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Francisco Ramon was born with the name "Flash" scrawled across his wrist. His parents immediately realized that their child's life would not be easy. Francisco, or Paco as he later insisted he be called, was one of the unlucky few to have their soulmate's nickname on their body, instead of their real name. Francisco would likely spend his whole life searching for his soulmate.
This didn't seem to bother Paco very much, even after his parents explained to him that he may never find his soulmate. Dante, Paco's older brother, enjoyed making fun of the name on his little brother's skin.
"Do you think she's a serial flasher and that's her nickname in jail?" Dante taunts one day.
"That's uncreative, even for you," Paco retorts, tucking long hair behind his ear.
Francisco Ramon, now age 10, could care less about his soulmate. Right now, he just wanted to focus on disassembling his alarm clock. He knew he could make it better, he just needed the parts to do so. He tuned out his brother's voice and returned to wondering if Dante would miss his own alarm clock.
Later that night, while changing his clothes for bed, Paco let his mind wander towards his soulmate. He showed indifference towards this mysterious "Flash" during the day, but at night he couldn't help but stare at the dark Mark on his skin. The letters were cramped and slanted, barely taking up an inch of his dark skin.
Running a finger across the name, Paco realized that if Dante thought his soulmate's nickname was weird, so would everyone else. He had to make sure no one saw it, or else the bullying he received would get much worse. Walking over to the oak dresser against his bedroom wall, he found an old, battered bracelet and slipped it over his left wrist. It would have to do until he could buy something more permanent.
Years later, the name on Francisco Ramon's wrist is nearly forgotten. He no longer goes by Paco, but by Cisco. Dante never really grew out of making fun of his brother's Mark, which is currently one of the many reasons Cisco hasn't spoken to him in a month.
Cisco sat alone in the empty S.T.A.R. Labs cortex. He had let himself think about his soulmate for just a few minutes. Lately, the only thing Cisco could think about was the people the particle accelerator had hurt. His work had hurt and killed so many people, and he was the one who shut the door behind Ronnie. Ronnie was Caitlin's soulmate and Cisco let him die. He could barely stand to look at the faded grey "Ronald" on Caitlin's wrist without wanting to throw up.
This led Cisco to his current predicament. He hadn't looked under his small green bracelet since before everything went to shit. What if "Flash" was dead? If Cisco had indirectly killed his own soulmate, he wouldn't be able to live with himself. He steeled himself, took a deep breath, and moved the worn cloth.
The letters were still black.
Cisco let out a shaky sigh. The relief he felt was tinged with guilt. Why did he deserve to have a living soulmate while Caitlin's was dead? This self-destructive train of thought was interrupted by the sound of a wheelchair motor.
"Cisco," Dr. Wells called.
The young man turned at the sound of his name, letting his bracelet cover up his Mark yet again.
"We're bringing in someone who needs our help. Call Dr. Snow," Wells finished.
Once this new patient had settled in a few hours later, Cisco turned to Dr. Wells for an explanation.
"His name is Barry Allen and he was struck by lightning the night the...that night. He has been in a coma since then," Wells said while Cisco examined the pale body lying motionless on a cot in the cortex. "We should expect regular visits from his foster father and sister, since he will stay here until he wakes up."
The "if" goes unspoken, but Cisco and Caitlin pick up on it nonetheless.
A few weeks later, Cisco has learned quite a lot about Barry Allen. Iris, Barry's foster sister, is lovely and doesn't hold back when talking about him. She tells Cisco all of the embarrassing stories while sitting next to Barry's bed, eating fries from Big Belly Burger that Cisco brought in. Iris had hardly left Barry's side and Cisco knew she needed some comfort food in her system.
Today he had walked in on her holding Barry's hand and talking softly to him. Cisco felt a spike of something that he quickly shoved down when she looked up and grinned at the grease-stained bag in his hand.
A few hours later, Cisco tried not to stare as Iris dozed softly in a chair next to Barry, her breathing soft, fingers twitching next to Barry's own. At this moment, Cisco noticed the soft red bracelet around Barry's wrist. His hand moved on reflex to play with his own. Barry must not want anyone to know about his soulmate either.
Iris shifted in her sleep, her hand moving to rest on top of Barry's wrist, obscuring the bracelet from Cisco's view.
Cisco let the "something" from earlier rise again. He refused to call it jealousy. He could not be jealous of Iris, because there was no reason to be. Just because Barry sounded amazing in the stories Iris told and his eyelashes were really long, doesn't mean Cisco liked him. That would be ridiculous.
Cisco spent the next months becoming sort of friends with Iris and her father, Joe, and talking to Barry’s sleeping form when neither of them were around. He would pull one of the TVs to the foot of Barry’s bed, and marathon shows like Parks and Recreation on Netflix while sitting in the chair Iris usually sat in. He knew that Barry couldn’t hear him, he really did. But Cisco couldn’t stop himself from making comments every now and then. By season four of Parks and Rec, he was having entire, albeit one-sided, conversations with Barry.
“So...You don’t want anyone to see who your soulmate is, huh?” Cisco asks, eyes flickering away from the TV to Barry’s wrist. It was only a foot away from him. No one was around, and Barry wouldn’t know…
A loud noise coming from the cortex’s sound system jolts Cisco from his thoughts. He shakes the idea from his head because it was wrong. Covered Marks are private business and Cisco didn’t have any right to look at Barry’s. His little crush on someone he’d never even talked to was stupid.
Cisco sighed and continued his thought from earlier. “Me too, man. My brother used to give me so much shit about the name I have, so eventually I just covered it up.” He paused to take a sip of his soda and shrug one shoulder. “I don’t care as much anymore what people think, but at this point the bracelet is just habit.” Deciding that he had said enough, Cisco stopped talking and turned back towards the TV.
The subject of soulmates came up again a little over a week later, with Iris this time. At least she could respond.
Cisco was trying his hardest to figure out how to bring Marks up, and didn’t realize he was fiddling with his bracelet until Iris pointed it out.
“Hey, you have one of those too,” she exclaims, interrupting Cisco’s racing thoughts.
“Oh. Uh, yeah. People used to make fun of me for it, years ago, but I guess it’s just a part of me now,” Cisco replies, scratching his arm nervously. “Barry has one too, right?”
Iris nods, glancing down at her friend before speaking again. “Barry just...he just has one. Everyone was so focused on making fun of him for having the ‘murder father’ that they never made fun of him for his Mark. He’s just,” Iris shrugs. “Private about it.”
“Yeah, I get that.” Cisco nods, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear. If Barry doesn’t even talk to Iris about soulmates, he must really hate talking about it.
There’s a beat of silence before Iris changes the subject, smiling softly down at Barry as she starts to tell Cisco the story of an elementary school science fair.
Nine months after Barry Allen is brought to S.T.A.R. Labs, on what seemed like a perfectly normal day, something incredible happened. Cisco was joking around with Caitlin in the cortex, Poker Face by Lady Gaga playing loudly through the speakers, when Barry’s heartbeat spiked and he lurches up from his bed.
“Oh, my god!” Cisco yelps, almost dropping his phone from where he went to change the music.
“Where am I?” Barry asks, eyes flitting around the room. Cisco tries not to think about how nice Barry’s voice sounds as he opens up his phone and calls for Dr. Wells. He turns back towards Barry to find Caitlin crowding in his space while he tries to remove the electrodes from his temples.
“Look at me. Look at me,” Caitlin says, carefully helping Barry into a sitting position.
Cisco walks briskly back to the two of them. “Hey, hey. Whoa, whoa. Relax,” he soothed, placing a careful hand on Barry’s (muscled) shoulder. He’s panting, eyes wide as he finally sits up properly. “Everything’s okay, man. You’re at S.T.A.R. Labs,” Cisco continues, unable to keep a smile off his face.
“S.T.A.R. Labs,” Barry croaks. “Who are you?” Cisco swears for a second that Barry gives him a once-over, but the thought is quickly driven from his mind by Barry’s confused face.
“I’m Cisco Ramon. She’s Caitlin--” Cisco blinks and corrects himself. “Dr. Snow.”
Caitlin holds up a plastic cup. “I need you to urinate in this,” she says in what Cisco calls her “doctor voice.”
“Not this second,” Cisco quips back, taking the cup from her.
Barry steps between the two of them, letting their hands fall away from his shoulders, holding his hands up helplessly. “Wh-what is happening? What is going on?” he says weakly, turning to face them a few feet away.
“You were struck by lightning, dude,” Cisco exclaims, grinning at the baffled look on Barry’s face.
Barry turns and pauses, staring at the TV showing his toned stomach. “Lightning...gave me abs?” he mutters and Cisco can’t help his widening grin. This guy is too cute.
After Caitlin gives Barry a quick explanation on what’s happening to his body, Cisco gently grabs Barry’s shoulders and guides him to a chair. “C’mere, have a seat. You were in a coma,” he explains.
Barry turns to look up at him. “For how long?”
“Nine months,” a voice says from the entrance to the Cortex. “Welcome back Mr. Allen. We have a lot to discuss.”
Barry left within a minute of being back in the cortex after Dr. Wells fully explained what happened.
“Really?” Caitlin asked no one in particular.
Barry peeked his head back around the doorway. “Can I keep the sweatshirt?” he asked shyly.
“Yeah, keep the sweatshirt,” Wells confirmed.
“Okay,” Barry said and left once again.
Cisco smiled around the straw of the drink in his hand. Barry really was as endearing as Iris said.
Later that day Barry came back to S.T.A.R. Labs, saying he could run faster than any other man alive. And from there, things got pretty hectic.
Over the course of the next weeks, Barry and Cisco fall into a rhythm. Catching bad guys, geeking out over new tech, and slowly becoming friends.
And of course, Cisco's crush gets much bigger.
He didn't purposefully crush on Barry, alright?
But he also doesn't do anything to stop it either.
Which is definitely a bad idea because Barry isn't Cisco's soulmate. Cisco's soulmate is "Flash." And Cisco doesn't know who Barry's soulmate it is, but it's not Cisco.
Cisco knows he's going to get hurt. And he knows he should stop it before it becomes something more.
But then Barry smiles at him or grabs his arm and all thoughts about soulmates and Marks and "Flash" disappear.
It's when the team had just finished hunting down Girder that changes things.
Cisco, who still maintained a good friendship with Iris after Barry woke up from his coma, decided to check her blog for any new posts about "The Streak." When he sees the headline he almost chokes on his own spit.
"SAVED BY THE FLASH"
Cisco sits back in his chair, feeling his breath catch every time his eyes read the word "flash."
"This isn't--But he's not--" Cisco whispers to himself. He just wanted to go home, eat some takeout, and go to bed. The last one was no longer an option, because the words "Barry," "Flash," and "soulmate" were the only things occupying his brain.
After half an hour of pacing his apartment, Cisco had come up with two possible situations.
The first being that Barry didn't have Cisco's name and Cisco would be cursed to pine forever.
This one seemed the most likely.
The second being that Barry did have Cisco's name, but it was a nickname like it was for Cisco.
This option was far less likely.
Mostly because Barry never looks at Cisco the way Cisco looks at Barry.
He doesn't know when he fell asleep that night, though Cisco's pretty sure he heard a bird chirping outside his window when he finally passed out from exhaustion.
The last words to run through Cisco's mind were, "Barry's my soulmate."
Now that Cisco knew that Barry was his soulmate, his crush on him became out of control. Cisco tried his best to keep his emotions in check, but every time someone called Barry "The Flash," it felt like someone had crushed Cisco's heart.
Whenever Barry touches him, Cisco feels electrified. It feels amazing. And awful. And Cisco deals with it.
The next few months are a rollercoaster.
Cisco dies (sort of), Dr. Wells is a guy from the future, he dies, Eddie dies, a black hole is opened, etcetera, etcetera.
But the six months after that are what hurt Cisco the most.
Barry refuses to talk to him. He refuses to talk to anybody.
And he knew that everyone else missed Barry too.
But being away from Barry felt awful. Knowing that Barry blamed himself for Eddie’s death felt like someone was sitting on Cisco’s chest. He knew that he couldn't let Barry be alone.
Caitlin, Joe, Iris, Cisco and Henry had all (reluctantly) agreed to give Barry some space. But six months after the singularity, the day before Flash Day, enough was enough.
Joe, Iris, and Cisco had a brief conversation about Barry at the police precinct that day.
Iris walks up to Joe and Cisco, lightly punching Cisco on the shoulder. "Hey Cisco," she says before moving to kiss her dad on the cheek. "Hi dad. I was wondering if you'd talked to Barry about the rally."
"I was just sayin..." Joe trails off.
Cisco scoffs. "I'm sorry, I just can't believe they're giving The Flash the key to the city! Although, technically, as members of Team Flash, we should all be getting keys." He sees Iris smile at him from the corner of his eye as Joe speaks up.
"Well, you know Barry. The more we try and convince him to do something, the less he's gonna want to do it," he says.
"Yeah, but he should go." Iris sighs. "Someone should try and get through to him."
"I...I can try," Cisco says hesitantly.
Joe and Iris look at him, both with hints of smiles on their faces.
"Yeah, Cisco. You're one of his best friends," Iris says, pushing him lightly on the shoulder.
Joe nods encouragement as Cisco moves towards the precinct's elevator.
Cisco walks hesitantly into Jitters. He had already checked S.T.A.R. Labs, and with no luck there, decided to check the coffee shop.
Barry is standing in the middle of what used to be a complete mess, clapping dust off of his hands.
"Y'know," Cisco begins, smiling around a grape sucker as Barry jumps at his voice. "If you want to quit the super hero business, you could always be a great construction worker."
Barry smiles, slightly out of breath. "Yeah, I just. I'm trying to put it all back, exactly how it was, before...y'know."
Cisco's smile dropped a little, looking down while Barry cleared his throat and continued his work. "I hear that local businesses that were affected are being rebuilt at night. In secret."
Barry smiled at him around the mouth of a water bottle, and Cisco felt his heart skip a beat. Though Caitlin would say that that was a medical problem, Cisco was pretty sure it was just part of being in love with Barry Allen.
Unrequited-Soulmate-itis.
Symptoms include:
Your breath catching every time they touch you.
Check.
Your heart racing every time they enter a room.
Check.
And, obviously, knowing they'll never feel the same way.
Triple check.
Cisco is broken out of his reverie by Barry calling his name. He jolts and asks, "What?"
Barry laughs and it sounds like music. Cisco missed that sound. "I said, do you want to go have a movie night? We can put in Wrath of Khan and order Chinese."
Cisco smiles so quickly his cheek twinges. "Yeah, dude. That sounds great."
"Alright. Let me just finish up here and then we'll get going." In a blur of yellow lightning, Barry put chairs upright, set up new tables, and swept the floor. He came to a stop a minute later in front of Cisco, chest heaving slightly. "Let's go."
Halfway through the movie and twelve boxes of Chinese food later (three for Cisco, nine for Barry), Barry pressed pause on the remote.
Cisco stops mid-word, having been mouthing along to the dialogue. He turns and raises his eyebrows at Barry.
His friend is looking down at his jeans, pulling on a loose thread. Since all of Barry's movements are so quick, Cisco's not sure, but he thinks Barry might have looked at Cisco's hand next to his. Barry breathes deep and pushes out in one breath, "Whydoyoukeepyourmarkcovered?"
Cisco turns more towards Barry. "Pardon?"
Barry tries again, much slower this time. "Why do you keep your Mark covered?"
The question shocks Cisco and he shifts in his place on Barry's couch.
"I mean, I know it's taboo to ask but we've been friends for like, a year but it feels like we've been friends forever and we've never talked about soulmates and I don't know why you keep yours covered," Barry rambles, looking up from his lap to make eye contact with Cisco from under his eyelashes. Cisco's never seen him so petrified.
"Well--" Cisco pauses to collect his thoughts. "Dante used to make fun of my Mark. He used to make up stupid theories on who my soulmate was. I... I'm one of the people with a nickname instead of a real name. And one day I realized that eventually, someone was going to notice my Mark and no one would ever let it go. They would make fun of me for the rest of my life. So I started covering it up but no one except Dante talks about it anymore. He never grew out of making fun of me for it." He ends the story with a self-deprecating laugh.
Barry looks sadly at Cisco. "I'm sorry, man. That must really suck."
Cisco shrugs and looks at Barry's own bracelet. "What about you?"
Barry jerks as if he didn't expect the question. He looks down at his wrist, tugging lightly on the red fabric. "I...Um...My parents were soulmates. As a kid I always wanted that. But then my mom died and I...I couldn't stand seeing the pained look on my dad's face when he talked about her. He spoke with so much love but he looked like he was in pain every time he looked at his own wrist. So I started covering it up because if my dad couldn't have one, why should I?"
The look on Barry's face when he looks back up at Cisco breaks his god damn heart. "Barry," he says softly. "You deserve to be happy. You shouldn't have to be alone. And I know that if you told your dad about this he would say the same. Let yourself be happy, dude."
Barry nods slightly. "Yeah. Okay. I'll try."
The room is silent, save for their breathing.
The moment breaks when Cisco reaches for the remote and presses play, leaning back into the cushions of the couch. He's so focused on the next line in Wrath of Khan that he doesn't notice the look on Barry's face.
Cisco's hectic life continues.
Keeping his "powers" from Barry is a major struggle and it's tearing him apart from the inside. Barry is his soulmate, regardless if Cisco is Barry's. Cisco wants to tell him everything. But this is just one thing he can't talk about.
That is, of course, until Harry outs him to the whole team. (Fuckin' dick.)
The look of confusion on Barry's face makes Cisco feel sick to his stomach.
"Cisco, have you known about this, and you didn't say anything to us?" Barry asks, stepping towards Cisco.
"Yeah, I was gonna tell you. Thanks a lot, Harry!" Cisco's speech is clipped and he glares at Harry's retreating figure. "I swear, I was." He looks directly into Barry's eyes when he says this. Barry needs to know that Cisco was going to. "But I didn't. I was just... I was afraid," he admits, turning away from everyone.
"Afraid of what?" Barry asks from behind him.
"Dr. Wells said the dark matter gave me this...this gift. He said that one day I'd thank him for it." Cisco lets out a shaky breath. "What if I become like him?"
"Cisco, I don't think any of us would become evil if we all of sudden got powers, even if they were from Dr. Wells," Caitlin finally speaks up.
Cisco turns back towards them again, trying his hardest not to cry. "Yeah, maybe you're right. I should have said something. That's my fault. I'm sorry."
Barry shakes his head slightly and opens his mouth to say something before Harry interrupts.
"Well, you can be sorry later, because right now, we have to use your powers to find Doctor Light," he says, stepping in front of Barry.
Jay finally speaks up from behind the desk. "Cisco, your abilities, how do they work?"
God, this was the hardest thing to explain.
"Uh, I get these feelings sometimes...these vibes, visions of the breachers when they come to this Earth," Cisco says. He hears Barry's breath hitch, just slightly, but thinks nothing of it. He has to explain his powers so they can find Doctor Light.
After all was said and with Doctor LIght safely locked up in the pipeline, Barry, Cisco, and Caitlin all went to Jitters.
Cisco smiled softly at the barista as he grabbed the tray of coffees and walked over to the table Barry and Caitlin grabbed earlier.
He sat down next to Barry and each of them grabbed their drink.
After a few seconds of silent drinking, Caitlin puts her cup down and asks, "So, Cisco, you think about a name for yourself? It is your specialty."
Cisco gasps. "Oh, snap. You're totally right." He sighs and bites a nail. "I gotta think about this one. Well you know me it's gotta be perfect. Something that really sings, y'know? Something like..."
"Vibe?" Barry suggests.
And holy shit hearing that name feels like a kick to the chest. Cisco gasps. His mind is racing and he only dimly hears Caitlin repeat the name. It didn't sound the same coming from her.
"Vibe," Cisco says with complete finality.
A quiet ping! sounds from Caitlin's phone and she checks it and sighs. "I just remembered I have to do something. I'll talk to you two later, all right?" She stands up and waves to them, grabbing her coffee on the way out.
"Hey, Cisco, you alright?" Barry asks, waving his hand in front of Cisco's eyes.
"I...No. I'm not okay." All the feelings Cisco has had for the past year come pouring out without him wanting them to. "I've been a little bit in love with you since before you even woke up because Iris would tell me stories and you just sounded so amazing. You were even more amazing once you woke up and I didn't mean to fall for you but you just seemed to care so much in a way I thought no one ever would. Then you were dubbed The Flash and that's the name on my goddamn wrist and I don't know if you have mine but when you said 'Vibe' I couldn't breathe and--" Cisco's rambling is interrupted by Barry's hand on his arm. His mouth snaps shut as all of his words finally sink in. His face heats up and he scrambles to stand but Barry grabs his wrist tighter. Cisco stops moving but keeps his head down, using his hair as a shield.
"Cisco," Barry says softly. "Look at me."
Cisco hesitantly looks up, using his right hand to brush his hair out of his face.
Barry should be angry. But when Cisco looks in Barry's eyes all he sees is soft affection.
"Cisco look," Barry says, carefully taking his hand off of Cisco's wrist and moving it to his own. Barry pulls back the tight material of his bracelet and turns his arm so Cisco can read it.
Vibe.
There it is. The name Vibe in Cisco's handwriting.
Cisco's breath hitches as he anxiously runs a fingertip over the Mark. He feels Barry shiver and looks up to meet his gaze again.
Barry is smiling at him and it almost hurts to look at. Barry leans in towards Cisco, but leaves a few inches of space, wordlessly letting Cisco decide what happens.
Cisco can't help but lurch forward, pulling on Barry's wrist as he steps into his personal space.
Their lips meet and it feels like a sonic boom.
The kiss is intense, and all other noise from the coffee shop around them becomes white noise.
After what feels like an eternity, Cisco pulls back gently, but not very far. He rests his forehead against Barry's and slowly opens his eyes. He sees Barry do the same, and only then does the world seem to move again. They can faintly hear murmuring from other Jitter's patrons, and both men flush as they step out of each other's space.
Cisco feels like he can't breathe, and judging by the way Barry's pupils are blown wide, he can't either.
Barry grabs Cisco's hand and guides the two of them out of the building, not realizing they left the coffee behind.
Barry doesn't drop Cisco's hand when they get out onto the street. They wordlessly walk hand in hand back to Cisco's apartment, since it is closer to Jitters.
Once they are in the fourth floor apartment, Cisco closes the door behind them and Barry is immediately in his space. He doesn't kiss him, but instead fondly looks at Cisco as if he was the only thing in the world. Barry sweeps a stray strand of Cisco's hair behind his ear before whispering, "I love you."
Cisco feels breathless all over again and can barely sigh out the words, "I love you too" before leaning up and kissing Barry with all his might.
Barry Allen is The Flash and Cisco Ramon is Vibe, and they have never been happier.