{Don't be gone when I get home, you're all I have

[myheadisaprison]

PSL with viber + mostlyajerk
s3 timeline shenanigans

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[mostlyajerk]

"Look, Cisquito. Maybe he could. I'm not saying he shouldn't. But I understand it's not something that he can do lightly. At least it shouldn't be. There's always consequences. You know that as well as I do." Hartley lifts his hand so he can run his fingers through Cisco's hair, hoping that he can find the right words. "Barry still can't trust me, because of whatever I did in that other timeline. He was my friend and now he can barely look at me. If things had been different, you might still hate me. We barely managed to take out the time wraith last time."

Cisco has to remember all that, of course he does. If Hartley hadn't figured it out in time, Barry would be gone. The way Zoom was. "I'm not saying Barry can't do it or shouldn't do it, I'm even sure he wants to do it. But he... He has a lot of power and... And..."

It's not really usual for Hartley to search for words like this, but here he is, pressing his lips together in frustration and finally huffing. "I'm trying to think of a different way to say that with great power comes great responsibility so I don't trivialise this with a comic book reference."

[thisismadfreaky]

It's involuntarily that he leans into the touch, he can't stop it, it's just a natural reaction to the comfort he gets from it. "But it's not-- some things don't matter as much in keeping the timeline in tact, they couldn't or what's the point of having the opportunity and never being able to do anything with it?" The more he talks, the faster he gets, words rushing together a bit, "What if-- what if this is one of those things? What if he could fix it and it wouldn't change anything else? I don't ask for anything, this is the only thing I have ever asked out of him and it's not fair, it's not fair, Hartley, I--"

But just as quickly as he'd gotten on a roll, he loses steam and crumbles against the other man. His fingers twist in the material of Hartley's shirt as Cisco hides his face against him. "I just want my brother back." he says in a choked mumble.

[mostlyajerk]

"I know, Cisquito. I know." His fingers slide through Cisco's hair and finally his hand tightens and simply buries in it, holding him as close as he can. There isn't much he can do for Cisco and maybe he doesn't even have much understanding of his situation. He's lost his family through different circumstances and while he misses them, it's different. It's not something worth bringing up. "I'm so sorry."

He doesn't want to give him false hope, but his mind is still what it is and he can't help but consider the possibilities. "If there's anyone who could tell whether a change would affect the timeline and how it would affect it, it'd have to be someone with your powers."

[thisismadfreaky]

For a bit, he doesn't say anything, doesn't move, just stays buried and curled against his boyfriend, a broken, sobbing mess. Eventually, the sobs subside, though, and he lifts his head enough to press his ear against Hartley's chest, just above his heart, focusing on the soft, steady beat of it and letting it calm him down. This was something he did a lot when he got like this, if he could just focus on the rhythm of Hartley's heartbeat, he could usually avoid putting himself into hysterics.

When he makes that point, Cisco looks up at him, carefully considering it before he latched onto the hope and tried to run with it. "You're right..." He taps a finger against Hartley's chest a couple of times. "You're right, I should be able to--" Running. Running with the tiny glimmer of hope because it's better than the despair, he twists a little out of Hartley's grip, though he doesn't go very far which probably speaks more to how careful he's forcing himself to be with this currently very fragile thing in his hands. "why didn't I think of it earlier when he was here? I'll call him. Paco- he can help me figure it out."

He's circled back to the rapid-fire speech again, amped by the sudden burst of optimism burning its way through him, "Fuck, he probably already knows how. He said Zoom dicked around in timelines all the time, I bet-- I bet he made him check for anomalies or whatever before he did anything too huge."

Finally, he spins back toward Hartley, something just a little brighter about him in that moment, even if it will probably be short-lived. "You're amazing," he frames Hartley's face with both hands and presses a soft kiss to his lips. "where would I be without you?" He mumbles softly, hands moving down to smooth across his chest.