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The end of the world came about rather abruptly. Well, end might be taking it a bit far since there were at least a few people still alive, but the idea was there. Society and buildings both had crumbled under the weight concurrent supervillain attacks and economic and environmental disasters.
Cisco had thought Central City would hold up pretty well, but he was so, so wrong. Eddie and Iris were killed in a flash flood, breaking both Barry and Joe’s hearts. Joe was killed in an attack just a week later, and Barry beat himself up about it until he too was taken out. Caitlin went to find Ronnie one day and just never came back.
After that, everything basically seemed hopeless. Everyone Cisco knew was dead or missing, even the dubiously trustworthy villains. It was, to say the least, awful.
Two months into the forced solitude, Cisco thought he might be starting to go crazy. He hadn’t spoken to another person since Caitlin left, though he’d seen a few from a distance around town. With the way things were, he wasn’t really willing to risk approaching any of them even if he was ridiculously lonely.
He’d gone to talk to Gideon a few times, but it really wasn’t the same, especially when she couldn’t even access news articles after everything went to shit. One day, though, that changed.
“Gideon, any news?” Cisco asked on rote, voice dull. He wasn’t even looking at the projection screen, too tired and worn to even really care.
“Accessing headlines for March 12, 2019.”
Cisco froze, body going suddenly cold. That was years in the future. If there was a news article from then, maybe things weren’t as hopeless as he’d thought. But he couldn’t quite make himself look yet.
“What’s the headline?” he asked, caught between hope and terror.
“Central City scientist recognized by world council for assistance during disaster.”
Slowly, so slowly, Cisco turned to read the article. It was about him. He was the scientist being recognized in the future. According to the article, it seemed he’d built something to help rebuild everything they’d lost.
He could feel a grin growing on his face. “Well, looks like I’ve got work to do.”