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Wally.
Despite being really new to Team Flash, Wally quickly understood how they all worked. It is impressive, humbling even, to see them work together and defeat metahumans and villains alike. He helps where he can, and they all welcome him with their arms open.
It's nice, he ponders. It's like he belongs somewhere.
For so long his family was only him and his mom, and after she died he expected to be alone.
It's not always easy, and there's still resentment underneath, but he's got a dad and a big sister now. And he's part of a superhero team, and that's rad.
He would not call Team Flash his family yet – except maybe Barry, but it's different. Still, he knows it's just a matter of time before they warm themselves up in his heart and never leave.
When Wally cares about people, he cares with everything he has. He can't idly stand by when the people he loves are suffering.
That's why he risked his life to pay for his mother's bill. That's why he risked his life protecting the people of Central City when the Flash could not.
Often, it's not as dramatic.
He brings Iris a chocolate muffin at work when he knows she is having a bad day. He cooks for his dad so that he can relax when he gets home.
It's the little things that are the most important.
He might not be the most observant person on the planet – Barry being the Flash is obvious now that he thinks of it – but when it comes to the people he cares about, he tries his best to notice their moods.
It's not really difficult to see the tension between Cisco and Hartley.
The latter is not always at Star Labs, Iris told him it's because of Harry. It has to do with their Wells who apparently was not even Wells from their Earth but a guy from the future who wanted to make Barry suffer and manipulated and betrayed Hartley.
(What is even their lives?)
The signs are laid out to anyone who simply glance at them.
Slight touches that are longer than needed, private smiles just for the two of them, and at first Wally is certain they are already together, have been forever, will be for eternity.
But it's hard to ignore the sadness that lies in their movements when the other is looking away.
Wally is confused. They clearly have feelings for one another, so why are they not confessing? He tries asking Cisco subtly one day.
Usually bubbly and smiling, Cisco just looks at him, distraught, and says:
“Don't tell him, please. Just, don't.”
Wally does not have the heart to push.
He does ask Caitlin though.
Caitlin.
“Cisco and Hartley, why are they not a thing yet?”
Wally's question is not as unexpected as one would believe. She has been wondering how long it would take him to notice.
She sighs.
“They're idiots, I guess. Stubborn idiots. I don't think they see what's in front of them because they refuse to see it.”
“It's dumb.”
Yes, it is.
Caitlin has known them for years now. They did not get along at first, they hated each other even. Yet, behind all these mean comments and heated stares, there was this attraction between the two. It was so sharp you could almost touch it, it would choke you. Everyone at Star Labs would leave them alone when it became too much to bear.
Ronnie used to joke they just needed to screw the tension off.
She wonders if they ever did. That would explain the days where they could hold a civil conversations for more than five minutes.
Now, it's different.
The carnal chemistry is still there, as intense as ever and maybe even more.
Now, there's more.
A night together would not change anything, she knows, the feelings would not go away.
“It's stupid,” she whispers when Cisco and Hartley leave the room to go check on one of their experiments, careful not to act strange around each other, but each touch burns them and each look kills them.
Barry laughs next to her.
Barry.
“You mean them, right?”
Caitlin nods.
“I don't get it,” Barry continues. “It's not like Hartley is a bad guy anymore, why don't they just go for it?”
He knows about pining, he knows what's it's like to suffer in silence as the person you love is unreachable. He does not want that for Cisco, not even Hartley who proved to be a good friend.
There is nothing in their way, no lovers or secrets. And still, they say nothing, they keep the status quo.
Do they really not know? Do they really not see?
It pains Barry to see his friends like this, but what can he do? Every time he tries to talk with Cisco, he is deterred, and he is not close enough with Hartley to try and talk some sense into him.
He is hopeless, and he hates that feeling.
“What can we do, Joe?” he asks his adoptive father that night while they are washing the dishes.
Joe.
“Nothing.”
He knows it's hard to accept, especially for someone like Barry who always wants to save everyone, but it is the best course of action there is. Barry opens his mouth to protest but Joe cuts him off.
“We could make it worse, they'll come around one day. We just have to wait.”
Joe was young, a long time ago. He has tried helping friends who were in love with each other but did nothing for whichever reason they had.
Sometimes, it ended well.
(Maria and Elena are still married to this day.)
Sometimes, it did not.
(Joe can still hear the words Chris yelled at him that day of summer.)
“We should just be there to support them.”
“Support who?”
Iris.
She looks curiously at her father and Barry.
“Cisco and Hartley.”
Oh. She understands.
She sees it too, the feelings between them, it's hard not to. She is perceptive when it comes to others, it's part of her job.
She sees the lingering glances and the bittersweet smiles.
She aches to help them, but she knows it's not her place.
Cisco is a dear friend of hers, she loves him like a brother. He is one of the brightest people she has ever met, sometimes she feels he puts the sun to shame.
It hurts even more to see him so down.
She wishes she could help.
The thought is recurring throughout her days. When she catches one looking wishfully at the other, when she hearts their tired sighs.
She wishes she could help.
She is not the only one.
Jesse and Harry.
“Tell me you see it too.”
Her dad raises an eyebrow, clearly not following where she is going with that.
“Cisco and Hartley! Their tension is killing me.”
Oh that. Of course he sees it. He just does not pry, it is none of his business and the Rathaway kid obviously cannot stand to be around him too much. It's a shame, the young man is brilliant, but he is wearing the face of a man who hurt too many people.
Rathaway is not the only looking at him and seeing a ghost.
“So?” he asks.
“So! We need to do something about it.”
“We really don't.”
“Come on, Dad, they're hurting and it's stupid. They're in love, they just need to admit it.”
Harry really loves his daughter, but if only she could only be a little less stubborn, it would make his life easier.
“Jesse.”
“Dad.”
Jesse will not let this go. Team Flash welcomed them, saved them, they did and still are doing their best to save and protect everyone, including people from an universe they are not part of.
Cisco always loves to discuss with her the differences between their Earths, and he always takes time to explain the references she does not get.
Hartley she has only met a handful of times, but he has been nice and interesting.
In the short time she has been on this Earth, she has found new friends, and Jesse always does everything for her friends' happiness.
“Fine, I'll do it myself,” she announces and storms off.
Harry sighs. He would not admit it, but he has a soft spot for Ramon, and he does not want to get him hurt by his daughter's matchmaking.
Hartley.
The first time Hartley realizes he is in love with Cisco Ramon, he is not even surprised.
He always knew it would happen in a way.
Cisco is the only one who could always make him react, who could push all his buttons and make him want to do better. Yes, at first it was because he pissed him off and he wanted to prove his superiority.
Now, he wants to be better because he wants to make Cisco proud.
Still, he knows he does not deserve Cisco. Never will.
Cisco Ramon is too good of a soul to ever want someone as broken as Hartley Rathaway. Even if he did not get the short end of the stick in this timeline, he still has that darkness in him, he has this anger that is ready to burst out and consume him.
He can't ask Cisco to love him, not after all he has already done for him.
It's too much.
He can't ask, he won't ask.
He will stay silent and enjoy their friendship.
His heart breaks every time Cisco gets flirted with, and the rage in him rises up. He locks it up though. Still, one day it will get out.
One way or another, he will lose Cisco.
Cisco.
There are times Cisco regrets the decisions that led him here and now.
He should have refused Not-Wells's offer to work at Star Labs.
He should not have stayed working there after the particle accelerator explosion.
Above all, he should not have fallen in love with Hartley Rathaway.
Cisco wishes he could still hate him. Why does Hartley have to be so good, so nice? It was easier when he was a pain in the ass.
Even if Hartley was interested in him, it would be useless. Cisco is a bomb who could go off at any moment. He does not want to hurt anyone, and certainly not Hartley. He suffered enough as it is.
Why does he have all these powers?
He saw his doppelgänger. He could turn bad, he knows he could, he feels it.
Corruption is so easy on the mind.
“You could be a god.”
He does not long for power, he only longs for peace. He is not Reverb, still the fear is lurking in his mind. What launched Reverb on that path of destruction? What was the triggering factor?
Could it happen to him as well? Could he turn bad?
He can't make Hartley go through that. So he remains silent.
“Team Flash!” Cisco says loudly, raising his glass.
“Team Flash!” everyone echoes joyfully.
They just stopped one of the most powerful and angry meta they ever had to face, they deserved some celebration.
They are at Joe's house once again, eating pizza and laughing. Quiet moments like this never last in the perpetual storm that is their lives, they learned to savor them.
“Hartley, can I talk to you for a second?”
He frowns but nods at Jesse. He does not know her really well so he is surprised at her request. He obliges though, curious to learn what she wants.
(She is one of the reasons he can look at Wells in the eyes, and not feel like murdering him.
Anyone who raises a good soul like this cannot be that bad, right?)
“Wait here, I'll be back,” she says when they are alone in the kitchen.
He does not have to wait long. Jesse comes back a minute later with a confused Cisco.
“Jess, what's going on?” he asks.
“I'm tired of your bullshit, both of you.”
Cisco and Hartley share a look of utter bewilderment.
“You're in love with each other, everyone can see it. I don't know what you're not doing anything but this is enough.”
Silence. Panic.
Jesse is not over yet and her words are kindlier when she says:
“When I was being held captive by Zoom, I kept thinking about everything I would tell to the people I loved, everything I never got to tell because I always thought I had time. I could have died, I almost did. We live a dangerous life, any of us could die at any moment. Why do you refuse yourself the joy of being together? Life is too short to spend so much time on feeling miserable when you can actually have what you want.”
“Jesse,” Cisco tries. His voice breaks.
“No, don't. You've done so much for you, let me do one thing for you. I'm going to let you alone now. Talk to each other.”
She leaves them.
They don't say anything for a very long time, they avoid each other's gaze.
Hartley feels vulnerable and hopeful at the same time and he hates himself for it.
“Well, this is awkward.”
At last, Hartley looks at Cisco who shifts under his focus.
“Look,” he tries again when Hartley says nothing. “I know you don't have feelings for me. I'm sorry she said this, she should not have.”
“Cisco, wait.”
Hartley has never seen him so pained, like his world was about to be crushed.
“Are you saying you have feelings for me?”
“Hart, please.”
That's how he knows. Something in him breaks. He feels no anger anymore.
Life is too short to spend so much time on feeling miserable when you can actually have what you want.
“I've been in love with you for months, maybe more, I'm not sure.”
Cisco's breathe hitches.
“What?”
“I love you. I'm in love with you. I didn't think you could love me, so I said nothing. I know I'm a mess, but Jesse's right. You told me about the previous timeline, the one I hurt you in, where I went bad. Maybe I still could, maybe I'll fuck this up, but I want to try. You make me better, stronger. Cisco, I – ”
For once in his life, he is at short for words. Nothing seems appropriate to tell him how much he loves and adores him.
“Hartley, you don't know how many times you'd say something like this. But you shouldn't love me, I have so much power, it scares me what I could do with it. You deserve better and not - ”
“Don't say that.”
Hartley is fuming, but it's not the cold anger he is used to. It's different.
“You're the best person I have ever met. You're so irritatingly good, you could never be a villain, never. You're not Reverb, you have your friends, you have us. You, you have me. I know what it's like to be one, I won't let that happen to you.”
“Gosh, we're so fucked up, man.”
They laugh, it's a bit broken but they laugh.
“So, what do you say? Wanna see where this goes?”
Cisco smiles.
“Wouldn't want to disappoint Jesse, would we.”
Their first kiss is broken by their friends' loudly cheering and yelling. Neither manage to be mad when they look so happy for them.
“Finally!”
When everyone is calmed down, Cisco hugs Jesse without a word. She hears the thanks anyway.