Work Text:
Cisco grumbled to himself as he wired up the device that he had in his hand. It had been a few weeks since that day, but he was determined to make things right.
'What are you working on?' Caitlin asked, as she entered the cortex with a tray of coffee.
Cisco jumped and hid the device behind his back.
'Never you mind, saboteur!' Cisco exclaimed, and he pointed his screwdriver at her in protest.
Caitlin rolled her eyes, but it was fond. She extended a hand, with a cup of coffee held in it, towards her friend. 'Is this about that photo again, Cisco? That was weeks ago.'
'You ruined a perfectly good opportunity!' Cisco complained. He put down his screwdriver and accepted the coffee. With a gesture with the cup towards Caitlin, he continued. 'I have it on good authority that the Arrow will be in town again soon, and I don't intend to miss another opportunity. Or, have it stolen from me!'
Caitlin sighed, and she took a seat beside Cisco. 'Don't you think it's for the best that you give up? You might make Oliver mad...'
'Look, Caitlin, I wouldn't expect you to understand just how cool it would be to have a picture of the Flash and the Arrow together,' Cisco insisted with a starry eyed look. He nodded, determined. 'It's worth the risk.'
'Whatever you say, Cisco,' Caitlin replied, as she turned to glance at her monitor. A blur caught her attention. 'Heads up, Barry's on his way.'
Cisco was quick to open his desk drawer, and he shoved the device that he had been working on inside. He had just slammed the drawer shut when Barry sped into the cortex.
'Hey Cisco,' Barry greeted. He came to an abrupt halt in front of them and leaned forward on the desk. 'Caitlin.'
'Morning, Barry,' Caitlin smiled and handed him a coffee.
'Where's Dr. Wells? Is anything happening?' Barry asked as he accepted his coffee, grateful for the warmth that spread through his hands. He took a sip and sighed, content. 'Mmm still warm.'
'Dr. Wells always disappears a lot around Christmas,' Caitlin frowned and looked towards the door. 'It's not unusual.'
'Meta's have gone quiet on us, too,' Cisco grumbled with a pout as he sipped his coffee.
'Hey, that's a good thing, right? No one gets hurt, and I get a night off, or more? Christmas off?' Barry grinned, with a hopeful look in his eye.
'Yeah, but if things are quiet, what will you and Oliver do when he comes to town in a few days?' Cisco asked. 'If the Arrow comes to Central, and there are no criminals to bust up, he's going to get criminally bored, Barry!'
'How did you know that Ollie was coming to Central?' Barry asked, as he blanched and tried to look innocent.
'I have my sources,' Cisco grinned, and then he pouted. 'Wouldn't need to use them if you would just tell us! Why all the secrecy dude? Not cool.'
Barry opened his mouth, and closed it in the next instant.
'It's not...' Barry sighed and ran a hand through his hair. 'Oliver is...'
'I'm sure that, if things are quiet, we can think of other things to do,' Caitlin insisted as she drew the attention away from Barry with a sympathetic look towards the floundering speedster. 'It doesn't always have to be about the suits you know!'
'But a picture of plain old Barry Allen with Oliver Queen won't be special!' Cisco muttered under his breath.
No, something had to happen to get the Arrow and the Flash in costume, and if the meta-humans would not provide an excuse, then Cisco would provide his own.
–-
Two days later, Oliver Queen came to Central city, just as Felicity had said he would.
Felicity was Cisco's source for all things Arrow related. She had been more than happy to help, and promised to call him the next time Oliver planned to head to Central city. Well, with the proviso that Cisco try to figure out what was up with Oliver whilst he was there.
Oliver had, apparently, made a number of trips to Central city since Team Flash's last trip to the Arrow cave. It was the first Cisco had heard of it, but Felicity had assured him that it was the case. She was able to track the GPS on Oliver's phone, which Cisco thought was both useful, and a little creepy. Surely the Arrow was allowed secrets?
Why the trips to Central though? Were Barry and Oliver hanging out? Training?
Cisco looked at the graph he had made, which tracked Barry's movements in the past few weeks. Barry hadn't done anything unusual, aside from the whole 'get all the meta-humans out the way, faster than usual,' thing that he had been doing ever since they had returned from Star city.
Cisco suspected that Barry and Oliver were training together. Barry had been grinning from ear to ear when he had returned to Star labs after the Captain Boomerang incident, and when Cisco had called him out on it, Barry had replied that he and Oliver had sparred well into the night. The two fought meta-humans and criminals on a near daily basis, so why they felt the need to fight each other too was anyone's guess. Not that it wouldn't be cool to watch... Man if he could just get a video of that, it would be way cooler than any photograph.
Cisco frowned as he chewed his pen. If they were sparring, why didn't Barry travel to Star, instead of Oliver trekking all the way out here? Maybe Oliver didn't want Felicity to know what was going on. Whatever it was, the dudes clearly had something in common, something that they wanted to share between just the two of them.
Oliver had arrived earlier today. He had stuck his head into the cortex, and Barry had grinned brighter than Cisco had ever seen. After that, Barry and Oliver had disappeared, and Cisco had not seen them since. They had been gone for hours, and no meta-humans had shown up so he couldn't justify a phone call.
'I guess they found something to do then?' Caitlin mused, as she watched Cisco fume. 'Do you think that I should call them, and ask if they want to get dinner?'
'Maybe,' Cisco muttered. He flipped a switch and pressed a few buttons on his tablet. 'Oh look, a new meta!'
'That seems awfully convenient,' Caitlin peered over his shoulder with a frown.
'Hey, I don't pay the meta-humans to cause trouble!' Cisco insisted, and he held his phone to his ear.
Cisco listened as it rang, and rang, and then went to voice mail.
'Dude...' Cisco complained. 'Rude...'
'Maybe he and Oliver are busy?' Caitlin suggested. She moved closer to the monitor and frowned. 'Cisco, that doesn't look like any meta-human that I've ever seen...'
Cisco looked nervous as he turned to her. 'Yeah, well...'
The phone in his hand started to vibrate, and Cisco grinned, saved. 'Dude, why didn't you pick up my call?'
'Dude, this better be important,' Barry threw back. 'Me and Oliver were in the middle of something.'
'There's a new meta and it's... headed right for the labs, actually. You better get here, fast,' Cisco insisted. 'Bring Oliver.'
'I told you I couldn't ignore it,' Cisco heard Barry sigh as he spoke to someone in the background. 'What am I dealing with Cisco?'
'He told you to ignore me?' Cisco retorted. 'I'm hurt, man!'
Barry laughed, and it was followed by a rustle and a crackle.
Oliver growled down the phone. 'The meta-human, Cisco?'
'Erm...' Cisco stuttered. Man, Oliver sounded impatient. His carefully worded script went out of the window, and his description was vague at best. 'Well, he can catch fire, and he looks pretty scary...'
Cisco saw Caitlin roll her eyes and walk away towards the infirmary. She made a point of gathering some bandages, and held them up for Cisco to see, before she placed them down within easy reach.
'Just, come, all right?' Cisco insisted. He was beginning to regret this idea. Caitlin clearly expected Oliver to hurt him. What he needed was an easy escape route. It was unfortunate that the cortex was the best place to do this, and there was only one way in, and one way out.
There was a rustle, and a yell, and then Barry's voice came back over the receiver.
'Fine. We're on our way,' Barry relented. 'I want to wrap this up fast, Cisco.'
Cisco swore that he heard Oliver groan in the background, and mutter something about arrows and scientists. Whatever he had interrupted, Oliver was not amused. Cisco supposed that he could just hide until the Arrow left Central city, but then all his plans would be for nothing. No, he wanted that picture, and it was now or never.
--
Cisco took a deep breath and held up his phone. The camera application was open and ready, and he waited, poised, in the entrance of the cortex, for the arrival of his two favourite heroes.
Barry and Oliver had probably discovered that the meta-human was a hoax by now, so he only had a small window of opportunity before they, Oliver, would probably try to hurt him. At that point he would hide behind Caitlin and hope that she would save him.
When the two arrived, and boy did Oliver look frustrated, Cisco pressed the capture button and took a few photos as they stood in the doorway and glanced around. These were so perfect!
'Yes!' Cisco couldn't help but exclaim, as he flicked through his image gallery with a grin.
Barry pulled down his cowl and ran a hand through his messy hair, and Oliver pushed his hood back. Two pairs of eyes settled on Cisco.
Barry tipped his head to the side, curious, as he looked towards his friend. Oliver's gaze held no such curiosity. He was pissed.
'Where's the meta-human, Cisco?' Barry asked as he glanced around the cortex. 'I ran around the entire perimeter twice, and I only found a robot that ran around in circles and burst into flames!'
Oliver approached Cisco and grabbed his phone from his hands.
'Hey! That's mine!' Cisco exclaimed, but he backed down, and away towards Caitlin, when Oliver shot him a glare.
Oliver scrolled through the gallery and tossed the phone to Barry. Cisco winced, but let out a sigh of relief when Barry reached out and caught it.
'You mean to tell me, that you created a threat, interrupted us, during the little time that we get together, so that you could take a picture of us?' Oliver growled, incredulous, as he turned on Cisco and reached for his bow.
'I told him that it was a bad idea,' Caitlin added from where she hovered near the sick bay. She shot a look towards Cisco. 'Don't look at me, I'm not going to protect you.'
'Dude, why didn't you just ask us?' Barry frowned, and when he saw the look in Oliver's eyes, he moved fast to stand between Cisco and Oliver with Cisco's phone in hand.
'Because dark and scary over there never would have agreed to it!' Cisco insisted with a gesture around Barry towards Oliver, confident now that Barry was between them.
'These photo's could compromise our secret identities,' Oliver glared, but he put his bow away when Barry nodded his way, and watched as Cisco let out a breath, relieved. 'Don't try this again.'
'I won't! I just thought it would be cool!' Cisco protested, hasty, and Barry barely contained a laugh.
Oliver placed his hands on his hips, and he opened his mouth as if to comment. He closed it just as fast and shook his head, resigned. 'Are we done here?'
'Yeah, we were kinda in the middle of something,' Barry remembered, and when he looked at Oliver his eyes lit up.
'Yeah, you guys are done here,' Caitlin smiled, amused.
'Great!' Barry exclaimed. 'I didn't beat on all the meta-humans this fast for nothing you know. Me and Ollie have things to do...'
'Barry...' Oliver cut him off, and gestured towards the door.
'Is something going on between you two?' Caitlin asked with a sly smile.
'No, no, nothing,' Barry denied, and he held his hands up in front of him as he began to back away.
'See, if there are no threats, then why is Oliver here?' Caitlin frowned. 'It's awfully suspicious, Barry.'
'What, so we can't hang out unless there's a threat now?' Barry protested. He stood beside Oliver at the entrance to the cortex, and he looked ready to bolt any second.
Cisco glanced between the two of them. Oliver had his arms folded over his chest, and Barry looked really flustered for some reason. Oliver's eyes tracked Barry's every movement with interest, and he shifted, restless on his feet.
'Oh. My. God... ' Cisco exclaimed, and he pointed between the two of them.
In a flash, Barry and Oliver were gone, and Cisco was left with his hand extended towards nothing.
'What is it now?' Caitlin asked with a small smile.
'They're sleeping together!' Cisco insisted.
'No... what makes you say that?' Caitlin asked, with a knowing smile and her arms folded across her chest.
'Think about it, Barry didn't answer his phone right away. He's worked really hard to make sure that there's no trouble whilst Oliver is around, even though we both know that the Arrow loves a good fight. He wanted to spend all weekend in bed with his secret lover!' Cisco pointed out, eyes alight with excitement.
'Cisco, really, that seems a stretch too far,' Caitlin joked, and her lips twitched with a small smile when Cisco looked her way.
'You agree!' Cisco realised, and he grinned widely.
'They were both so defensive, and Oliver couldn't keep his eyes off Barry...' Caitlin admitted.
Cisco nodded, and he patted his pockets as he thought of the photos with pride.
'Aww man!' Cisco exclaimed with a pout, when he realised that his pockets were empty. 'Barry took my phone with him!'
Caitlin laughed. 'Well maybe next time you'll think twice about bothering them!'
Cisco sighed and looked towards the exit. The fate of his photograph was in Barry and Oliver's hands now.
--
Meanwhile, in a top rated hotel room in Central city, Oliver trailed kisses down Barry's neck. Oliver's hand caressed his side, and Barry groaned and arched into the touch. The movement drew his attention to the bedside table, and his gaze settled on Cisco's phone beside his own.
'Do you think we should tell them?' Barry mused aloud before he could stop himself.
Oliver paused in his movements and rolled his eyes. 'You want to talk about Cisco? Now?!'
'Well, what if he interrupts us again? He's already suspicious,' Barry rushed, and he let his arms slide around Oliver's waist to hold him there above him.
'If they know, maybe they'll think twice before they bother us again,' Oliver admitted as he nuzzled Barry's neck. When he pulled back, he frowned. 'Although Cisco didn't seem afraid of my arrow anyway...'
'He knew that I would have saved him,' Barry grinned. He moved one hand to let it brush against Oliver's cheek.
'Whose side are you on?' Oliver grumbled, but Barry could feel him lean into his touch.
'Ever heard of the saying, 'Bros before Hoes?'' Barry teased with a smirk, and his eyes were alight with mischief.
Oliver groaned and whacked Barry on the shoulder, playful, but still pretty hard.
'Oww!' Barry complained. 'Sometimes, I think you forget your own strength!'
Oliver smirked, but he rubbed Barry's arm in a gentle caress regardless, by way of apology. 'How about we leave him a surprise on his phone?'
'Ollie, really?' Barry began to protest, as a light flush coated his cheeks. 'I'm not sure that's...'
'You can be on top,' Oliver grinned, and he leaned down to capture Barry's lips.
Oliver found himself on his back on the bed in the next instant, and Barry hovered above him with a grin of his own. 'You want to be the little spoon?'
Oliver rolled his eyes. He cupped Barry's cheek with one hand, and trailed his other down Barry's side.
Barry leaned down to kiss Oliver, tender and passionate, and reached for Cisco's phone with his free hand. He and Oliver continued to make out, and Oliver had forgotten about the camera phone until he heard a clatter from the bedside table.
'Done. Now, where were we?' Barry grinned down at Oliver, and his eyes sparkled with desire.
'You actually did it?' Oliver murmured with a frown. He reached for Cisco's phone, and flicked through the photos.
'You were joking? Man it is impossible to tell when you are joking!' Barry protested through a grin.
'Uh-huh. One of my many redeeming qualities,' Oliver nodded, and his lips twitched as he smiled. 'These are good, Barry.'
'Yeah, we look good together,' Barry admitted, and he flushed slightly. 'I also emailed them to myself. Something to look at all those times you're not around.'
'You have super speed, Barry. You could speed over and see me any time you wanted,' Oliver huffed with amusement.
'Really? That's a thing now?' Barry wondered. He smiled brightly. 'You'd actually be OK with that?'
Oliver rolled his eyes and his hand trailed down Barry's back suggestively. 'Why wouldn't I be?'
'I just thought... you know,' Barry muttered. He lowered his head to rest on Oliver's chest.
'What?' Oliver insisted. He lifted Barry's head to force Barry to meet his eyes.
Barry sighed.
'We've fooled around a bit, had dinner a few times, but I wasn't sure how far this thing between us went,' Barry admitted. He ran a shaky hand through his hair and looked towards the window.
Oliver frowned when he noticed Barry's hand begin to shake. He wrapped his fingers around it to still it, and smiled at Barry with a fond look.
'Far enough to allow you a free pass in Star whenever you want,' Oliver reassured him, and he watched as Barry grinned in response, brighter than Oliver had ever seen. Oliver couldn't stop his own smile, and he squeezed Barry's hand. 'Come on, second dinner. Before you pass out.'
Barry nodded, got to his feet, and offered a hand to Oliver.
'Yeah, damned Cisco and his fake meta-human used up all my energy,' Barry sighed, but his smile was gentle when he promised, 'After that, I'm all yours.'
'Good.' Oliver replied, and he took Barry's hand and pulled himself up. Oliver wrapped his arms around Barry, and cupped his cheek so that he could kiss him. When he pulled back, a glint appeared in the corner of his eye. 'And, if there are any more interruptions, I will make whoever it is pay.'
Barry laughed. 'All right, Mr Arrow. Come on, let's get this over with.'
--
The next day Cisco wandered into the cortex with Caitlin to find Barry and Oliver around the monitors, engrossed in the screen.
'Hey guys, what's up?' Caitlin greeted.
'Just making sure that there are no meta-humans threatening the city,' Barry grinned, and he turned to face his friends. He leaned casually against the desk, arms folded, and he watched Cisco with interest.
Caitlin shot Cisco a look, but Cisco ignored her.
'Hey Barry. Oliver.' Cisco grinned as he looked between them. 'Did you have fun last night?'
Barry glanced at Oliver. Oliver smirked and nodded.
'Sure we did,' Barry insisted. 'We always do when we spar.'
'Uh huh, and that's all there is to it, is there?' Cisco asked as he glanced suspiciously between Barry and Oliver. 'Because I think otherwise. See, I know your secret!'
'What secret?' Barry frowned, and he tried to keep his expression neutral. He failed, and he couldn't stop the small smile that played at the corners of his lips.
'You, sir, are a terrible liar!' Cisco accused. He continued with a triumphant look. 'You're sleeping together!'
'What? No... ' Barry held up his hands in protest.
'We're dating,' Oliver corrected him, and he continued with a growl. 'After your meta-human hoax, I had to take him out to dinner, again, to replenish his energy!'
'Yeah, sorry about that,' Barry replied as he glanced at Oliver. He lowered his hands and rubbed at the back of his neck sheepishly.
'It's not you who should be apologising!' Oliver insisted. He shot a glare towards Cisco.
Cisco backed away with raised hands. 'Hey, blame Caitlin!'
'Me? You were the one who called them. I had nothing to do with it!' Caitlin insisted. She raised an eyebrow and sighed. 'I told you that you'd make Oliver mad!'
'You had everything to do with it! You were the one who stopped me taking a picture of them in the first place! If you hadn't done that, I wouldn't have had to resort to such underhand tactics!' Cisco threw back.
Oliver rolled his eyes and checked the monitor. There was nothing new. 'We're wasting time here. Coming, Barry?'
Barry nodded, eager. 'Right.'
Barry sped over to Oliver, and then they were both gone.
'Well, that was a surprise,' Cisco muttered as he stared towards the exit. 'I never expected them to admit it.'
'I think it's sweet that Barry has finally found someone to move on with.' Caitlin smiled, and she cocked her head to the side. 'I guess this means he's over Iris?'
'Guess so,' Cisco frowned. He turned towards the monitors and grinned when he spotted his phone on the desk.
'Awesome, Barry brought my phone back!' Cisco exclaimed, and he rushed to pick it up. He paused, and tossed the phone from hand to hand.
'What is it, Cisco?' Caitlin asked with a fond expression.
'Well, assuming they didn't delete it, I got my photo, which is great.' Cisco grinned as he unlocked his phone. 'But now, I have another dilemma.'
'What's that?' Caitlin asked as she took a seat next to where Cisco stood.
'Do I tell Felicity what's really going on? They didn't say it was a secret, and I did promise to tell her if I found out why Oliver is in Central all the time, but she has this thing for Oliver so...' Cisco trailed off.
'So..?' Caitlin prompted, as Cisco stopped and stared at his phone.
'Dude!' Cisco exclaimed, and Caitlin watched as his phone fell from his hand to clatter to the floor of the cortex under her chair.
Caitlin scooted back and stooped to pick up his phone. She frowned at the crack, which now trailed across the screen.
'They deleted my photo, that's what!' Cisco huffed. Both hands flew into his hair, agitated.
'Well, they did have their masks down,' Caitlin smiled at him gently. 'If that photo got out, no more secret identities...'
'Yeah, well that's not all,' Cisco winced. He gestured for Caitlin to hand him his phone. The screen was black.
'Does it still work?' Caitlin asked. 'That's a pretty bad crack.'
Cisco took his phone from her outstretched hand and pressed the standby button. The phones lock screen came to life. Cisco sighed with relief and unlocked it. He paused with the phone held to his chest.
'Are you sure you want to see this, Cait?' Cisco asked, hesitant, as he looked towards her.
'Give me that,' Caitlin insisted, and she made a grab for his phone. Her fingers closed around it, and she looked down at the picture on the screen. Her face flushed. 'Oh... wow.... are they?'
'Yes.' Cisco shuddered, and he tried to grab his phone back.
Caitlin held it away from him and scrolled back towards the photo before that. 'How many did they take?'
'There's more of them?' Cisco asked with a raised eyebrow. 'Do I even want to know?'
'Well, they are definitely at least half naked,' Caitlin mused as she tried to zoom in towards the bottom of the photo, where Barry and Oliver's hips were pressed together. 'I don't think they're wearing anything under the sheet either... I'll have to devise a whole new eating plan to account for the extra activity if what Oliver said is true.'
Cisco grabbed his phone back with a huff, and hesitated briefly, before he let his eyes move slowly down to the phone screen. 'Dude! Not cool.'
Caitlin laughed as Cisco brought up the messaging app, and began to text furiously. He thrust the phone at Caitlin, and she read the message aloud.
'Dude, there is such thing as TMI, bro. You and your boyfriend owe me a new phone.' Caitlin laughed. 'This is your own fault, Cisco.'
'Ugh,' Cisco complained, and he shoved his phone in his pocket.
'It's just two of our friends making out, Cisco,' Caitlin insisted. 'I really don't see what the big deal is.'
'You don't see... Caitlin, my phone is filled with naked pictures of Barry and Oliver, and I don't even have the picture that I wanted in the first place!' Cisco exclaimed. 'Now, I'm going to have to figure out how to get a picture of the Flash and the Arrow whilst both of them are onto me!'
'I think it's funny,' Caitlin murmured with a smile.
'I just saw what I hope wasn't Oliver Queen in the parking lot with Barry,' Joe muttered as he appeared in the doorway, arms crossed. Caitlin smiled, and Cisco laughed. 'What's so funny?'
'Believe me when I say that you do not want to know,' Caitlin replied fondly as she considered the photos that were on Cisco's phone.
'Cisco?' Joe turned to the young scientist with an open look.
'Nope. Caitlin is right. You really, really don't,' Cisco insisted as he slouched into his chair by the monitor and thought of his next move.
'What can we do for you, Detective West?' Cisco heard Caitlin ask in the background, but his mind was already racing onward, towards new possibilities. He tuned out of their conversation as he twirled in his chair, hands under his chin. The next time he had an opportunity to take a picture of the Flash and Arrow, he would be prepared, and he would not miss it.