Training with Reverb has gone about exactly as well as Cisco had expected: It sucks. But he can't deny that it's actually helpful, too. Gaining something like insight and understanding of his powers almost seems to be toning down some of the fears he has tied to them. He's still nowhere near his double's level of confident with his powers, but it's a step up from where he had been and at this point, he'll take every inch he can gain.
Unfortunately, they still haven't been all that successful in rerouting the trigger response.
"Jesus Christ!" And sometimes Paco's tactics just scared the hell out of him, without anything at all useful coming from it. He kicks something across the ground in the space they've taken, irritated and exhausted because they've been at this forever. "Do we ever get beyond this, cause I'm over it already." He huffs, arms folded across his chest. So what if this was only the second or third time they've done one of these stupid sessions. Instant gratification is better, okay?
It was so easy to scare the hell out of Cisco. Yesterday, he simply came through the door too swiftly and shocked him so much, he yelped and dropped what he'd been working on. It was shocking how high a pitch he could hit. Other times, he went for more emotional torment, he had vibed a few things from him at this point and he knew little tricks and trips to get him to panic or freak out. Sometimes it was as simple as jabbing at his chest under the guise of wanting his attention. Seemed like they both had a pretty traumatic time around speedsters.
Good to know the universe was consistent.
"You've barely done anything. Except whine. You whine a lot." It was fortunate that he was feeling very patient, usually his temper would have made him at least hit Cisco by now but instead, he found himself strangely amused by this version of himself. "Are you feeling anything? Like a sensation like a pull or a tug? Sometimes that's what it's like for me."
Some of those tactics were borderline cruel if you asked Cisco. Particularly, any time he tried to use Thawne against him. He's pretty surr if he does too much more of that one, Hartley's gonna give him the what-for, though. Maybe he won't have to worry about that again-- not that Cisco's holding his breath.
His eyes cut toward Paco in a narrow glare. Maybe it seems like nothing to him because this is all so far behind him at this point, but dammit, most of this is still brand new to Cisco. The look fades as he shifts out of the Haughty Little Brother mode and gets a little more serious again. "Kind of... it's more like a flutter, like pulsating kinda? So that's normal..?"
"That's because you focus on the actual vibes instead of anything else. It's interesting really, that you for for visions above all else. You can literally disrupt the speedforce and all you do with that power is vibe." He frowned and cocked his head to the side as he slowly considered the situation and how exactly he could change that. Negative feels caused him to see things but they didn't cause much else, maybe it was something else that trigger the other powers like threat or danger? He started to slowly circle Cisco, debating his next move.
"Has fear always lead to vibes or anything else? Have you ever used any other part of your power?" He was curious if it was worth trying something outside of scaring him just to see where this went.
"Yeah, well, they're kind of distracting." He points out, arms still firmly across his chest. "And I think we've established I don't know what I'm doing." He turns his head to watch as Paco circles him. He can't stop it, the reaction is practically automatic, not allowing anyone to catch him with his back turned.
"Well, I opened that breach...which ended up being a terrible plan." That had ended up in Wally being kidnapped, and Cisco couldn't help feeling like that rested on his shoulders as much as anyone else's.
"So you can see and send messages? You're basically a living skype. You're not going to be very useful against Zoom like that." Paco stood in front of Cisco finally and faced the target they'd been using for their little practises. A cardboard cut out of Cisco pulling a stupid face, he didn't even want to know why, that was just leaning against the wall taking an innocent time out. He held out his hand and focused, aiming at it and within seconds, the cardboard exploded in the middle and the whole thing pretty much just crumpled in on itself. "Not only is the blast strong but it effects the speedforce. You're as much tied in to it as Barry is. You can slow down a speedster before they can come at you but you need perfect focus for it."
And that was why, in the final moments of Hart's life, he'd failed. How was he supposed to focus on the task when his emotions were all over the place? He turned his head to Cisco and then, without warning, he swiftly shot his hand out and grabbed Cisco by the throat, squeezing it hard but attempting not to do any real damage..
"I got you, Francisco." Paco smirked darkly as he used his other hand to grab any offending limbs trying to wrench him off. "I got you now. What are you going to do about it? I'd do something before I crush your windpipe. I could. Easily." He was trying to get fear from Cisco. To get a reaction. He wanted Cisco to fight back and channel that fear, he was hoping a real threat might actually provoke it. "If you die, you die. There's a multiverse out there, always more of us to play with. I don't need you if you're this useless."
Living Skype. Wow, thanks, Paco. He definitely doesn't have enough insecurity in his powers, and that's absolutely helping. What a great and patient teacher. Not. "Thanks for that," he mutters with a vague wave of his hand. "Perfect focus. Great. Cause that's always super easy in high stress situations."
He was so busy being sarcastic toward his twin he was caught completely off-guard when suddenly Paco's fingers wrap around his throat and squeeze. Suddenly, he's certain that everything he'd thought was wrong. It was all some twisted lie to get him in exactly this situation. And Cisco had stupidly allowed himself to walk right into it. But Hartley was in on this too and for all that Cisco let himself be sweet-talked by people at times, Hartley didn't, so how did-- Right, breathing, breathing would be nice. He should probably stop the one trying to close off his air supply.
"I'm not... useless," he manages to choke out. He's working on jerking his hand out of Paco's other one so he can wriggle free from his grip when it hits. That woo-woo shock of a vibe that kind of makes it feel like the whole world tilts until the scene fades into view.
There's a cage and someone sitting inside it. Hart is alone, of course he is. He is alone, the only light in the room comes from the cracks in the door. Same as always. He pulls on the chain around his neck, pulling out the ring he hides under his shirt. There it sits on his palm, still looking the same. As if there aren't stains of Paco's blood on the shirt he wears over it. They have made the rings themselves, naturally. He wonders what has happened to Paco's. Maybe he's been buried with it. Maybe Dante would have kept it? It seems like something he would do. Sentimental and not letting anyone know.
He traces a finger along the inside of the ring, feeling the inscription. The light isn't good enough for him to read it, but it isn't as if he doesn't have it memorised.
Before meeting Paco, he hadn't believed he'd ever find someone to love. He'd believed it even less after meeting him, given how much more difficult being stalked by Reverb made going on dates.
He thinks back to the first time he had just stepped close and taken off Paco's glasses. The vulnerability he found in his eyes that day had cut through him. Paco looked at him as if he had the power to shatter him, not the other way round.
There had been a time when he had tried to keep count of the days that passed. It was easier back when Zoom would still take him out every now and then to show him to Paco. At the time, that had been the worst. Now it is the fondest memory that still feels real. He remembers the last time Paco has touched him. He remembers tasting his tears and hearing him promise that he'd save him.
Surely there had been a time when he hadn't been terrified of Zoom, when he hadn't been his captive, but those memories don't feel real.
Of course, Zoom doesn't take him out anymore. Not since he'd faked his death. Zoom had liked telling him how evil Paco was after that. What horrible things he'd do, just because he'd been ordered or even just to make people suffer.
It was better to remember the taste of tears when he'd last kissed him.
But then there was the day when Zoom came with blood on his hand. Hartley remembers that very well. Lifted up by his throat, that bloody hand forced into his mouth so he was gagging on it and then he told him what he'd done to Paco.
He doesn't really recall what the kisses had been like now. He just remembers the taste of blood and he has no idea how much time had passed since then. He suspects that the only reason he is still alive is that he wishes he could be dead. Zoom thinks this is fun.
Hart closes his eyes and wishes that he had a fraction of Paco's powers, only enough to at least see him once more. It doesn't matter that he is crying. He is alone.
"You seem pretty useless, you pathetic-- oh great." Well, this was pointless. He'd hoped to provoke an actual reaction that was physical not a vibe and here they were, with Cisco's eyes partially rolled back and wide, clearly mid-vibe. This was clearly going to be a painful thing to teach Cisco to do. He let go of his neck but kept a grip of him so he didn't fall down.
Was he... was he vibing him? Fuck. He hated people seeing into his past. "Okay, that's enough." He gave Cisco a swift rough shake. "Wake up!"
The scene that plays out before him is...painful to witness. Zoom is as deplorable as anyone could ever be, Paco's on his knees begging him to leave Hartley alone. And Hartley... looking so small and broken, it breaks his heart to see him like that. Even a different one, that he never knew. But, God, why does he have to see this, what good does it do for him to see this almost-final moment between them?
But there's another shift in the world as a new scene fades into view. Hartley looks worse now than he did before. Smaller. Weaker. More sad and broken. It's a vice in his chest that makes it hard to breathe. Seeing him like this, even a different version who isn't his, hurts. He wants to just gather him up and yank him out of that place and find a way to make things right again.
Cisco's heart is hammering in his chest and he's frozen until suddenly his name is ripped from his throat, "Ha-Hartley?" He can't help it, calling out to him. His voice shaking. It's too much. It's too real. Because it is real.
The voice is familiar but different and Hart looks up, recognising the sign of someone vibing. Of course he does, he was married to Reverb. His hand tucks the ring back under his shirt without even thinking about it, because there's a reason they had always worn their rings as necklaces, other than how a ring on his hand messed with Paco's powers. Nobody could know about him, nobody could know the weakness. For all the good that hasn't done.
His eyes focus on Cisco and not even for a second does he delude himself into thinking it's Paco. Paco doesn't talk like that. Paco never wears his hair like that or dresses like that. Paco's emotions don't show themselves like that and Paco is more built than this doppelgänger. Paco is dead. This isn't Paco.
Just another him from another world. Hart is a scientist and he's studied Paco's power, he has helped him with his glasses. He understands.
"Where--" He interrupts himself to cough. He hasn't talked in a while, his throat is dry. Not much to drink here. "Pardon me." Paco would have mocked him for being polite even now. "Where are you from?"
He's speaking. To him. Hart is speaking to Cisco right now and doesn't that mean this has to be in the now, current, not a past vibe of something already done because that's how it works, right? You can't change anything in the past, but you can interact with the present and oh, God. Oh, fuck.
His head is spinning as he tries to process this, but he finds his voice quick enough, worried about how quick this might end. "A different earth. Earth-1. Our worlds are freakishly parallel, actually, but--" He shakes his head. He doesn't have time for that. His voice shakes with the swirl of emotions coursing through him as he launches into whatever the next best explanation he can get out is.
"I'm not as good at this as Paco, I don't know how long this will last, but whatever you've been told is probably a lie, okay? Because we thought-- he thought you were gone and- and-- we're gonna save you. Okay? I don't care what it takes or what has to happen, we're gonna find a way. He's gonna be able to keep his promise to you, one way or another." His words come in a rapid-fire jumble that's probably not the easiest to keep up with, and he doesn't care how awkward and invasive that admission, to knowing that, seeing that moment even is right now. Worst first introduction ever.
"You're confused." Hart's voice is gentle, it almost always is, a constant like Hartley's sarcasm. He watches Cisco, that familiar stranger, and tries to follow along with what he is saying. Does he not know that Paco is gone? It appears that way. Looking around he shifts, not really able to get any closer. There's a collar around his neck that keeps him in place. "Don't put yourself in danger. He was standing right there when I was "killed". He wasn't fast enough to stop it. He wasn't good enough to find me. He couldn't keep me safe. What do you think anyone else in the world could do? In any world?"
His faith in Paco has always been strong above all. It still is. Time has just proven that Paco wasn't strong enough. And if he couldn't, nobody could.
"No, no I'm not." He shakes his head. Later, when he has time to think all this through, he's going to note those subtle, but big differences, but right now, he's more focused on getting him to understand. "He's here, he's with me, he's been trying to help me. Zoom has been trying to steal my best friend's speed and take over the multiverse like the fracking psycho he is and-- Paco's been helping me and I'm gonna help him get you out of there. Please, you have to believe me, we're gonna find a way."
Cisco's desperate, and he sounds it, because he can't stand the idea of any version of Hartley like this. He needs to be somewhere safe, where he can be protected and know he's loved. And that place is at Paco's side, and Cisco's determined to get him there.
"Is there anything at all you can tell me about where you are?" Any tiny piece of information he might be able to offer might be enough.
"In the dark." It may be a literal or metaphorical statement, but either way it seems pretty accurate. It's hard to make out anything here, so Hart's smile is tired as he points in one direction. "There's a door there." No, he doesn't know anything else. It's been a while since Zoom has taken him out and then it has always been at high speed. He has no idea where he is.
No, he doesn't really believe that Paco is anywhere. That Zoom wants something crazy like that, that's easier to believe.
Cisco's heart sinks as he realizes there's nothing identifying around. Hart can't give him anything, and he can't see anything distinctive enough to give him any clues either. Shit shit shit. And he can already feel it all slipping away, so his next words are a bigger rush than the rest have been. "We're gonna find you, Hartley, and your husband's gonna save you just like he promise. You'll see. I swear."
Reality rushes back with a sharp snap and Cisco gasps as the reality of everything he just witnessed, everything that just happened, really sinks in now that the normal world has faded back into view. His eyes dart toward Paco, his face crumbles and his voice is quiet and shaky as he whispers, "He's alive, Paco."
Paco just looked at Cisco. What on Earth was he talking about? He didn't care. He was so done with this training exercise. "Great." He deadpanned, not even considering what those words could mean because why would he? He saw Hart die, he knew that much and anyone else alive was not unexpected. He crossed his arms and kept a nice distance from Cisco. "Who? Go on, you may as well tell me. It's all your good for, apparently."
Cisco Ramon was good at giving and receiving messages. He just sucked at everything else.
He doesn't even care about the completely uninterested tone or the asshole quips about how useless he is. This is more important. He has to understand. "Hartley." The name falls from his lips easily, but as he moves closer to the other, however stupid that may be considering the unpredictability in his reaction once this sinks in. "Your Hart. He's still alive, Paco. I saw him. I talked to him. I saw the ring. It was him."
Paco's face lost all traces of humour as he stayed silent for a moment, fingers itching to reach up and touch his necklace out of habit. "You know, Cisco, I thought you were smarter than this." He gave him a grave look, his fists clenching at his side as he straightened himself up, his body language was tense. "Is this your way of getting revenge on me? For scaring you? I was helping you. Was. I won't be helping you now, you want to use my weakness against me? You idiot." He grit his teeth and came towards Cisco, his mind racing. No way was this true, it wasn't real. He saw Hart die, he watched it, he knew it. He would have seen it himself! He paused not far from Cisco and a dark smirk came to his face.
"You know the ring he has is different from my ring. See, I made his and he made mine." Paco came to a halt and raised his hand at Cisco, a simple thread but a real one. "I know that ring inside and out and if you saw it, you can make me believe you did. And I'd do it fast because lying to me makes me very unhappy. Especially about him. I will shatter your insides to pieces if you are messing with me right now." This wasn't a funny joke. "Give me something to make me believe you. Tell me something about the ring."
Cisco felt it the instant everything shifted. Expected it, even, but that didn't make it any less jarring when it happened. Any ounce of something like okay was sucked from the room and instead the air was thick and tense and Cisco was reminded not of the guy with a heart and a lost love that had been sitting on his couch a week ago, but the one that called himself a God and looked at Cisco like he was nothing, back on E-2. The difference is stark and it's almost odd to think the two were even the same person at all.
"I'm not lying. Jesus, you think I would do that to you? About this? About him?" The incredulity reflected in both his face and his voice were over the top, but he couldn't fathom making a joke out of something like this. "It was silver, had a...maybe Celtic design on it, green inlay behind it." He shakes his head, "I only saw it for like half a second before he tucked it away again. Paco, I wouldn't lieabout this! Please, you have to stop being paranoid long enough to believe me. We can find him, you can still save him like you promised."
Seeing Hartley, any Hartley, in the state he was in was enough to wreck Cisco. He can't begin to picture what this means, how it translates to Paco. The one person in the entire world he loved more than anything, who he'd thought was dead, never was. And best Cisco could gather from the way Hart refused to believe him either, he'd thought Paco was gone, too. There's no universe where that's okay to him, and if there's a chance he can fix it, he's going to.
That was it. Hart's ring. He knew it and there was no way he could have known it if it wasn't something he'd seen. Unless he just saw a glimpse of the past. That was it, it wasn't real. It wasn't something that could be happening. It wasn't possible because if it was, he had to let himself open up to the idea of that Hart could be alive. That Hart could have been there this whole time while he didn't know, while he wasn't there to try and help him. It meant that he was failing, even now, that he was still capable of letting him die.
Oh God, it was happening again. It was going to happen all over again and he couldn't take that, he couldn't take the small shred of hope here that could be so cruel snatched away from him again. He didn't even know how to react to this. How to even express anything he was feeling. What did he even say to this? First, he had to let go of the breath he was holding.
"... Where did you see him?" His tone was as even as he could make it, a mix of pain and anger barely held back. "Where was he?"
"I don't know," He knows it's not an answer that will be received well, but it's the truth. "It was dark and there wasn't anything identifying around. And he couldn't...he couldn't tell me anything either." He's not sure Hart has even seen the light of day in a very long time, but he can't bring himself to say it.
"It was a cell somewhere...one door in and out, no windows..." Not helpful at all, but-- "Where would Zoom keep someone he didn't want found, Reverb?" All that time he spent as Zoom's loyal guard dog had to mean he knew something that could give them a jumping off point, at least, right?
"He's in a cell? So he's still there? All this time and ..." Oh God. All this time, he was still there? Locked there all alone with no one looking for him. Paco took a shaky breath and stared at Cisco for a moment before he turned away from Cisco and reached his hand up, adjusting his setting on his glasses before holding out his hand.
Was he making a breach? Of course he was. Like hell was he waiting for this. He wasn't thinking rationally, he wasn't even thinking. All that was in his head was Hart and he didn't care right now. The world didn't matter, Zoom didn't matter. All that mattered was that he had to get to Hart. He just had to get to the cells. He had to find Hart.
Oh. Oh, so he knows where he is. Apparently exactly, or close enough. Good, that's good. They can figure this out. They can make a plan and they can--
"Wait!" Stupid decisions make up a great percentage of Cisco's life and reaching over and grabbing Reverb's wrist ranks up pretty high toward the top of the list. But like hell he was going let Paco just barge in, mid-emotional-breakdown and ruin his chance of actually saving his husband. "You can't just fucking go in guns blazing, you need a plan."
He yanks on his mirror's wrist and spins him around so they're practically nose-to-nose. "I know you're not an idiot, so don't be one right now. Don't blow the chance you have. You have so much advantage in this situation right now. Zoom doesn't even know you're still alive. He doesn't know we know Hart's alive. Do this right so you can save your husband."
"You can't tell me what to do though, can you?" Paco snapped as he reached out with his free hand and grabbed Cisco by his shirt, fingers twisting in the fabric as he held onto it, the anger in his face clear now as he backed him up across the room. He was furious, literally shaking with anger. It was easy to be like this, to be angry, the alternative was too much. He didn't want to break apart, not again. "You're weak, you can't even use your powers right. How are you ever going to stop me? I'm a God, I can shatter men from the inside out! No one can stop me!"
He was yelling now, he didn't know why he was yelling, he just felt too much and he wasn't used to it. "Not even Zoom can stop me this time, I'm going to rip him to pieces for what he did to me. What he's still doing to me. It's never going to be over until I end him and God knows, you idiots aren't going to do it, are you?" His breathing got rapid and uneven as he felt himself choke up and -- fuck, no, he was not doing this in front of Cisco of all people. He just kept going, kept pushing on. "Do you have any idea what he means to me? No. Of course you don't, you couldn't even comprehend what I feel for Hart. You have nothing close to it! He is everything and if he's alive, I will tear this stupid world down to get him. I don't need this Earth or my Earth, I just need him."
His voice cracked at the end of the sentence as he felt his hand tremble slightly. He needed Hart, he needed him so much right now. He just needed someone to hold him and tell him it was going to be okay. That he was forgiven. For not knowing, not trying, for letting him down. He needed Hart. "I'm going to get him back and I'm not waiting."
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
{Training Sessions
Date: 2016-10-23 10:02 pm (UTC)Unfortunately, they still haven't been all that successful in rerouting the trigger response.
"Jesus Christ!" And sometimes Paco's tactics just scared the hell out of him, without anything at all useful coming from it. He kicks something across the ground in the space they've taken, irritated and exhausted because they've been at this forever. "Do we ever get beyond this, cause I'm over it already." He huffs, arms folded across his chest. So what if this was only the second or third time they've done one of these stupid sessions. Instant gratification is better, okay?
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Date: 2016-10-23 10:39 pm (UTC)Good to know the universe was consistent.
"You've barely done anything. Except whine. You whine a lot." It was fortunate that he was feeling very patient, usually his temper would have made him at least hit Cisco by now but instead, he found himself strangely amused by this version of himself. "Are you feeling anything? Like a sensation like a pull or a tug? Sometimes that's what it's like for me."
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Date: 2016-10-23 11:25 pm (UTC)His eyes cut toward Paco in a narrow glare. Maybe it seems like nothing to him because this is all so far behind him at this point, but dammit, most of this is still brand new to Cisco. The look fades as he shifts out of the Haughty Little Brother mode and gets a little more serious again. "Kind of... it's more like a flutter, like pulsating kinda? So that's normal..?"
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Date: 2016-10-25 02:53 pm (UTC)"Has fear always lead to vibes or anything else? Have you ever used any other part of your power?" He was curious if it was worth trying something outside of scaring him just to see where this went.
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Date: 2016-10-31 02:07 pm (UTC)"Well, I opened that breach...which ended up being a terrible plan." That had ended up in Wally being kidnapped, and Cisco couldn't help feeling like that rested on his shoulders as much as anyone else's.
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Date: 2016-11-05 09:04 pm (UTC)And that was why, in the final moments of Hart's life, he'd failed. How was he supposed to focus on the task when his emotions were all over the place? He turned his head to Cisco and then, without warning, he swiftly shot his hand out and grabbed Cisco by the throat, squeezing it hard but attempting not to do any real damage..
"I got you, Francisco." Paco smirked darkly as he used his other hand to grab any offending limbs trying to wrench him off. "I got you now. What are you going to do about it? I'd do something before I crush your windpipe. I could. Easily." He was trying to get fear from Cisco. To get a reaction. He wanted Cisco to fight back and channel that fear, he was hoping a real threat might actually provoke it. "If you die, you die. There's a multiverse out there, always more of us to play with. I don't need you if you're this useless."
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Date: 2016-11-07 01:51 am (UTC)He was so busy being sarcastic toward his twin he was caught completely off-guard when suddenly Paco's fingers wrap around his throat and squeeze. Suddenly, he's certain that everything he'd thought was wrong. It was all some twisted lie to get him in exactly this situation. And Cisco had stupidly allowed himself to walk right into it. But Hartley was in on this too and for all that Cisco let himself be sweet-talked by people at times, Hartley didn't, so how did-- Right, breathing, breathing would be nice. He should probably stop the one trying to close off his air supply.
"I'm not... useless," he manages to choke out. He's working on jerking his hand out of Paco's other one so he can wriggle free from his grip when it hits. That woo-woo shock of a vibe that kind of makes it feel like the whole world tilts until the scene fades into view.
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Date: 2016-11-07 02:54 am (UTC)The scene that plays out is clearly in Paco's past. But the vibe doesn't end here. The scene shifts, changes and when it focuses again, it's dark.
There's a cage and someone sitting inside it. Hart is alone, of course he is. He is alone, the only light in the room comes from the cracks in the door. Same as always. He pulls on the chain around his neck, pulling out the ring he hides under his shirt. There it sits on his palm, still looking the same. As if there aren't stains of Paco's blood on the shirt he wears over it. They have made the rings themselves, naturally. He wonders what has happened to Paco's. Maybe he's been buried with it. Maybe Dante would have kept it? It seems like something he would do. Sentimental and not letting anyone know.
He traces a finger along the inside of the ring, feeling the inscription. The light isn't good enough for him to read it, but it isn't as if he doesn't have it memorised.
Before meeting Paco, he hadn't believed he'd ever find someone to love. He'd believed it even less after meeting him, given how much more difficult being stalked by Reverb made going on dates.
He thinks back to the first time he had just stepped close and taken off Paco's glasses. The vulnerability he found in his eyes that day had cut through him. Paco looked at him as if he had the power to shatter him, not the other way round.
There had been a time when he had tried to keep count of the days that passed. It was easier back when Zoom would still take him out every now and then to show him to Paco. At the time, that had been the worst. Now it is the fondest memory that still feels real. He remembers the last time Paco has touched him. He remembers tasting his tears and hearing him promise that he'd save him.
Surely there had been a time when he hadn't been terrified of Zoom, when he hadn't been his captive, but those memories don't feel real.
Of course, Zoom doesn't take him out anymore. Not since he'd faked his death. Zoom had liked telling him how evil Paco was after that. What horrible things he'd do, just because he'd been ordered or even just to make people suffer.
It was better to remember the taste of tears when he'd last kissed him.
But then there was the day when Zoom came with blood on his hand. Hartley remembers that very well. Lifted up by his throat, that bloody hand forced into his mouth so he was gagging on it and then he told him what he'd done to Paco.
He doesn't really recall what the kisses had been like now. He just remembers the taste of blood and he has no idea how much time had passed since then. He suspects that the only reason he is still alive is that he wishes he could be dead. Zoom thinks this is fun.
Hart closes his eyes and wishes that he had a fraction of Paco's powers, only enough to at least see him once more. It doesn't matter that he is crying. He is alone.
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Date: 2016-11-07 12:26 pm (UTC)Was he... was he vibing him? Fuck. He hated people seeing into his past. "Okay, that's enough." He gave Cisco a swift rough shake. "Wake up!"
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Date: 2016-11-07 04:35 pm (UTC)But there's another shift in the world as a new scene fades into view. Hartley looks worse now than he did before. Smaller. Weaker. More sad and broken. It's a vice in his chest that makes it hard to breathe. Seeing him like this, even a different version who isn't his, hurts. He wants to just gather him up and yank him out of that place and find a way to make things right again.
Cisco's heart is hammering in his chest and he's frozen until suddenly his name is ripped from his throat, "Ha-Hartley?" He can't help it, calling out to him. His voice shaking. It's too much. It's too real. Because it is real.
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Date: 2016-11-07 05:51 pm (UTC)His eyes focus on Cisco and not even for a second does he delude himself into thinking it's Paco. Paco doesn't talk like that. Paco never wears his hair like that or dresses like that. Paco's emotions don't show themselves like that and Paco is more built than this doppelgänger. Paco is dead. This isn't Paco.
Just another him from another world. Hart is a scientist and he's studied Paco's power, he has helped him with his glasses. He understands.
"Where--" He interrupts himself to cough. He hasn't talked in a while, his throat is dry. Not much to drink here. "Pardon me." Paco would have mocked him for being polite even now. "Where are you from?"
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Date: 2016-11-07 06:24 pm (UTC)His head is spinning as he tries to process this, but he finds his voice quick enough, worried about how quick this might end. "A different earth. Earth-1. Our worlds are freakishly parallel, actually, but--" He shakes his head. He doesn't have time for that. His voice shakes with the swirl of emotions coursing through him as he launches into whatever the next best explanation he can get out is.
"I'm not as good at this as Paco, I don't know how long this will last, but whatever you've been told is probably a lie, okay? Because we thought-- he thought you were gone and- and-- we're gonna save you. Okay? I don't care what it takes or what has to happen, we're gonna find a way. He's gonna be able to keep his promise to you, one way or another." His words come in a rapid-fire jumble that's probably not the easiest to keep up with, and he doesn't care how awkward and invasive that admission, to knowing that, seeing that moment even is right now. Worst first introduction ever.
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Date: 2016-11-07 07:42 pm (UTC)His faith in Paco has always been strong above all. It still is. Time has just proven that Paco wasn't strong enough. And if he couldn't, nobody could.
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Date: 2016-11-07 08:47 pm (UTC)Cisco's desperate, and he sounds it, because he can't stand the idea of any version of Hartley like this. He needs to be somewhere safe, where he can be protected and know he's loved. And that place is at Paco's side, and Cisco's determined to get him there.
"Is there anything at all you can tell me about where you are?" Any tiny piece of information he might be able to offer might be enough.
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Date: 2016-11-07 09:37 pm (UTC)No, he doesn't really believe that Paco is anywhere. That Zoom wants something crazy like that, that's easier to believe.
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Date: 2016-11-07 11:41 pm (UTC)Reality rushes back with a sharp snap and Cisco gasps as the reality of everything he just witnessed, everything that just happened, really sinks in now that the normal world has faded back into view. His eyes dart toward Paco, his face crumbles and his voice is quiet and shaky as he whispers, "He's alive, Paco."
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Date: 2016-11-07 11:50 pm (UTC)Cisco Ramon was good at giving and receiving messages. He just sucked at everything else.
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Date: 2016-11-08 12:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-11-08 12:27 am (UTC)"You know the ring he has is different from my ring. See, I made his and he made mine." Paco came to a halt and raised his hand at Cisco, a simple thread but a real one. "I know that ring inside and out and if you saw it, you can make me believe you did. And I'd do it fast because lying to me makes me very unhappy. Especially about him. I will shatter your insides to pieces if you are messing with me right now." This wasn't a funny joke. "Give me something to make me believe you. Tell me something about the ring."
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Date: 2016-11-08 01:19 am (UTC)"I'm not lying. Jesus, you think I would do that to you? About this? About him?" The incredulity reflected in both his face and his voice were over the top, but he couldn't fathom making a joke out of something like this. "It was silver, had a...maybe Celtic design on it, green inlay behind it." He shakes his head, "I only saw it for like half a second before he tucked it away again. Paco, I wouldn't lie about this! Please, you have to stop being paranoid long enough to believe me. We can find him, you can still save him like you promised."
Seeing Hartley, any Hartley, in the state he was in was enough to wreck Cisco. He can't begin to picture what this means, how it translates to Paco. The one person in the entire world he loved more than anything, who he'd thought was dead, never was. And best Cisco could gather from the way Hart refused to believe him either, he'd thought Paco was gone, too. There's no universe where that's okay to him, and if there's a chance he can fix it, he's going to.
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Date: 2016-11-08 03:38 pm (UTC)Oh God, it was happening again. It was going to happen all over again and he couldn't take that, he couldn't take the small shred of hope here that could be so cruel snatched away from him again. He didn't even know how to react to this. How to even express anything he was feeling. What did he even say to this? First, he had to let go of the breath he was holding.
"... Where did you see him?" His tone was as even as he could make it, a mix of pain and anger barely held back. "Where was he?"
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Date: 2016-11-08 04:42 pm (UTC)"It was a cell somewhere...one door in and out, no windows..." Not helpful at all, but-- "Where would Zoom keep someone he didn't want found, Reverb?" All that time he spent as Zoom's loyal guard dog had to mean he knew something that could give them a jumping off point, at least, right?
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Date: 2016-11-08 06:31 pm (UTC)Was he making a breach? Of course he was. Like hell was he waiting for this. He wasn't thinking rationally, he wasn't even thinking. All that was in his head was Hart and he didn't care right now. The world didn't matter, Zoom didn't matter. All that mattered was that he had to get to Hart. He just had to get to the cells. He had to find Hart.
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Date: 2016-11-08 06:43 pm (UTC)"Wait!" Stupid decisions make up a great percentage of Cisco's life and reaching over and grabbing Reverb's wrist ranks up pretty high toward the top of the list. But like hell he was going let Paco just barge in, mid-emotional-breakdown and ruin his chance of actually saving his husband. "You can't just fucking go in guns blazing, you need a plan."
He yanks on his mirror's wrist and spins him around so they're practically nose-to-nose. "I know you're not an idiot, so don't be one right now. Don't blow the chance you have. You have so much advantage in this situation right now. Zoom doesn't even know you're still alive. He doesn't know we know Hart's alive. Do this right so you can save your husband."
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Date: 2016-11-08 07:10 pm (UTC)He was yelling now, he didn't know why he was yelling, he just felt too much and he wasn't used to it. "Not even Zoom can stop me this time, I'm going to rip him to pieces for what he did to me. What he's still doing to me. It's never going to be over until I end him and God knows, you idiots aren't going to do it, are you?" His breathing got rapid and uneven as he felt himself choke up and -- fuck, no, he was not doing this in front of Cisco of all people. He just kept going, kept pushing on. "Do you have any idea what he means to me? No. Of course you don't, you couldn't even comprehend what I feel for Hart. You have nothing close to it! He is everything and if he's alive, I will tear this stupid world down to get him. I don't need this Earth or my Earth, I just need him."
His voice cracked at the end of the sentence as he felt his hand tremble slightly. He needed Hart, he needed him so much right now. He just needed someone to hold him and tell him it was going to be okay. That he was forgiven. For not knowing, not trying, for letting him down. He needed Hart. "I'm going to get him back and I'm not waiting."
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