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“You can’t just assume the worst of him.” Hartley was yelling now.
“He robbed a bank, Hartley!” Barry threw his hands up in exasperation, rocking from foot to foot slightly trying to work off some of the nearly constant kinetic energy that came with being a speedster.
“So have I!” Hartley pushed the Piper hood off his shoulders as they both walked into the cortex. “And I changed.”
“He hurt someone, Hartley.”
“In self-defense, the guard had a gun pointed at him. Why are you so keen to believe the worst in everyone?!”
“That guard got lucky. Some people are just bad, Hartley. Not everyone changes.”
Hartley bit back a biting retort, trying to pretend that that didn’t sting.
“Not everyone gets a chance to change, Barry. How many timeline changes did it take before I finally got the chance?” Having knowledge of multiple timelines really sucked sometimes. Cisco had told him the basics of the different timelines back when he was pissed at Barry about Dante, and Hartley had gotten the nitty gritty from Gideon. Knowing that he’d been different in the original timeline and that he’d only joined Team Flash at all as a result of Barry’s temporal meddling, well, it didn’t sit right with him some days.
Most days he looked past it, he knew they’d done a lot of good together, helped a lot of people. But the whole determining people’s lives aspect of time travel was always going to come with a heap of moral implications.
“That’s not fair, Hartley.”
“No, Barry. Not fair is changing the entire timeline on a whim, every time you hit a road bump.”
The accusation wasn’t completely fair, and Hartley knew it, going back in time to save a loved one was a once in a million chance that most anyone would take.
“How’s the guard, Caitlin?” Hartley’s gaze shifted from Barry toward the others watching them awkwardly from the other side of the cortex. Hartley and Barry disagree on how to handle the meta of the week was nothing new, but the arguments were rarely this volatile.
“He’ll be ok.” Caitlin answered wearily. Hartley and Barry’s disagreements had only been growing more frequent as of late, and it was dragging on the team, especially Caitlin who’s steady comforting presence tended to absorb the nastier aspects of Team Flash. “He’s lucky, the blast only pushed him back. He hit his head on the wall, but it’s a minor concussion. He’ll be monitored overnight, but he should be fine.”
Hartley squeezed Caitlin’s shoulder gently in thanks, still seething too much to offer any sort of verbal gratitude. He moved past her towards the locker room that he and Cisco had insisted be added to the cortex. Not everyone could change into their costume in seconds and changing in the Star Labs showers had been beyond awkward.
He tugged the hood off, nearly ripping it with the violence with which he pulled at the fabric. Hartley took more care when removing his gauntlets, not willing to damage cutting edge sonic technology simply because of Barry’s idiocy. As he dropped his head against the locker, relishing the way the cool metal felt on his skin after a long day, he felt arms wrap around him from behind.
Hartley leaned back against his boyfriend for a moment. Enjoying the silent comfort, though his high-powered hearing aids filtered sound to a manageable level, sounds always grated on him more when he was tired or stressed.
Cisco shifted slightly, his chin coming to rest above Hartley’s head, pressing gently over the top of his head as a comforting weight. Hartley turned his head, resting his ear on Cisco’s throat and listened to the gentle thrum of his boyfriend’s pulse for a moment.
“He’s just a kid, Cisco.” Hartley whispered, still keeping his ear pressed to Cisco’s throat. “He was scared.”
“I know, Hart.” Cisco said the words quietly, the comforting timbre of his boyfriend’s voice not grating on his ears as much as other noises. He ran a hand through the floof of hair hanging across Hartley’s forehead. “Barry will come around.” He kissed the top of Hartley’s head.
Hartley sighed. “I just wish he didn’t have to.” He pulled at the cuffs of one his sleeves until the sound of flesh on fabric started to feel like sandpaper on his ears. “He helps a lot of people. But he still has this hardwired line between the heroes and the criminals.” Hartley remembered being at the Flash’s mercy, how it had only fed his anger after he’d lashed out at faux-Wells. “It’s not as simple as that, there isn’t a lot you wouldn’t do when you don’t know where your next meal is coming from.”
“I know, Hart.” Cisco murmured again, letting Hartley work through his frustration.
After a few minutes of silence, once it became clear that Hartley wasn’t going to keep talking, Cisco began to hum quietly. A soft, simple tune, like a lullaby. Hartley pressed further against his boyfriend, feeling himself start to relax.
Cisco gently guided them from the locker room into the med bay. Caitlin didn’t mind them napping on the cots after missions. With Barry’s tendency to overexert himself, and Hartley’s own tendency to stress and overanalyze every aspect of the mission, a little rest was always nice.
They curled up together on one of the only slightly lump mattresses, and Hartley felt himself drift off.