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[benames]

Hi fleet. Fleeters? Fleetpeople. A few public service announcements:

1. The Atroma are assholes/jackasses/fuckers.

2. I'm a girl and no this isn't Winn hacking into my comm, I'm really a girl. Same Cisco, different gender, see #1 for explanations.

3. Proof. ( OPEN ATTACHEMENT )

4. so the ship assignment is coming up. I have a friend on the Marsiva. idk where the royal assholes from assholeand will assign her but i'm going to come over to be with her for a few days.

5. if you hurt Caitlin I will find you.

I have superhero friends


Cisco out.

Comments

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[winn]

[ it's very much how winn feels, trying to reassure kara about the things he hadn't experienced. he knows he believed in her, he knows they'll make it through. but that's so much easier said and doesn't carry nearly as much weight when you haven't been there yet.

winn sits on the bed by his side, and listens intently, trying once again to follow all the new names and ideas thrown around in his tales, so he wouldn't have to force cisco to answer any unnecessary questions.

he cringes at the tale of barry's spine, but nods as cisco goes on. well, he's got some ideas about where the reverse flash can stick their debt, but that wouldn't be a very productive thing to say right now, so he opts to asking in a gentle voice. ]

What's the worst part?

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[benames]

Caitlin and Jay hooked up. I mean, she loved him and he liked her a lot and I kept telling them to go for it and then when we returned from Earth-2, Zoom killed Jay and it broke her apart but um.

[ he almost wants to kick himself. why did he push them together. for all his vibing, why couldn't he sense trouble from that creep before? ]

Jay is Zoom.

[ there's not a gentle way to put it ]

He took Caitlin. He told her Barry's dead. Which - lie. total lie. everything he said was a lie. again.

[ it's so frustrating that he could almost go harry and throw something but it's really not his forte. instead, he sits ]

I seriously can't believe this is happening again.

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[winn]

[ all of it is terrible. thinking of caitlin, probably opening up for one of the first times (if not the first) since she lost her fiance at the explosion - only to end up with a psychotic murderer, that right there is more than enough to qualify for 'worst'.

but then cisco continues and it's like winn's insides freeze up on him. he can see kara in his mind's eye - lying there with the black mercy wrapped around her, and his fists clench. they came so close to losing her.

but kara, barry - they're made of stronger stuff. cisco's right, he wants to be sure of it. but here, they can't be sure of anything, and he knows how badly that must hurt.

awkward girl form be damned, cisco gets pulled in for a hug. ]

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[benames]

--- oh I can open breaches now, apparently.

[ said briskly after the hug ]

well, in Caitlin's time.

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[winn]

[ winn tilts his head, frowns, and tilts it the other way. ]

Be kind rewind - you can open breaches? As in - interdimensional ones?

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[benames]

Yeah. And I can Vibe through the multiverse.

[ firm nod ]

there's a catch, though, before we go all Cisquita Ramon Rescue Operations.

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[winn]

Ain't there always? What is it?

[ please don't tell him the breach causes a giant explosion that sucks up galaxies, there has to be a solution that doesn't do that! ]

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[benames]

The goggles. That's how my evil doppleganger from hell, Reverb, channeled our power and Caitlin says Harry managed to tweak up a pair at home.

[ he pinches the bridge of his nose ]

Earth 2's Harrison Wells, not Thawne. Not evil, just a jerk. The goggles are all Earth 2 technology, I have no idea how to built a pair. I mean, I'll need to talk to Harry who - is not here.

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[winn]

Dude, so little faith. You're a genius, I've got an engineering augment - so does Jim and he's from the future! Have you met Jim? You need to meet Jim - we can do this. What do you know about the goggles? Any detail you got will help. What do they work on, how do you activate your powers?

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[benames]

Nothing - it's all Harry's work.

[ he runs a hand through his hair ]

I don't really want to ever activate my powers. especially not here.

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[winn]

Cisco -- I know how you feel about them. But...your powers, they don't change who you are. You're a good person, and it doesn't matter who or what gave you which abilities - that's not gonna change, there's just no way.

[ he smiles a little ]

You know actually, Jim told me something when I was freaking about my own - [ pointing to his head, you know ] situation. He told me that the fact that I'm so worried about it proves that I'm incapable of going that route. That's true for you, too. You control your powers - not the other way around. And - I know I'm crazy biased here because yeah I'm not gonna lie to you I want to use your powers if it means getting us home - but I really do think that running away from them isn't gonna help you. They're not gonna go away. If there's one thing comic books taught us it's that powers always break out. But you have a choice here - you can try to bury them but fear and resentment - man, they're just not a good foundation for anything, especially a life. Or, you can learn to control them, use them, master them - turn them into a force for good - claim them as your own. Forget getting everyone out of here - I think you need that.

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[benames]

I don't think I can do that anytime soon.

[ he says it and it's more of an apology than an explanation ]

Not after everything Caitlin - and there was Reverb. We'll find another way, one that's safer.

[ safer than a second Reverb being born into the world as Eobard Thawne had probably predicted. ]

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[winn]

Hey - [ he gives his shoulder a squeeze. the part of him that's always living in fear of losing kitty back to her world, back to death, really wants to shake him. but the rest of him understands. he knows what being afraid of himself is like. he also knows that giving into that fear is the road to misery - and a self fulfilling prophecy. ]

Listen, Cisco. Reverb isn't you. He's not. We won't do anything until you're ready and you absolutely should focus on Caitlin right now. But you are not evil. You will never be evil. And I'm only saying this next part because I needed that reassurance from people, I'm not going back on my previous point - but if by some cosmic catastrophe you do get out of hand - we won't let you fall, and we won't let you hurt anyone. I promise. You have friends who'll look out for you.

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[benames]

Not everyone who's evil started as evil.

[ he's pretty sure zoom did - jay - whatever his name might be. he's not sure who eobard thawne had been before he became the reverse flash. a part of him wants to know, another part is terrified by what he might find out ]

anyway, big brother is always watching. they might do something to the goggles that would totally mess it all up. I mean - it might not be safe. people could get hurt.

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[winn]

We can say that about anything we try. But if we don't try anything at all, then they've won.

[ and he won't accept that, he can't accept that. ]

I know. Look, man, before my dad went looney tunes - he was a great dad. He was my best friend. I know how fast people can change, I've seen it. And I'm telling you as someone who's been there - that I don't believe that'll ever happen to you. I got nothing here, they took away my trick, I try and I try but I can't hack the network, I can't get back to the source, I can't reroute the computers, I'm basically a glorified houseplant here. But you - you're brilliant, Cisco. You can do - anything. You can build - anything. You're brave, and you're kind, and yeah - you've even got superpowers. You're like the hero and the team, all rolled into one. You may not believe in yourself - but I believe in you. Powers or no powers, you're a hero, and heroes don't turn evil.

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[benames]

If you can't do, it's a fat chance we can put together a pair of goggles not to mention me using them.

[ which honestly scares the hell out of him ]

I can't copy earth two technology. I mean, that was Harry's thing. I'll ask Caitlin about it, maybe she knows what he did.

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[winn]

Stop worrying about copying, there're infinite ways to achieve every goal. We're inventors, dude. We're never gonna copy a gadget we can't take apart and study, but we can figure out what it does - and make our own thing. Same with your powers - not gonna copy Reverb. Vibe's his own man. Woman. Person.

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[benames]

man! who's temporarily a woman. not for long. I think.

[ sigh ]

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[winn]

[ look he wanted to shake cisco out of the spiral he can see him going down in his head - because that happens to him pretty much every time he thinks about his dad. he pats his shoulder. ]

Alright you know what we should do right now? Come up with things we can do to help Caitlin acclimate. Cuz that's something we can do something about.

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[benames]

Caitlin loves to work. Seriously, it gives her something to focus on. I guess we'll need to wait and see what ship she'll be on and what job she'll be assigned. I hope she can work in the medbay, that'll fit her.

[ much more than his job. or a pilot. definitely not a pilot. ]

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[winn]

Well, she already has her augment - she just needs to figure out what's new in her head - and that's the job she's assigned.

[ he nods ]

Not that that should stop her from working on whatever the hell she wants - hey, Vision and I were talking about getting a non-invasive biometric signature from volunteer fleeters and try to see if we can figure out who really is from the same dimension as who, and just...wherever that'll go.

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[benames]

Unless they gave her something that's not seriously new. I mean, it took me exactly a second to realize they used what I already have and just adjusted it to shuttles and things which - awesome but I could have learned it by myself. Maybe it's the same for Caitlin. Hopefully it's the same for Caitlin, you've never seen her drive, she is not allowed to be a pilot.

[ if she is, he may cry because secretly, he does wish he could have gotten that piece of information on his augment ]

You know she could probably help you with that.

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[winn]

Just ask her - then we'll know and adjust accordingly.

[ he smiles, patting his back ]

I bet she could, and honestly I need the help - biology's kind of a blindspot for me. I've been learning a little but, we could use another person who know what they're talking about on the team. I bet she'd have a blast talking shop with Vision, too.

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[benames]

I can't believe there's someone named Vision around here. I mean, it's not even a codename it's a literal name.

[ which is super weird. ]

I never actually met the guy.

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[winn]

I know, right? Makes me feel a whole lot better about Winn Schott.

[ when you think about it out of context, it doesn't sound like a real name either. go ahead, try just telling it to yourself. ]

I can introduce you if you want, he's Kitty's captain. He's really great, makes me look like a chimp, basically. Hey, I bet he can help us figure out a game plan for when we do go home! When we bust out of here on our own terms, we may get to keep our memories - this is prime planning time!