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Honestly this entire month has just been shit for Cisco.
It had been 2 weeks since the changes started. It was what Cisco would call the second worst week of his life, outranked by the month of utter chaos in college that resulted in him switching between more than 5 roommates before settling. However, this was a much more serious kind of chaos that he needed to get in check ASAP.
It was near the time they started to work with Barry and help him become The Flash. Cisco remembers it being the first Friday in August when he had been bit. He was running equipment out to the S.T.A.R Labs van to head over to the air strip to do more speed tests on Barry when he felt a pin prick on his ankle. He looked down to see this black spider with a red and yellow pattern crawling on his ankle, he kicked it off before forgetting the whole thing in the frenzy of Dr. Wells.
Dr. Wells had him and Caitlin pushed up against the wall with deadlines and research about Barry’s powers that he didn’t have enough time to divide his attention. Later in the day Cisco had been feeling off, he kept getting these dizzy spells and getting feverish all over and he couldn’t stop feeling like he was going to lose control over his legs. He supposed Dr. Wells noticed while they were recording data, and no he didn’t feel at all flustered with being noticed, and he had told him to take a break in the van until they had to leave.
Cisco sat in the passenger seat, feeling like his stomach was trying to swallow itself whole and his head was pounding like a church bell. He sat there for what felt like hours when in reality it couldn’t have been more than 2 hours. Caitlin had offered to check him over, kind of overbearing but he told her that he would just go home to rest and he would be fine. He only got a disapproving nod from her and a worried look from Barry but he hadn’t said anything. Neither had Dr. Wells, he just sat in the back with Barry with an unreadable look on his face.
He spent that entire week off working on any project that kept him in his apartment, occasionally taking a break and falling asleep before he woke up drenched in his sweat. He was worried that he had caught something but he didn't want to bother anybody with his problems and luckily he felt better the next day but it didn’t last long.
August 10th, Sunday 2014
He wasn’t tied to his bed as much but he was getting these sporadic splitting headaches that lasted a couple seconds and afterwards something bad would happen. He kept avoiding these accidents due to flinching away from the headache as if he could sense future accidents, which were a lot. Like when he was in his kitchen and he was on his knees searching through the cabinet when a splitting headache started so he backed up against the other cabinets and only then did a glass cup fall from the top shelf, shards flying across the linoleum floor with a loud crash, that cup would’ve opened a large wound on the back of his head had he not moved. Which of course Cisco knew it sounded bizarre and he even found himself finding it kind of comical.
Cisco thought that he should just get out of his stuffy apartment that only kept reminding him of how lonely he was and that he probably would live that life for, well, forever. He decided he needed to go grocery shopping as he only had half a carton of eggs and milk in his fridge, yes he knew how unhealthy it was, and only half a box of cereal left that he was finishing up on his little break. He made it to the store grabbing a few necessities and a couple canned foods because he was for sure not cooking as he totally spaced out when he was younger and watching his mom cook.
He was in the vegetable isle even though he knew he wasn’t going to grab anything as he was just there to at least look like a responsible adult. He was about to turn back down another isle to leave before he felt a tap on his shoulder.
“Ramon?” A smooth voice called out. Cisco turned and came face to face with a man that had familiar wavy hair and dusty blue eyes. He was looking at him with a small grin and wide eyes, leaning forward as if he was trying to be closer to him. His cart was between them, holding a baby who looked interested in the man's finger which he kept in front of her to keep her from messing with the groceries in the cart.
“Oh, Riley?” He spoke with an awkward half-smile. “Yeah, man, It’s been so long” Riley spoke bringing Cisco into a quick side hug, patting him on the back before pulling back to get a good look at him.
Riley Clarke, Cisco had been put in the same dorm room with him after he had gone through 5 roommates before because of certain problems with him being trans or just simply not liking him. Riley had surprisingly helped him out (Cisco did not think that highly of a football player's sympathy at the time and was proven immensely wrong) with fully transitioning when he started taking T and when he would get sick from his body adjusting to it. They got closer, not like seriously but in a fun, no strings attached kind of way that just made the most sense for them at the time. It was a 3 years everyone swore would last forever but got snuffed out just as quick as it started.
“Where have you been? It’s like you just disappeared after college” Riley asked, letting his eyes set back into eye-contact. “Oh yeah just been you know, working here and there, got settled down in the city and never looked back.” Cisco really didn’t know how to respond, it’s not like you run into an old flame that ended so confusingly in the middle of a grocery store, much less with a full blown daughter and a ring wrapped around his wedding finger. But whatever, Riley was a nice guy back then and maybe he wouldn’t bring up their past situation especially when he has a kid babbling in the shopping cart and probably a wife or girlfriend browsing another aisle.
Riley chuckled at that and patted him on the shoulder. “Oh shit? Look at you moving up in the world Ramon .”
“You also have a kid now.” He stated, like it was the most obvious thing. Riley looked down at the baby and smiled, looking back up at Cisco. “Yeah, she’s just about 8 months old now” He says running his fingers softly over the little hairs that were growing a curly hairline around her small infant skull, blonde just like Riley. Her eyes were a dark brown that seemed to shine when she looked over at Cisco, a dark contrast to Riley’s.
“She looks just like you, what’s her name” He smiles softly, she really did look like him down to every curve of his smirk. “Christina” Riley spoke happily, only a second passing but felt like a pause for Cisco.. Cisco gave a look to Riley before he nodded trying to seem like he didn’t just freeze up.. “That’s a-uh, beautiful name” He smiled, his lip twitching like he was fighting to keep it stretched in a smile.
Riley smiled at him before he looked at his watch and took his phone out and holding it towards Cisco, “We should hang out sometime, put your phone number in and I’ll text you”
Cisco just wanted to go home so he took it and put his number in, saving it under ‘Cisco Ramon’ and handed it back. “I’ll see you around, Blondie” He smiled, the nickname slipping because yeah, old habits die hard, he turned around to walk away and gave him a small wave. He heard Riley yell 'bye' over Christina's babbles as Cisco turned a corner and went to check out.
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He was walking down the streets passing through an alley to cross onto his street before the headache came back, almost ten times for painful. The cans fell with a clunk and a couple rolled out of the bag. The pain was much worse and it wasn't like he wasn't used to the tension in his head that usually accompanied forgetting to take his medications or forgetting to eat a proper meal but no, something about this one was different.
He heard the gravel behind him shift with a heavy step that wasn’t his as he was still trying to overcome this ache in his temples that was starting to move to the back of his head. He turned to see a man that was wearing all black and the shine of a pocket knife that caught his eye immediately. He forced himself to stand up fully and turn around but his hand refused to move from the wall.
He started to yank his arm more, getting a grip with his other hand on his forearm to try and get leverage. He was starting to feel like he was going through some psychosis that somehow made his hand stick to this dingy ass wall but he knew it was stupid and the thought only made the sharp bile feeling rise higher in his throat. The man started to stalk closer, the knife was turned to the side like his first move was going to be to cut his throat then steal all of his valuables, which weren’t much and Cisco would have gladly handed over if he was in any control of his limbs at the moment to spare himself.
“Wait, wait, wait!” He started to panic, his hand wasn’t budging and the man was only a couple feet away and ready to mug him. He thought this might be it, such a pathetic way to go after how much progress he'd made at S.T.A.R. Labs. But just as he pinched his eyes closed, his hand ripped off from the wall, leaving a barren site of the wall that lacked the bricks that were now stuck to his skin where small microscopic claws were extended along the palm.
His adrenaline crazed self didn’t let the thoughts wonder about how it was happening, only about how the man was extending a blade out across his face in what felt like slow motion and he now had a way to defend himself. He tightly gripped the brick in his palm, which felt much to light to do damage but in hindsight the next moment was almost guaranteed, as he swung down at the man's skull with a deafening thud and crack sound. Cisco wanted to be done to leave the alley before he got caught but his body moved before his brain could think. It was as if working off complete animalistic instinct, smashing the brick down in a way that filled the alley with a sickening THWACK, THWACK, THWACK, before Cisco came to his senses.
The man was now dropped against the building completely limp over himself, fully a puddle against the dingy wall. A steady stream of blood was running down the side of his head from his skull being busted open. The mans face look almost relaxed, like he could of just been sleeping, though he still was breathing and Cisco was beyond freaked out and traumatized. So, he did the first thing that came to his mind and quickly gathered the bags and loose cans. He ensured there were no cameras in the alley before sprinting away from the scene, calling 911 saying he witnessed a mugging and left it at that. Hopefully the man would make it until an ambulance could arrive but not waiting himself to see it come to fruition.