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“When you couldn’t phase,” Cisco said softly. “I... For a moment, I...”
Barry perched on the bench next to him and rested his hand on Cisco’s.
“You didn’t leave,” Barry said.
“Of course not,” Cisco finally looked up at him. “Did you think I would?”
“No,” Barry smiled softly. “I knew you wouldn’t. I hoped you would. When I realised I couldn’t phase out before you came, when Zoom came in, when... I wanted you to be safe. I’d already watched him kill a man with your face. I wouldn’t have been able to bear it if he killed you too.”
“You’re my best friend,” Cisco said. “I was never going to leave you.”
Barry nodded.
“I couldn’t have lived with myself,” Cisco said. “After... I almost watched him kill you once, I...”
He gulped and Barry put his arm over Cisco’s shoulders.
“You saved me then too,” Barry said. “I don’t know if he would have killed me or not that day. I don’t know when he decided he wanted my speed. You saved me from Leonard Snart when we barely knew each other. You saved me from General Eiling once. You were the first person to help me do this, to believe in me, you believed me so impossibly quickly, and without you, my dad would still be in prison, I never would have caught the Man in Yellow. You’re a hero already, Cisco. You’re my hero.”
Cisco shook his head.
“I just...” He trailed off and looked up at Barry’s so earnest face. “I’m just me. And Reverb, he-”
“Wasn’t you,” Barry said. “He might have had the same DNA, but he had a completely different life. He made different choices. Maybe one day he didn’t have one.”
Cisco gulped and Barry sighed.
“The way Earth-2 seems to treat metahumans,” Barry said. “He wouldn’t have been able to keep it secret, and we already know Zoom’s willing to threaten loved ones to get people to work for him. Maybe he just wanted to save Dante.”
“He tried to kill you,” Cisco said.
“Maybe he saw something,” Barry shrugged. “Zoom wants my speed, maybe that was the only way he knew to stop him getting it. It makes sense, he wouldn’t want Zoom getting more powerful.”
Barry sighed.
“I don’t know anything about him,” he said. “But I know you, Cisco. The choices that led to him becoming Reverb, they aren’t choices you would ever make.”
“I gave Leonard Snart your name once,” Cisco said.
“He was going to kill your brother,” Barry said. “You made the right decision. I would have done the same thing.”
“This was just exciting at first.” Cisco leaned back on his hands. “Like something out of a comic book. It was fun and I didn’t think about the possibility of having to lose my best friend. Barry, Zoom, he-”
“He needs to be stopped,” Barry said. “And we both know I’m the only one fast enough.”
“What if you’re not?”
“Zoom’s alone,” Barry said. “I’m not. I’ve got you. You’re the eyes and ears and I’m the feet, right?”
“Always,” Cisco promised.