driftfleet | [muffled spooky scary skeletons playing in the distance]

[ once others have been and gone, kate finally comes to knock on cisco's door. she'd hung back, before now -- 'cause she and cisco had a fairly casual friendship. but he seemed well and truly moved by what happened. kate worries. ]

Hey. Cis? [ she must have gone out, visited the first breath, and returned with some coffee. 'cause they still didn't have a working maker on the blameless. she holds out a travel mug to cisco. ]

What's up?

'Sup Kate.

[ he's still pale, still looks as if he'd seen much better days. some of the quirkiness isn't there, replaced with a worry that's unusual for him. he takes that mug, hugs it between his fingers. ]

how's it looking out there?

[ she invites herself deeper into the room. kate doesn't mince actions, grabbing a seat next to him. ]

Weird. [ she drinks deep. ah, coffee. ] It's looking weird out there. Jungle-y.

In the jungle you must wait.

[ he doesn't even carry on with the reference because if this is some sort of really weird Jumanji world then they are so doomed. a really glorious way to go but still. definitely doomed. ]

Any people out there? I mean, except us.

I don't think so. Or -- [ katie shrugs, and draws one foot up under her opposite knee. ] There's some kinda SOS signal, but I'm not sure everyone's keen on trusting it.

Sounds like the perfect way to make us go somewhere and then eat us all.

[ yep, still cisco, still the same human-eating-aliens theories, even as shaken as he is. ]

I don't think people should go out there. Something's weird about this place.

[ ... ]

aside of the obvious Tarzan setting.

-- You're getting a hinky sort of feeling too, huh? [ mind you, hers was pure instinct. nothing meta about it.

she nudges his shoulder. ] You don't gotta be down here if you're not comfortable.

I felt it before we even landed.

[ this, here, doesn't feel any better but milder somehow, not as overwhelming. he doesn't want to throw up anymore, at least. ]

It was - I don't know what it was but I bet my t-shirt collection that it was what made the ship lose its marbles.

[ -- he still looks a little like he's feeling it. katie sets a light hand on his shoulder. familiar, but not too familiar. ]

You need some water, Cis? Maybe you need to lie down?

I'm fine. Just - 99% freaked out.

[ and 1% curious about this whole thing ]

Listen - about alla this.

[ he looks down at the coffee mug ]

There's something I gotta tell you but you can't freak out. Seriously, one of us has to be at least 60% calm.

[ -- her face betrays a twinge of concern. ]

I'm good with calm. I'm really, really good with calm. You tell me whatever you gotta tell me -- I promise to be that sixty percent. Sixty percent plus one.

[ since ciso is ninety-nine percent freaked. ]

When I was working in S.T.A.R labs, I thought I was helping my ultimate role model of doom to build his most important metaphorical baby - it was a particle accelerator. But the day it was activated it also exploded. It was how the Flash was created. Him and a whole long list of insane meta-humans.

[ it's not going to make sense no matter what he says so he decides to stick to the basic summary of that year and the one that followed ]

The Flash's mother was murdered by another speedster, we called him the Reverse Flash. To make a really long story short, the Reverse Flash traveled in time to kill the Flash as a kid and when he couldn't, he killed his mom but then he got stuck in that time and had to create the Flash to use his speed to go back to his time.

[ .... ]

I know. Anyway. Turns out the Reverse Flash was my ultimate role model of actual doom. I mean, not really, he killed him and somehow took over his looks but he made that thing explode on purpose so the Flash can become the Flash and I am only telling you this whole thing because that night changed me too. I'm a meta, like the Flash and all those other metas. He called me the Vibe and I think what I felt smashed together with my vibes to create one giant headache. Now you have a minute to use the 40% of freaking out time and then maybe I can try and explain to you what the Vibes are.

[ -- it's a lot to hear. a lot to listen to. luckily for the both of them, kate isn't a stranger to the problems of twisted timelines. but every timeline's twist is rather unique. and every twist comes with its own pain. it's own tension. and this one sounds particularly tense for both cisco and his friends.

kate slides her hand down from cisco's shoulder and instead grabs his hand. she squeezes it tight. ] He betrayed you. He was important to you -- and he betrayed you. [ that much she can absolutely understand -- and she does so without a twinge of freak. powered people surround her every day. the surprise is only that cisco felt so determined to keep it a secret. ]

And now you're something you never thought you'd be. That's understandable. [ she can guess what vibes are. cisco's always been on the nose with names. even so: ] What are vibes, Cisco?

He - he was our family. Me, the Flash, Caitlin and him, we were family. He betrayed all of us, he killed the Flash's mom and he hurt Caitlin's fiance and he -

[ killed me but he doesn't say it, not yet. ]

He was important to all of. Finding out who he was broke us apart for a while. It was a lot to get over.

[ he clears his throat ]

So we're all from different parts of the multiverse, right? So there are different vibrations in the multiverse. Every universe vibrates I can just - tap into them, see through them. Different timelines, alternate universes.

[ she remembers the pain associated with seeing her father's name flicker on-screen when she'd been 'stealing' madame masque's data. and the betrayal when she was still only 11 years old, watching him beat a man to death in their manhattan kitchen. family has a deeper capacity to hurt you, she knows, than anyone else.

in truth, she doubts you ever get over it. but she lets cisco say his piece. ]

You read'em? [ a half-smile. it's not a happy one, but it is (at least) supportive. ] That's kinda amazing.

He thought it was so cool. He said he saw- a lot of potential. I think he meant - he said I was like his son. Maybe he meant I'll be like him. I'll become all powerful and then go dark side on my friends.

[ and it bothers him more than it should. ]

Cisco. [ she gives his hand another squeeze. ] I know a little something about rising above expectations like those. Even if you did go dark side? [ she gives him a gentle tug. ] We'd pull you back. Your friends would pull you back. That's what friends are for.

My doppelganger was evil. When Barry and I went to earth-2. His was a nerd who was married to his dream girl and mine was a psycho with bad hair.

[ he looks over at her ]

What if they're all signs?

If they are, then I'm just as damned as you. 'Cause I can't even begin to count the amount of bad-mes I've met. [ her smile is rueful. darkish. ] You and me, Ramon. Same boat. I'm not gonna let you go the bad hair route. Not ever.

[ he smiles a bit and offers her his fist to bump ]

.......and I mean the Vibe is cooler than Reverb, right? I mean, I'm pretty pissed off that the fucker ha d a legit cool code name -

[ ...this conversation is way too serious for her to make a vibrator joke, so she instead takes her fist-bumping duties to heart. afterward, kate drops a hand gentle-like onto his shoulder. ]

Vibe's a winner, to me. Cisco -- [ she hums. ] There are things more important than code names. I know you know that. Things, like, the kind of person you are. The kind of work you do.

I know. But I haven't really - I don't use them. I think I was mostly too terrified to really try.

[ he takes off his shoes and flops back. ]

After the Reverse Flash, there was Zoom and he turned out to be a friend too. So many people let those powers make them - horrible. I don't want to be powerful if it means I have a chance of going nuts and trying to hurt my friends.

...Does -- [ what's his name? oh: ] -- Barry go nuts?

[ she assumes not. ]

--- No. But Barry's doppleganger is just a nerd. Just like Barry, without the super speed while mine is like something out of the Silence of the Lambs.

[ a face ]

So obviously my chances are higher.

Honestly? Hop enough universes, and you'll probably even manage to find one where the Flash goes through the express checkout with way more than ten items. [ or, you know, kicks puppies. ]

Who cares about Reverb? He's not the guy who's here. He's not you. And if he does come here? I'm gonna kick his ass. That's a promise.

[ kate holds up her pinkie finger. c'mon, ramon. ]

post-shockwave »

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject