Work Text:
“Just so we’re clear, after I kill you, I’m going to kill them, and then I’m going to kill your father. I always win, Flash!”
Eobard Thawne/Harrison Wells – or Wellobard, as Cisco liked to refer to him, though Doctor Evil worked just as well – had told a lot of lies since getting stranded in their timeline, but the young mechanical engineering genius had never imagined that in that moment, half mad with rage, he meant what he said. That he was, for once, telling the truth.
But he was. And, man, did it suck.
First, he thrust his vibrating hand right into Barry’s heart, killing him instantly. Cisco didn’t see it, too busy on the ground, trying to come to, but he heard it. He heard that horrible vibrating sound and knew what it meant, but, by the time he was back up on his feet, it was too late. Barry Allen, The Flash, lay there at the Man in Yellow’s feet. Dead.
“Don’t cry, Joe, you and the rest are about to join him.” The evil speedster growled before resuming his attack.
Once he’d made quick work of Joe, next was Iris who, in her grief, came and ran to Barry’s body rather than attempt to get away. Not before knocking Eddie out, of course. The police detective had reached for his gun, intending to shoot himself in order to negate Eobard Thawne’s existence, but the Reverse Flash was too fast for him.
And then Ronnie, Caitlin, and Doctor Stein were disposed of as well. Mercifully, Cisco was spared having to witness that, but it didn’t take long for him to realise that, if they were all dead, then that left just him.
Before he could so much as make a run for it, the Reverse Flash was before him, red eyes glowing ominously at him. And then he raised his vibrating hand…
Cisco stood there, frozen on the spot with what could only be described as absolute terror. It was his nightmares all over again, only now it wasn’t a memory of some distant timeline, once lived now reset, it was for real!
Knowing resistance was futile, he closed his eyes and waited for the end…again.
“Cisco.” He heard that deep, almost demonic voice call to him, but he didn’t respond, didn’t open his eyes. He’d experienced this once already and relived it for what felt like a hundred times over in his nightmares, enough was enough!
But still, he couldn’t stop his eyes tearing up for his body from shaking with the same vigour The Reverse Flash currently vibrated at. Defiantly, he rubbed his sleeve over his eyes. Nope, not this time, he thought, trying to be brave like he knew Barry or Ronnie would be if they were in his shoes now. This time you won’t get the satisfaction of seeing me beg or cry!
“Cisco, look at me.”
Instinctively he does so, because, though he knew that voice came from the same man, it was also now the soft, supportive, fatherly tone of Doctor Harrison Wells, someone who he’d worked alongside with and had grown to trust and depend on, to even love. The fact that he turned out to be a façade, a dead man killed and impersonated by a psychopathic, scheming, and murderous metahuman didn’t completely remove those feelings, though it did make things super disturbing.
The mask was now off, the hand no longer vibrating and at his side, and Cisco was scared and confused, but mostly confused.
Thawne’s face softened and he reached out to place a comforting hand on his shoulder.
“Don’t worry; I’m not going to kill you, Cisco. Not you, never you.”
And then he punched him in the gut, right in the solar plexus. The force is enough to knock the breath out of him, to send him to his knees and right into unconsciousness.
It seemed fate had something far crueller in store.
“Why are you doing this? Why didn’t you kill me like the rest?”
“What did you do with Eddie?”
“How could you kill them? And Caitlin! Especially Caitlin!”
It’s not that Cisco isn’t relieved he’s still alive – because he is, oh God, he really is – it’s just he’s sceptical of his old boss/mentor/father figure’s motives. No way did the evil speedster spare him out of the goodness of his heart (Hah!)
The fact that he’s currently imprisoned in one of the cells in the Pipeline isn’t exactly filling him with reassurance either.
His captor stood on the other side, walking back and forth and ignoring him, seemingly lost in thought.
He pounded his fist against the reflective surface, his feelings of frustration and powerlessness becoming unbearable. “Answer me, Wells!”
“Eobard, Cisco. My name is Eobard Thawne, not Harrison Wells,” the dark-haired man sighed, finally acknowledging him. “And I can assure you, Caitlin and Ronnie didn’t suffer. I merely phased my hand through their brains, doing fatal damage to the molecules.” He mimed it out as he spoke, vibrating hand motioning towards his forehead. “It was a painless, instantaneous death.”
“And that’s supposed to make me feel better that you murdered my friends?!”
“Believe me when I tell you this, it was better they died as newlyweds, reunited and in love than the alternative. You see, just as you were affected that night the particle accelerator exploded, so was Caitlin, but, unlike you, not in a good way. What I did for the two of them was mercy, not murder.”
“And what you’re doing to me now? Is that mercy too?” He whispered.
“No, this, this is love,” Eobard said softly. “You know, I wasn’t lying when I said you were like a son to me.”
Cisco narrowed his eyes. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice… “That didn’t stop you in the other timeline. What’s the real reason, Thawne?”
Eobard paused and assessed him silently for a second or so before saying, “I want – no, I need – your metahuman powers to fully awaken so I can return to my own timeline in the future. Cisco, you must become The Vibe.”
For a second, all he could focus on was his future moniker and how much it suited him. The Vibe? That’s my metahuman nickname? I like… No, stop! Focus, Cisco!
“You can’t be serious… You can’t actually think that I’m capable of doing that?”
“Don’t underestimate yourself, Cisco. The Vibe,” he then rolled his eyes, “despite appearances, is one of the most powerful metahumans on the planet. As you are now, you can only see through the vibrations of the universe, retrain traces of alternate timelines. But, one day, you’ll be so much more.”
Eobard’s tone turned to one of excitement. “One day, you’ll be able to sense and see all the multiple dimensions and timelines of this universe, as well as detect the beings within them – even one as small as an ant. But, most importantly, you’ll be able to travel into these other dimensions and worlds. And, with my direction and guidance, that day can come a lot sooner.”
And then he grinned. “So, what do you say?”
Cisco snorted. If Thawne honestly believed he’d accept, than he was even crazier than he thought. “Yeah, let me think about that… I’m going to say hell no. I may not be smart, but I’m smarter than that.”
In an instant Eobard’s smile was gone. His previously warm demeanour turned cold, intimidating. “Cisco, I don’t want to hurt you, but I will if I have to.”
He gulped, his resolve starting to weaken as he remembered who this man was and what he could do.
Still, he tried to hold his ground… “I-I don’t care, I’m not helping you. You’ll just have to get used to living in the 21st Century…”
Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, the older man is right in front of the glass glaring at him, blue eyes now a bright red and his voice deep.
“Cisco, I am going to return to my own timeline with or without your help, the only difference being that the latter will take far longer than the former. But I’m warning you now: If you don’t co-operate and I have to spend another fifteen years here, living amongst the dead, the first thing I’ll do when I return back is not only kill you, but then travel back in time and erase your brother, Dante, from existence by ensuring he is never born. Do you understand?”
Tears filling his eyes, Cisco fell to his knees and backed as far away as he could from Thawne until he was right up against the wall and could go no further. A choked sob tore through him as he imagined the Reverse Flash coming after his brother and hurting him just as he had done to Barry’s mom and the rest. The mere thought alone was agony.
Unable to look at him, this monster who he once considered more of a father figure than his own, he buried his face in his knees.
“Alright, you win, I’ll do it.” He muttered.
“Wise decision.” Eobard nodded, satisfied, before turning on his heel and walking away without a shred of remorse.
“Now, get some rest; we have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow.”
Once he was gone, Cisco prayed that, somewhere out there, in an alternate world, there was a Flash who’d travel back in time and save him, save them all, by resetting the timeline and preventing this all from happening.
Time passes. How much Cisco doesn’t know, due in large part to Eobard keeping a tight leash on him.
In his desperation to return home, Thawne had become single-minded in achieving his goal and that meant there was no time for anything that could be interpreted as fun. No TV, no computers, no games, no contact with the outside world. Nothing.
Every day it was the same thing: Training and working, working and training, with the occasional lunch break in-between. And, when he wasn’t doing that, he was sleeping in his cell in the pipeline – locked away come the night like some unruly dog that couldn’t be trusted to be left on its own.
Eobard needn’t have worried. His threat against Dante was more than enough to cull any rebelliousness Cisco had inside him.
It wasn’t long until, slowly, but surely, his powers started to truly develop.
It was overwhelming in ways he could never have imagined. Dozens upon dozens of worlds and timelines appeared before him as visions in his mind, some similar to his own, some so different he can hardly believe his eyes. Cisco will admit, it’s nothing short of exhilarating – or, as he couldn’t help exclaiming at one point after witnessing The Flash take on a goddamn giant tidal wave, “This is SO cool!”
However, for all the good, when it’s bad, it’s really bad. Visions of timelines he wished he’d never seen or that he hoped no longer existed, like for instance; a world where Superman turned evil and established a new world order (a totalitarian regime, to be exact) with The Flash of all people standing by his side.
But, the worst of all, he sees what followed after he was killed in that failed, reset timeline…
Caitlin came running into the basement, calling for him. She was speaking hurriedly about Wells – how he could walk, how her attempts to distract him at the coffee shop had failed, how he was probably on his way back to S.T.A.R Labs right this very moment and that they needed to contact Barry now!
And then she found his body and all she does is weep as she cradled him.
That was bad enough, but then Wells – no, Thawne – returned, emerging from the shadows and taking measured steps towards her. They talk, but Cisco hears none of it, too busy screaming “Don’t hurt her!” or “Get out of there, Caitlin!” and hoping beyond hope that The Flash will suddenly appear and she’ll be saved.
But he’s just a spectator watching a remnant of what once was, so he can do nothing as Eobard shoves his vibrating hand through Caitlin’s chest, her expression of grief and betrayal replaced with pain, and her mouth opening into a silent scream–
Cisco awoke from the lucid nightmare/vision, screaming at the top of his lungs. Eobard is by his side, in the cell, in seconds, cradling him and patting his back.
“You killed Caitlin!” He gasped, shoving the man’s arm off him. He was hyperventilating so much it was hard to speak. “After you killed me, you waited for her to return to S.T.A.R Labs and then you killed her too!”
“…I see. I’m sorry, Cisco.” Eobard sighed, face contrite.
“You are? For killing us both?”
“No, I assume I was left with no other choice. Given how close the two of you were, if you suspected me, than it was only a matter of time before Caitlin would have as well. Disposing of her would have been the most logical thing to do in that situation. I mean I’m sorry you had to see that.”
“How could you do it?” He asked, even though he knew there was no answer that would satisfy him.
He then moved on to a more obvious question. “How did you even plan to get away with it? Didn’t you think Barry and Joe would be a little suspicious after Caitlin and I suddenly went missing?!”
“Well, if the Eobard Thawne of that timeline was anything like me, I would have released one of the metahumans we had in captivity and framed your deaths on them, saying they escaped and killed the two of you in the ensuring attempt. After disposing of them to ensure the truth never came out, of course.”
Cisco was silent and then muttered under his breath, “…Damn!” much to the older man’s triumph and amusement.
Well played, Eobard, he can't help but think. Well played.
Though Cisco co-operated and did everything that he was ordered to, it seemed Eobard wasn’t content. It wasn’t long until the young man realised that what his former mentor wanted was, not obedience, but instead for things between them to return to how they used to be, before the truth came out.
Well, tough, because that had zero chance of happening. He didn’t get to do what he did and expect them still to be friends, it didn’t work that way.
Cisco refused to budge, not that this deterred Thawne.
First he brought Big Belly Burger for dinner as a 'treat' (What was that man's obsession with the restaurant?) Then he set a task for the two of them to work on together, knowing full well that it was just the kind that would excite Cisco and get his creative juices flowing.
And this time? This time it was movie night.
Before discovering he was the Reverse Flash, nothing would have made Cisco happier than the thought of sitting down and watching one of his beloved films with his boss. He still considered the fact that he got Wells – Eobard – to tear himself away from his work to watch a Buster Keaton movie one of his greatest triumphs.
But now? Now it was impossible. It would only be a mockery, a farce of what they once had and he tells him as much.
“For the last time, NO! There’s no way I’m going to sit and watch a movie with someone who murdered me in cold blood!” Cisco knows he’s kind of cutting off his nose to spite his face and that the alternative would be returning to his cell for the rest of the evening, but, dammit, this is a matter of pride and dignity!
“That is debatable.”
He does a double take. “What do you mean that’s ‘debatable’? In a another timeline-”
“I killed you. Yes, Cisco, I’m aware of that,” the man rolled his eyes, but his bored expression was quickly replaced with a rueful smirk. “But, technically speaking, it wasn’t me who killed you. It was the Eobard Thawne of that timeline. I spared you and, depending on how you look at it, I created you. Thanks to my actions, you’ve turned into a metahuman. So, in a metaphorical sense, you could say that I really am your father, couldn’t you, Cisco?”
“That’s…that’s…shut up! I’m still not doing it!” Cisco snapped, having failed to think up a retort. It doesn’t help that, technically speaking, he’s kind of right.
“Are you sure? Because I know how much you love this particular movie and wanted me to watch it. Now’s your chance, Cisco…”
He froze at that and, unable to fight the temptation, asked, “…What film is it?”
It’s Return of the Jedi. He could have cried when Eobard brandished it from behind his back. Damn him, he didn’t fight fair! How could he resist such awesomeness after spending what felt like forever doing nothing but mentally exhausting training and sleeping in a small box with no entertainment to keep him preoccupied?
A few minutes later and they’re set up in front of the giant TV, popcorn in hand. Cisco feels the nostalgia arise in him, loves how much fun he’s having, but hates how he’s really, truly missed this.
Almost as if to convince himself more than his captor, he states, “Just so you know, this changes nothing.”
“Of course,” Eobard says with the most infuriatingly smug smile on his face and Cisco knows that he thinks he’s won.
He worries if that’s truly becoming the case now…
“You could have told us, you know,” he murmured as Wells walked him – well, more like guided, he’s far too exhausted to walk unaided – down to his cell after yet another long day of nonstop training and lessons.
“Hmmm?”
“You could have told us. You didn’t have to do all the things that you did, like the…” He let out a yawn, momentarily losing himself, before continuing. “Like the lying, the killing, and the spying on everyone. Which reminds me, why did you have a camera in Eddie and Iris’s bedroom?”
Eobard doesn’t answer that last bit, not that he ever thought he would. He still hasn’t told him what he’s done with Eddie.
“Cisco, I thought you were smarter than that,” his old mentor simply sighed as they came to a stop.
He paused to prop him up against the wall while he punched in the code to open the door to his cell/unofficial bedroom, though a lot of good that does as Cisco is splayed out on the floor within seconds.
He tutted as he looked down on him, “Poor Cisco, it seems I overworked you today. And, in answer to your question, I did what I had to do and, unfortunately, that meant that sacrifices had to be made. And, forgive me, but telling you and Caitlin was never an option.”
“Not true. I offered to help you.” Cisco sleepily reminded him. If he weren’t so damn tired, he’d sound more indignant.
“And your kindness does not go unappreciated, but you and I both know that, even if I had let you live, your conscience would have won out in the end. You would have chosen to stand by Barry over me, that’s just the way you are and I don’t begrudge you for it. In fact, it’s one of the reasons I always valued you more than anyone else.”
He bent down and smiled at him affectionately, “You have so much goodness in you. I could never allow you to lose that.”
Cisco is unconvinced. “Yeah right, you’re so full of it…”
Eobard sighed. “I wish you could understand. You may not believe me, but it was never my intention for it to turn out this way.”
“It wasn’t?” He doesn’t know why he cares.
He shook his head. “My plan was to continue teaching and guiding Barry until he was fast enough to time travel. Once that was achieved, I would have convinced him to go back to the night his mother was killed and save her, resetting this timeline to how it should be, whilst I would have finally returned home. Everybody wins and you all would have been none the wiser about who I really was.”
Thawne’s smile turned bitter and something dark and violent flashed in his blue eyes. “I gave him the chance to have everything he wanted and he threw it all back in my face. And, to think he had the gall to ask me why I hated him. I was a fool to think this Flash would be any different.”
Cisco frowned, feeling the need to defend his dead friend and hero. “Yeah, so Barry didn’t alter the past. That’s only because he loved this timeline too much to reset it, a timeline which you created.”
“I’m aware of the irony,” Eobard stood back up. “But that changes nothing. Barry had the chance to undo every single bad thing I did in this timeline – framing his father, all those who died – and he didn’t. Know why? Because he cared more about keeping me stranded in this barbaric century and making me suffer than doing the right thing. The Flash is the one you should be angry at, not me, Cisco.”
He wanted to tell Eobard that he’s wrong, but, in that moment, Cisco finds himself hard-pressed for words. Though he’d never admit it, he can’t help but feel that the man has a point. Wouldn’t things have turned out better if Barry had just let Eobard Thawne go?
So, instead, he says. “Why do you hate being here so much? Is it really that bad?”
“Yes!” The older man breathes. “Try and put yourself in my shoes. Imagine that, suddenly, you’re stranded at some point in the 17th Century. You don’t belong, you’re completely alone, and you’ve lost everything that you once had, surrounded by people who, to you, should be dead. Tell me, Cisco, wouldn’t you do everything in your power to return back to your own time?”
And then he buried his face in his hands. “Every day that I continue to live in this damn time is an assault on me!”
He sounded so pitiful in that moment that Cisco couldn’t help but feel sorry for the guy, even after all that he’d done. He supposed it was because he was just too nice for his own good, or it was the remaining vestiges of his bond with the man he was thought was Harrison Wells. Or maybe he was getting Stockholm syndrome?
Wait… He froze. What if it is? Am…Am I getting Stockholm syndrome??
It was just a joke, but, in hindsight, that could very well be the case. Eobard Thawne was the only person he’d been in contact with for months now, maybe even longer. Throw in their surrogate father-son history together and it was bound to happen sooner or later.
Cisco curled up into a foetal position, feeling as if he was going to be sick. This cannot be happening to me, I won’t let it, I won’t, I won’t–
A hand rested on his forehead. “Something wrong, Cisco? Are you feeling sick?”
Before he can so much as respond, he feels strong arms wrapping themselves around him and, suddenly, the wind was rushing past him and everything was a blur. In a matter of seconds, his surroundings had gone from the pipeline to a bedroom.
He melted onto the soft duvet cover, burying himself under it. This was one luxury he’d missed and, now that he had it back, he never wanted to lose it again.
“You can sleep in here until you feel better. Now get some rest, you deserve it,” Thawne told him, all the while drawing the curtains and turning off the lights. Cisco didn’t say anything up until he was just about to leave, grabbing his arm.
“Stay,” is all he says.
How could he explain his reasons? The man was – and in some ways still is – like a father to him. And yes, he was crazy and kind of a monster, but, Cisco reasoned, he hadn’t been all that bad to him. As the speedster had put it, it was the other Eobard Thawne who killed him in an alternate timeline, not this one. This one loved him.
Not to mention, practically half a year had passed and no alternate Flash had come to save him whilst his family didn’t seem in a hurry to either. Cisco had to face facts: the Reverse Flash/Eobard Thawne was the only person who gave a damn about him at this moment in time.
Well that was fine. He didn’t need them anyway. He would just continue to stay here with Eobard. It’d be just like old times…minus Caitlin, of course.
“Don’t go,” he says, still holding onto the man’s arm.
All is silent and then a weight settles near him as Eobard sat down on the bed next to his prone figure. Cisco closed his eyes as he felt the man’s hand rest on the top of his head and start to pet his black locks.
“Don’t worry, Cisco,” the man said softly. “I’m here. I’ll stay right by your side.”
It isn’t until the full year is up that his powers finally come to fruition, that he truly becomes The Vibe that he was told so much about.
When that day finally came, Eobard wasted no time in asking him to track down the timeline he came from, his home, and transport him there. There’s a part of Cisco that is reluctant, realising that once he does, his current life with the man will come to an end. After spending each and every day conversing with just him, he finds it hard to imagine anything else.
But he does as he’s told regardless and, after searching through many, many timelines, he is able to find the one that Eobard spoke about, the one that matches the virtual newspaper from the future exactly.
Getting there is easy now that he knows how. One second they’re in S.T.A.R Labs, the next they’re not, they’re outside this museum with a statue of The Flash in front.
Eobard says nothing as he turns to Cisco and, for a second, he flinches, half expecting the older man to suddenly vibrate his hand and thrust it into his chest, just like he did once upon a time. It wouldn’t even surprise him if he accompanied it with something stereotypically cliché like “You have outlived your usefulness.”
But he doesn’t.
Instead, he wrapped his arms around him and pulled him into an embrace.
“Thank you, Cisco. Thank you!” When he finally releases him, his blue eyes are moist and full of pride. “You’ve never looked more alive to me than you do now. I’m glad I didn’t kill you.”
Cisco – or, as he should say, The Vibe – smiled. It’s not quite the “I’m sorry,” that he’s been waiting for all this time, but it’ll have to do.
“So long, and thanks for all the fish.”
They part ways after that and Cisco finds himself lost at what he should do now. After all, there’s nothing waiting for him back in the timeline he just came from, the one Eobard created, and he can’t stay here.
The answer comes to him as he’s travelling between the different worlds. He passes one that follows the events of his own right up until The Flash prevents Reverse Flash from leaving in his time machine and the two start fighting. Then it changes completely.
Eddie succeeds in killing himself.
He watches as Joe and Iris mourn over the dying man, as Reverse Flash starts to lose his powers, his speed all but disappearing as he starts to be erased from existence.
“Cisco, help me,” the Man in Yellow practically begs the Cisco Ramon of that timeline. He’s never sounded as vulnerable to the young superhero as he does then and he wonders if the speedster realises that no help will come, not from this Cisco whose powers are still latent, whose anger and hurt is still raw.
Yes, no one in that timeline can and will help him.
But The Vibe will.
And help him he does…