Chapter Text
And, coincidently, I have been haunted by an equally formless dread, an apprehension as of some bygone but still imminent doom.
– Clark Ashton Smith, "The Chain of Aforgomon"
“You know something about this?” Cisco and Dante were looking for a birthday present for their mother. Usually they would each get something by themselves, but since Dante’s hands hadn’t quite healed yet and he shouldn’t use them unless absolutely necessary, he had asked his brother to help and accompany him. And Cisco, being responsible for his brother’s current state, couldn’t say no.
“About what?” Cisco asked distractedly, looking at his phone and scratching his neck where he had been stung by the bee. They had walked past a tech store with flat screens in the shop window and the local news was on, showing the Atom flying between buildings, followed by an almost indiscernible shadow. It had been dark already and even the Atom suit could barely be seen against the black background.
“That guy flying around in a metal suit. Is he one of your friends?” Cisco could hear the sarcasm in Dante’s voice and knew that it wasn’t a serious question but answered truthfully.
“Yeah, actually. I mean, we met just yesterday, but we get along great. He is a scientist and made the suit himself, he just needed some help with the tech.”
“Of course you know him. Why did I even ask?” Dante said.
“I don’t know, because you like hearing your own voice?” So being amicable wasn’t as easy as he had thought. And his brother hadn’t even been mean this time. “Sorry, I didn’t mean that.” He shrugged, “Old habits die hard I guess.”
Dante also shrugged and nodded, indicating that he understood since he was in the same position. “What’s that behind him?”
Cisco looked at the screen with a frozen shot of Ray and what could be described as a dark cloud behind him. “A swarm of killer bees.” Dante just raised an eyebrow as if to say ‘you serious?’ and Cisco had to agree that it sounded like something out of a bad Sci-Fi movie.
“So is he going to be solving crimes with the Flash?”
“No, he’s from Starling, and they have already left.”
“They? Are there more than one?”
“Ah, no. I meant his girlfriend. She’s actually the one we were friends with.” Mentioning Felicity made him think of yesterday night when he, Caitlin and Ray had come back to STAR Labs. As soon as they had entered the cortex she had wrapped her arms around him in a bone crushing hug and whispered, “I’m glad you’re ok. Thank you. You’re a really good friend.” He had blushed, not knowing what to say, because he was just as glad to have them as friends.
Felicity and Ray had left this morning and he had met up with Dante in the afternoon. They had walked along the busy street, looking at the shop windows and trying to find something their mother would like. It had already been half an hour and they hadn’t found anything. Not because they couldn’t agree on something, which Cisco had thought would become a problem, but because they had absolutely no idea what to get her.
“How about we give her vouchers?” Cisco opened his mouth to protest about how that was impersonal but Dante knew that he was going to say that and continued, “I don’t mean money, I mean like a favor. Like,… for instance you could give her computer instructions.”
“She knows how to use a computer.”
“Have you seen her write an e-mail? Or surf the Internet? It takes forever and she always asks the same questions, I swear. And she complains about the phone bill after talking to Aunt Leticia for hours and I have told her like a thousand times that there are other ways to talk to each other, like Skype or some app, but she wouldn’t listen and claims that it’s too complicated.”
“I don’t know. You could just do that, you’re home more often.”
“I know, but like I said, she doesn’t listen. Technology is your thing, maybe she will listen if it's coming from you.”
“I don't know, if you’ve already tried then I don't think it will work. She would just never use the voucher.”
“Then maybe we should just get her a laptop and make a Skype account for her and call Aunt Leticia and tell her to do the same and give it to her like that.”
“Why do we have to get a new laptop, don’t you guys have a computer?”
“It’s really old and broken, has been for some time now, but since they have never used it much they didn’t get a new one.”
“Sure, why not. Maybe I could even take one from STAR Labs, I’d have to ask Wells first though.” After the explosion they hadn’t needed all the equipment and had been able to sell most of it, but there were still a lot of computers or computer parts laying around in abandoned workshops and labs.
“That would be great. We could also copy music from her CDs to the laptop!” Dante seemed quite excited by their idea now but Cisco grimaced as a picture of their mother’s CD collection came to his mind.
“That’s a lot of CDs. Didn’t you guys do that already with the old computer?” Dante nodded. “Then I’ll try to salvage that first.” After he had said that, Cisco realized that he would have to do most of the work while his brother just had to wait for him to deliver the laptop. For a moment he thought that this was his brother’s intent all along, but dismissed it immediately. If he had asked, Cisco would have probably taken a look at his hands and said yes anyway, no matter the question.
He hated this whole situation they were in. He felt guilty for putting Dante in danger, for having caused him pain, for the state of his hands. Every time he saw them he thought of what could have been and the thought filled him with dread. If Dante really had lost the use of his hands his family would have blamed and hated him. It was so messed up, his brother has always treated him badly, yet he is the one trying to make amends.
“So, do you know any more of those, uhm…,” Dante started asking.
“Metahumans?” Cisco had been lost in thought and said the first thing that came to mind.
“No, I meant vigilantes. Or heroes, as some call them. I mean you know this guy from Starling City and you’re helping the Flash and I just wondered if maybe you know who the Arrow is as well.”
Cisco had to grin. “Maybe.” But his brother wasn’t grinning back or saying how cool it was, because Cisco certainly thought that it was.
“Do you help him as well? Do you go out there with them?”
“No, I mean I did upgrade his suite but I’ve only met him twice and I usually stay at STAR Labs and do the communications with Caitlin.” He had gone out into the field with John and Roy when he was in Starling. And yesterday. However his brother didn’t need to know that, he would just worry. More than he apparently already was. He did say usually though, so it wasn’t even lying.
“Usually?” But of course Dante had picked up on that. Cisco just shrugged and suddenly felt the urge to scratch his neck again but refrained from it. He looked around and saw that they were in front of a store that sold sweets and had a wide range of different chocolate brands on display and Cisco decided to stock up on his cocoa. Using this also as an excuse to escape the current conversation he pointed at the door and said that he would be right back before going in.
Ever since those dreams had started he had spent many nights awake in the kitchen of his small apartment with a mug of hot chocolate, which was why his supply had almost run out. When they had started he had thought that they were just nightmares, but they wouldn’t stop and then he started seeing them even when he was awake. They couldn’t be just normal nightmares, but if they weren't, then what was going on? What were they? Thinking about them made him uneasy and he was glad that he had told the others about it.
When he came out of the store he was carrying a huge bag, because how could he buy just the cocoa when they also had his favorite candies lying right there in front of him. Dante looked at the bag and shook his head in disbelief at the amount of candy his brother had just bought. Cisco took out a lollipop and offered it to him with a huge smile. Dante declined, so Cisco popped it into his mouth and turned into the direction from which they had come.
“So, who’s calling Aunt Leticia? Cause, you know, since I’ll be providing the laptop and trying to salvage the data from your old computer it would only be fair if you do it.”