of," Eddie stated. "Not that I know him that well yet, but still."

Iris glanced at the neon sign hanging just below the restaurant's name, proclaiming it a "family-friendly establishment." She nodded thoughtfully. She knew Barry much better than Eddie did, after all, and she had admittedly assumed they'd be headed to more of a club, or at least somewhere with a bar. "True. He did say he might be inviting some other friends, though. Maybe one of them is going sober?"

"That's a good guess," Eddie said. "Or maybe-"

A buzzing from her pocket distracted Iris momentarily. She pulled out her phone and thumbed over the notification. "Barry says he's here, at a table near the bar."

"Hey, so there is still a bar," Eddie said, raising an eyebrow.

"A family-friendly bar, of course," Iris said with a smile.

Eddie smiled back. "Of course."

True to his word, Barry was seated at a table just opposite the bar, which wasn't too hard to find. He stood as they approached.

"Hey, Bar," Iris said, leaning in for a quick hug. "Interesting choice of a bar, huh?"

"Oh, right," Barry said, hugging back and then releasing her to sit back down. "I mean, it wasn't a hundred percent my first choice, but Caitlin texted me back before I could set the place for my first choice."

"Caitlin," Eddie repeated slowly as he took a seat, like the name rang a bell. "The woman from STAR Labs?"

"Of course," Iris said in realization, sitting as well. "That's a great idea, inviting her!"

"I thought so too," Barry said. "She's pretty cool."

"Pretty cool?" Iris repeated. "She helped save your life, Barry. That makes her one of the coolest people I've ever met."

Barry laughed, sounding a little embarrassed. "Well, yeah, and-"

"We're not late, are we?" A voice interrupted.

Iris looked up and over to see Caitlin standing there with-

Oh. Oh, that explained things so fast.

"I told you we'd be late," Cisco, the ten-year-old who obviously would not be allowed into a club, said petulantly.

"I still wasn't going to speed," Caitlin retorted. She made a small, awkward wave toward Eddie. "Hi. Caitlin Snow. Detective Edward Thawne, right?"

"Yes, but usually Eddie," Eddie said, waving back.

"And you'd remember Iris, I'm sure," Barry said, gesturing over to her. "She's, you know, memorable."

"That's a compliment, right?" Iris joked.

"I'm sure it's a compliment," Caitlin said. "Nice to see you again, Iris."

"Nice to see you too," Iris said.

"What about me?" Cisco asked, drumming his hands on the edge of the table. "Is it nice to see me?"

"It sure is," Iris said, giving him a grin.

Eddie gave Iris a look, tilting his head toward Cisco and raising his eyebrows questioningly.

"I saw that," Cisco announced.

Eddie blinked forcefully. "You saw what?"

"Cisco doesn't miss much," Barry said with a laugh.

"Oh, Cisco!" Eddie exclaimed, apparently putting the pieces together. "Okay, Cisco Wells, then. Oh, everything makes sense now. I was wondering why…"

"You were wondering what?" Cisco asked when Eddie's voice trailed off.

"I was, I mean," Eddie fumbled for words for a moment, glancing around helplessly. "I was wondering why Barry said he'd invited friends plural when I only saw Caitlin at first?"

"I'm not that short," Cisco said, spreading his hands indignantly by his sides and plopping down into a chair. Unfortunately for him, due to being short, the table promptly hid the hand gesture, since it came up to almost his shoulders. "Also, I'm ten, not a baby. You can tell me the truth."

"I was wondering why we weren't meeting at a club," Eddie admitted.

Caitlin snorted, sitting down as well. "It's one of my appointed Cisco nights."

"Which she wishes would be appointed every night, because I'm awesome," Cisco said. He held up a finger. "And before anybody says anything, it's not babysitting. It's hanging out."

"Let's hang out then," Barry said. "I'll hit the bar, who wants something to drink?"

"Is everybody getting a drink?" Cisco asked with a grin, sounding far too eager to Iris. "As in, a drink, like it's an alcohol thing? So we'll need a designated driver?"

"You are not driving my car," Caitlin said flatly.

"Okay. I'll drive Barry's car," Cisco said, immediately bouncing back.

"No," Caitlin and Barry said in unison.

"You are not driving anything until you are of legal age to have a license and do, in fact, have a legal license," Caitlin added.

Cisco puffed out his cheeks for a moment, then he blew all the air out in a sigh. A grin reappeared on his face. "Eh, it was worth a shot. Get it? A shot, like that alcohol thing?"

Later, as Eddie went to get himself a refill, Iris excused herself for the bathroom.

"Guys, I can't feel anything," Barry said as Iris went, although he was whispering, so maybe she wasn't supposed to hear that.

"I think that's also an alcohol thing," Cisco informed him primly in not nearly as much of a whisper.

Barry groaned.

Iris snorted as she kept walking away. Taking drinking advice from a ten-year-old was so uniquely Barry. She adored him, and she was continuing to grow in how much she liked Cisco and Caitlin too.

Chapter Text

"Is Barry here yet?" Cisco asked, bouncing on his toes and glancing around repeatedly as he rounded the Cortex's main desk.

"Do you see him here, or do you need to get your eyes checked?" Caitlin asked, raising her eyebrows. She was fairly certain Cisco's vision was fine, more that the kid was impatient for whatever Barry had asked them to gather for.

"No and no, but Dad called us up here, so I figured…" Cisco said, trailing off as he glanced toward Dr. Wells.

Dr. Wells lifted both hands palm-up. "He messaged that he would be here in 'just a moment or two,' and knowing Mr. Allen-"

A whoosh of air, and Barry appeared, arms laden with what looked like-

"Gifts!" Cisco crowed, heading for Barry.

"That means pretty much immediately," Dr. Wells said, sharing a sly, amused look with Caitlin.

Caitlin hid her smile behind her hand.

"Which one is mine?" Cisco demanded, poking at and peering at Barry's armload of presents.

"Whoa, whoa," Barry teased, holding the presents higher, out of Cisco's reach.

Undeterred, Cisco went up on his tiptoes in a clear attempt to continue poking and peering.

"Whoa!" Barry said once more, this time insistently. "At least let me say 'merry Christmas' first, okay?"

"Okay," Cisco said, dropping to flat feet but staying right in front of Barry. "So say it then."

Barry snorted, looking over Cisco's head at Caitlin and Dr. Wells. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," Cisco repeated. "Now, gifts!"

"You didn't have to bring gifts," Dr. Wells said as Barry navigated around Cisco with the presents still held high.

"Just a small token of my gratitude for everything you guys have done for me," Barry said, holding out a wrapped box to Caitlin.

Caitlin took it, hefting it thoughtfully, trying to guess the contents without looking. Given the weight and dimensions, it was likely a book, and a big one at that. Oh, maybe the out-of-print edition of a certain journal she'd mentioned wanting? If so, that was pretty thoughtful of Barry.

"I think I speak on behalf of all of us when I say you've been a gift in and of yourself," Dr. Wells told Barry even as Barry held out a small box and Dr. Wells took it.

"Yeah, but actual gifts are always appreciated," Cisco said, his gaze fixed on the remaining box in Barry's arms. "And I'd like to appreciate mine now, so give it over!"

"May I have it, please," Dr. Wells corrected with a sigh.

"That's pretty much what I said," Cisco said flippantly.

"I don't know, I definitely didn't hear a please," Barry joked, still holding the remaining wrapped box up high.

"Give it over, please," Cisco said, emphasizing the "please."

Barry held Dr. Wells' gaze for a moment, then Barry cracked a smile and tossed the remaining wrapped box. "Close enough. Catch!"

Cisco narrowly caught the box and held it high in victory. "Can we open them now?"

"Let's get some of this going first, then we can open gifts and it'll really be a party," Barry said, now only holding some kind of thermos, a carton of something milky-looking, and a stack of disposable cups.

A party, huh? Caitlin was intrigued. "What's that?"

"This," Barry said, setting down the thermos with a flourish, "is compliments of Iris. Grandma Esther's famous eggnog."

"Is that the one that's-" Caitlin began, eyeing Cisco.

"Light on the bourbon," Cisco said knowingly, bouncing on his toes again even as he tried to keep a straight face, as if in doing so, he might be eligible for some.

"And this is compliments of Joe," Barry said, wiggling the carton in Cisco's direction then toward Dr. Wells. "And I quote, 'father to father, a regular eggnog, because I didn't let them have Grandma Esther's stuff when they were ten.'"

Cisco drooped. Sulkily, he said, "That feels rather pointed."

Caitlin smiled, turning toward Dr. Wells, expecting to share another sly, amused look.

But-

Oh. Dr. Wells had an awkward, almost morose expression on his face as he cleared his throat. "Ahem. Maybe later for me. Wouldn't wanna drink and drive."

With a crooked half-smile, Dr. Wells headed off down the hall.

Caitlin glanced at Cisco, who was drooping even more, if that was possible. Then she turned to Barry, who wore a look of confusion.

"Did I say something wrong?" Barry asked, looking at Caitlin.

"No," Caitlin sighed. How to explain?

"No," Cisco echoed dejectedly. "It's just… This used to be his favorite time out of the whole year. Trees, tinsel, we'd decorate the whole lab, stars and fake snow and stuff all over."

Barry was looking back and forth between them, still looking confused, so Caitlin spread her hands to indicate the Cortex, which was notably bare of said decorations.

"But the accident happened before Christmas. And it ruined everything, even Christmas," Cisco said in a small voice. He glanced down at the wrapped box still in his hands, shook his head, and placed the wrapped box on the desk. "It sucks."

"That does sound like that sucks," Barry said emphatically, nodding. He paused for a moment. "But does it have to?"

Cisco looked up from staring at his toes. "What?"

"Does it have to suck?" Barry asked. "I mean, I'm no Grinch, so I'd say Christmas shouldn't be ruined."

Cisco frowned. "By the end of that story, the Grinch doesn't think Christmas should be ruined either."

"So even the Grinch, the most famous Christmas-hater of all, agrees with me," Barry said, continuing with forceful cheer. "We won't let Christmas stay ruined. We'll save Christmas."

Slowly, a smile was spreading across Cisco's face, and part of Caitlin thought she'd never been so happy for Barry Allen to have entered their lives. That was certainly hyperbole, but it fit in the moment.

"We'll save Christmas?" Cisco repeated with a sound of wonder.

"As much as we can," Barry confirmed. "By having as good of a time as we can anyway."

Cisco grinned. "I'm in."