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ajremixTitle: The Ghost in You
Fandom: DC TV
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 2059
Characters: Cisco, Lisa, Mick, Len
Summary: I'm pretty sure everyone's done a 'Cisco vibes Len' thing at least once. Title from the song by Psychedelic Furs.
He should've known. He really should have. When one gets called up by a Lisa Snart- and Cisco didn't ask how she got his number because he was pretty sure he didn't want to know -one should be suspicious right off the bat. One does not simply hang out with Golden Glider. But she treated him to dinner and drinks on a card that probably wasn't hers- which Cisco felt bad about and, in retrospect, should've figured from the beginning -so he didn't think much of it. And when she invited him back to her place... well...
Yeah, she was a criminal and yeah she killed people before Barry brokered that thou-shalt-not-kill rule with her brother but they were mobsters so they kinda deserved it. Plus no one could take one look at her and blame him for not thinking clearly.
All hormone and alcohol induced euphoria vanished when Cisco took one step into her place and realized Mick Rory was asleep on her couch. "Uh," he said, because there was no way he was hanking panky knowing that that guy was existing in his general vicinity.
"I need you to help me move him," Lisa said as if it was a perfectly normal conversation. "He's been passed out there all day."
"Did you seriously ask me out just so I could help move Heatwave like he was a piece of furniture?"
"I have some other Rogues coming over later, I don't want any of them seeing him like this."
"And why, exactly, are you having Rogues over?"
She smiled in that way that made him all tingly. "Plausible deniability, cutie."
Couldn't really fault that though Cisco made a mental note to pass on potential Rogue activity to Barry. Moving to Rory, Cisco was briefly overwhelmed by the stench of alcohol. Whatever he hit, it was strong and there was a lot of it. Cisco thought he'd end up too drunk to drive just from breathing it in. Between him and Lisa, they got Rory into a mostly upright slouch. Something clattered to the floor. "What was that?" Cisco looked down to find a silver ring on a chain right next to his foot.
Lisa craned her neck to look, her expression tight under nonchalance. "Honestly, he keeps taking that off to look at it, he's going to lose it some day. I'll get it later."
"I got it, no worries-" in hindsight, those were famous last words. The moment Cisco's fingers closed on the ring, he felt himself sucked into the familiar sensations of a vibe. He was in a weird looking room with a table and chairs with what looked like harness. Cisco recognized Jax and the professor and Ray, staring at a screen showing an explosion. There was also a reedy looking man with the kind of slump to his shoulders that could've challenged martyr-complex-Barry's and a blonde woman curled up in a ball, not looking at anything.
Leaning against the table was Rory, ignoring the way Snart was practically hovering over his shoulder.
"I had to do it, Mick," he heard Snart say. "I had to. I let you down too many times as it was. I couldn't let you die. Not when I could save you."
Rory wasn't moved by what sounded like a genuinely heartfelt... confession? Apology? Cisco wasn't sure what exactly he was hearing. Snart's edges flickered and Cisco frowned, looking around. Everything else seemed solid. Weird.
"I was never good at letting you go, you know that. Mick..." Snart seemed to deflate and, cerebrally speaking, Cisco knew he was more than Captain Cold but that didn't mean he ever expected him to look vulnerable. "If it was anyone else, I wouldn't have. Well, Sara... I don't know. But you deserve more than you were given. More than I gave you. All the years we've known each other- all the hits you took for me, all the falls, all the abuse, everything you ever endured because I made a mistake. I know you did it to protect me but I would've willingly traded places with you every time." He held his hand up like he was going to touch Rory. But Snart hesitated, like he was afraid of what would happen, and his hand dropped. "So of course I didn't hesitate to sacrifice my life for yours. Knowing you're alive, even if I can't be with you anymore, was more than worth it." He huffed. "Of course when I finally decide to discuss my feelings, you can't hear me. Sara would kill the both of us."
Cisco sucked in a breath- he'd heard about Snart's sacrifice from Ray. Holy crap, that meant he was vibing Snart's ghost. That meant ghosts were real. Sure the last few years have been one impossible reality after another but- holy crap, ghosts were real! Now that he knew, he could see Snart's body was in a constant state of fluctuation, like a tv station with the antenna five degrees off. Wherever Snart was, it was not the same plane of existence as anyone else in the room.
Cisco took a closer look at Rory realized that what he saw wasn't the arsonist stoically ignoring his partner. That was the look of someone that had completely shut down, mentally and emotionally. Like something crucial to them had been ripped out and their entire brain suffered a critical error. Cisco hadn't seen anyone look like that since... since...
Oh hell- since Caitlin after they found Professor Stein and realized Ronnie wasn't coming back again.
He did not like this rabbit hole he suddenly found himself in.
He watched Snart pull off a glove, then the ring on his finger. Snart turned it over in his hand, lips moving like he was trying to find something to say. Eventually he went with, "I know you'll look after Lisa. You're a better man than you think. I should've said... you were always my hero, Mick." Snart reached out and dropped the ring in Rory's pocket.
Cisco didn't have time to hypothesize on how the ring managed to cross from whatever dimension Snart was in into the regular one, just knew that it did from the subtle shadow of it hitting the bottom of Rory's pocket. And when it did Cisco was slammed with a freight train of emotion right in the chest. He'd gotten emotional bleed through in his vibes before but this was like a spike and sledgehammer in the heart that struck so deep Cisco literally fell out of the vibe, cracking his elbow on the coffee table on the way down.
Still reeling, still trying to catch his breath, a hand reached down and clamped like a vice on the front of his shirt, all but lifting him into the air. Rory's eyes were wild and furious and Cisco wondered in the back of his head if Rory managed to grab skin because ow. "Don't fucking touch that."
"Mick, c'mon, Micky- he didn't know. He didn't mean anything by it, he was just picking it up so you wouldn't lose it." Lisa's voice was almost level but it was starting to crack the more she talked. "Put him down, Baby, he's not worth it." The longer Rory didn't comply the tighter Lisa's hold on his arm got and the more panic started seeping into her voice. And the less calm Cisco was starting to feel. "Please, Mick- just put him down! He wasn't doing anything! Mick!"
Just as he was certain Rory's knuckles were sinking into his sternum, Rory tossed him aside and picked up the ring, carefully inspecting it like Cisco might've broke or even breathed on it.
Seeing that level of care, Cisco stupidly blurted out, "He loved you so much."
Rory stiffened and Lisa slid around so she was between the two. "Cisco, sweetie," she said with the kind of tone his abuella used when she was ready to thwack him with her wooden spoon of grandmotherly love, "you need to shut up."
He scrambled to his feet. "No, I mean it. Like real fairytale-miracle-making, pottery-wheel level love." Cisco winced- okay, Ghost references probably weren't the best ones to make in the situation. When Rory's shoulders looked to be reaching critical tension, Cisco put up his hands and rushed out, "How did you get that ring?"
"Snart slipped it in my pocket," came the unamused growl.
"Yeah, but when? Ray said he died in an explosion."
A look of reluctance crossed Rory's expression and Cisco didn't blame him. He probably tried to think about that incident as little as possible. He knew his point had gotten through when Rory went from borderline murderous to realizing something wasn't adding up. "He had gloves on. Lance said she left with me almost immediately. He didn't have time."
"Wait," Lisa looked between the two of them uncertainly, "non-science person here. What does that mean?"
"Snart gave you the ring after the explosion. I vibed it when I picked up the ring."
Rory looked at Lisa, "What?"
"Meta."
"Ah."
Cisco ignored the exchange. "I don't know the details but he managed to manifest on a different plane of existence and somehow passed the ring on to you. Because he wanted you to have something that was his and not just Captain Cold's. That's how much he loved you." It felt like Cisco's stomach suddenly bottomed out at the implications. "If he did it once, who's to say he can't do it again? And if he can, who's to say we can't get him back?"
Rory's expression went distant and focused and though Cisco had seen that expression during every Flash brainstorm session, he never expected to see it on him. "The Vanishing Point exists outside normal temporal laws and the Time Masters used the Occulus to manipulate time. If anyone managed to cheat death by getting lost in all that chronol energy, it would be that slippery bastard."
"Are you saying my brother might be alive?" She grabbed Mick's arm. "Is Lenny alive?"
"I dunno," Rory stood and, ensuring the ring was safely around his neck again, paced. He didn't seem the slightest bit drunk or hungover- to which Cisco was both impressed and jealous. "Shit, there's no way to get back the information that was lost when the Vanishing Point exploded, the next best place to look up information is in the Time Institute in Metropolis but the place will be crawling with Speed Metals and any unauthorized time travelers caught in the place are arrested on sight. Senius and Brainiac 5 might have some theories if we can get their help." Rory grimaced. "If we can get passed the Legion- they are not gonna be happy to see me."
"If only you had a gang of criminals to help you get the things or people you needed." When Rory opened his mouth to protest, Lisa just pointed at him and said bluntly, "No. If there's even a .1% chance of saving Lenny, I'll do it. I'll even volunteer all the other Rogues if necessary."
"And, you know, us too," Cisco said before thinking better about volunteering for possible illegal hijinks. At the skeptical looks he waved his hands around in emphasis. "What? I'm pretty sure bringing someone back to their proper plane of existence is the hero thing to do."
Rory huffed. "Yeah, well it ain't gonna be as easy as that. It's gonna take a lot of research to even figure out if it's possible." The idea of research made him scowl, but there was undeniable hope and determination in his expression.
As he moved to the door, Lisa grabbed Rory's arm, "If you find a way I better be part of it, even if I'm just along for the ride."
Rory's lips twitched, putting a hand to her face almost paternally. "I know. You'd never forgive me if you weren't."
"Damn straight." She let him go and when the door shut, Lisa wrapped her arms around herself. "Do you think," she said quietly, hesitantly, "it might be possible?"
"Don't know," Cisco admitted. "But if it is, even at .1%, I don't doubt for a second you two will get him back."
She smiled at him, wanting so badly to hope and Cisco never imagined he'd ever want to see Leonard Snart again so much.
Fandom: DC TV
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 2059
Characters: Cisco, Lisa, Mick, Len
Summary: I'm pretty sure everyone's done a 'Cisco vibes Len' thing at least once. Title from the song by Psychedelic Furs.
He should've known. He really should have. When one gets called up by a Lisa Snart- and Cisco didn't ask how she got his number because he was pretty sure he didn't want to know -one should be suspicious right off the bat. One does not simply hang out with Golden Glider. But she treated him to dinner and drinks on a card that probably wasn't hers- which Cisco felt bad about and, in retrospect, should've figured from the beginning -so he didn't think much of it. And when she invited him back to her place... well...
Yeah, she was a criminal and yeah she killed people before Barry brokered that thou-shalt-not-kill rule with her brother but they were mobsters so they kinda deserved it. Plus no one could take one look at her and blame him for not thinking clearly.
All hormone and alcohol induced euphoria vanished when Cisco took one step into her place and realized Mick Rory was asleep on her couch. "Uh," he said, because there was no way he was hanking panky knowing that that guy was existing in his general vicinity.
"I need you to help me move him," Lisa said as if it was a perfectly normal conversation. "He's been passed out there all day."
"Did you seriously ask me out just so I could help move Heatwave like he was a piece of furniture?"
"I have some other Rogues coming over later, I don't want any of them seeing him like this."
"And why, exactly, are you having Rogues over?"
She smiled in that way that made him all tingly. "Plausible deniability, cutie."
Couldn't really fault that though Cisco made a mental note to pass on potential Rogue activity to Barry. Moving to Rory, Cisco was briefly overwhelmed by the stench of alcohol. Whatever he hit, it was strong and there was a lot of it. Cisco thought he'd end up too drunk to drive just from breathing it in. Between him and Lisa, they got Rory into a mostly upright slouch. Something clattered to the floor. "What was that?" Cisco looked down to find a silver ring on a chain right next to his foot.
Lisa craned her neck to look, her expression tight under nonchalance. "Honestly, he keeps taking that off to look at it, he's going to lose it some day. I'll get it later."
"I got it, no worries-" in hindsight, those were famous last words. The moment Cisco's fingers closed on the ring, he felt himself sucked into the familiar sensations of a vibe. He was in a weird looking room with a table and chairs with what looked like harness. Cisco recognized Jax and the professor and Ray, staring at a screen showing an explosion. There was also a reedy looking man with the kind of slump to his shoulders that could've challenged martyr-complex-Barry's and a blonde woman curled up in a ball, not looking at anything.
Leaning against the table was Rory, ignoring the way Snart was practically hovering over his shoulder.
"I had to do it, Mick," he heard Snart say. "I had to. I let you down too many times as it was. I couldn't let you die. Not when I could save you."
Rory wasn't moved by what sounded like a genuinely heartfelt... confession? Apology? Cisco wasn't sure what exactly he was hearing. Snart's edges flickered and Cisco frowned, looking around. Everything else seemed solid. Weird.
"I was never good at letting you go, you know that. Mick..." Snart seemed to deflate and, cerebrally speaking, Cisco knew he was more than Captain Cold but that didn't mean he ever expected him to look vulnerable. "If it was anyone else, I wouldn't have. Well, Sara... I don't know. But you deserve more than you were given. More than I gave you. All the years we've known each other- all the hits you took for me, all the falls, all the abuse, everything you ever endured because I made a mistake. I know you did it to protect me but I would've willingly traded places with you every time." He held his hand up like he was going to touch Rory. But Snart hesitated, like he was afraid of what would happen, and his hand dropped. "So of course I didn't hesitate to sacrifice my life for yours. Knowing you're alive, even if I can't be with you anymore, was more than worth it." He huffed. "Of course when I finally decide to discuss my feelings, you can't hear me. Sara would kill the both of us."
Cisco sucked in a breath- he'd heard about Snart's sacrifice from Ray. Holy crap, that meant he was vibing Snart's ghost. That meant ghosts were real. Sure the last few years have been one impossible reality after another but- holy crap, ghosts were real! Now that he knew, he could see Snart's body was in a constant state of fluctuation, like a tv station with the antenna five degrees off. Wherever Snart was, it was not the same plane of existence as anyone else in the room.
Cisco took a closer look at Rory realized that what he saw wasn't the arsonist stoically ignoring his partner. That was the look of someone that had completely shut down, mentally and emotionally. Like something crucial to them had been ripped out and their entire brain suffered a critical error. Cisco hadn't seen anyone look like that since... since...
Oh hell- since Caitlin after they found Professor Stein and realized Ronnie wasn't coming back again.
He did not like this rabbit hole he suddenly found himself in.
He watched Snart pull off a glove, then the ring on his finger. Snart turned it over in his hand, lips moving like he was trying to find something to say. Eventually he went with, "I know you'll look after Lisa. You're a better man than you think. I should've said... you were always my hero, Mick." Snart reached out and dropped the ring in Rory's pocket.
Cisco didn't have time to hypothesize on how the ring managed to cross from whatever dimension Snart was in into the regular one, just knew that it did from the subtle shadow of it hitting the bottom of Rory's pocket. And when it did Cisco was slammed with a freight train of emotion right in the chest. He'd gotten emotional bleed through in his vibes before but this was like a spike and sledgehammer in the heart that struck so deep Cisco literally fell out of the vibe, cracking his elbow on the coffee table on the way down.
Still reeling, still trying to catch his breath, a hand reached down and clamped like a vice on the front of his shirt, all but lifting him into the air. Rory's eyes were wild and furious and Cisco wondered in the back of his head if Rory managed to grab skin because ow. "Don't fucking touch that."
"Mick, c'mon, Micky- he didn't know. He didn't mean anything by it, he was just picking it up so you wouldn't lose it." Lisa's voice was almost level but it was starting to crack the more she talked. "Put him down, Baby, he's not worth it." The longer Rory didn't comply the tighter Lisa's hold on his arm got and the more panic started seeping into her voice. And the less calm Cisco was starting to feel. "Please, Mick- just put him down! He wasn't doing anything! Mick!"
Just as he was certain Rory's knuckles were sinking into his sternum, Rory tossed him aside and picked up the ring, carefully inspecting it like Cisco might've broke or even breathed on it.
Seeing that level of care, Cisco stupidly blurted out, "He loved you so much."
Rory stiffened and Lisa slid around so she was between the two. "Cisco, sweetie," she said with the kind of tone his abuella used when she was ready to thwack him with her wooden spoon of grandmotherly love, "you need to shut up."
He scrambled to his feet. "No, I mean it. Like real fairytale-miracle-making, pottery-wheel level love." Cisco winced- okay, Ghost references probably weren't the best ones to make in the situation. When Rory's shoulders looked to be reaching critical tension, Cisco put up his hands and rushed out, "How did you get that ring?"
"Snart slipped it in my pocket," came the unamused growl.
"Yeah, but when? Ray said he died in an explosion."
A look of reluctance crossed Rory's expression and Cisco didn't blame him. He probably tried to think about that incident as little as possible. He knew his point had gotten through when Rory went from borderline murderous to realizing something wasn't adding up. "He had gloves on. Lance said she left with me almost immediately. He didn't have time."
"Wait," Lisa looked between the two of them uncertainly, "non-science person here. What does that mean?"
"Snart gave you the ring after the explosion. I vibed it when I picked up the ring."
Rory looked at Lisa, "What?"
"Meta."
"Ah."
Cisco ignored the exchange. "I don't know the details but he managed to manifest on a different plane of existence and somehow passed the ring on to you. Because he wanted you to have something that was his and not just Captain Cold's. That's how much he loved you." It felt like Cisco's stomach suddenly bottomed out at the implications. "If he did it once, who's to say he can't do it again? And if he can, who's to say we can't get him back?"
Rory's expression went distant and focused and though Cisco had seen that expression during every Flash brainstorm session, he never expected to see it on him. "The Vanishing Point exists outside normal temporal laws and the Time Masters used the Occulus to manipulate time. If anyone managed to cheat death by getting lost in all that chronol energy, it would be that slippery bastard."
"Are you saying my brother might be alive?" She grabbed Mick's arm. "Is Lenny alive?"
"I dunno," Rory stood and, ensuring the ring was safely around his neck again, paced. He didn't seem the slightest bit drunk or hungover- to which Cisco was both impressed and jealous. "Shit, there's no way to get back the information that was lost when the Vanishing Point exploded, the next best place to look up information is in the Time Institute in Metropolis but the place will be crawling with Speed Metals and any unauthorized time travelers caught in the place are arrested on sight. Senius and Brainiac 5 might have some theories if we can get their help." Rory grimaced. "If we can get passed the Legion- they are not gonna be happy to see me."
"If only you had a gang of criminals to help you get the things or people you needed." When Rory opened his mouth to protest, Lisa just pointed at him and said bluntly, "No. If there's even a .1% chance of saving Lenny, I'll do it. I'll even volunteer all the other Rogues if necessary."
"And, you know, us too," Cisco said before thinking better about volunteering for possible illegal hijinks. At the skeptical looks he waved his hands around in emphasis. "What? I'm pretty sure bringing someone back to their proper plane of existence is the hero thing to do."
Rory huffed. "Yeah, well it ain't gonna be as easy as that. It's gonna take a lot of research to even figure out if it's possible." The idea of research made him scowl, but there was undeniable hope and determination in his expression.
As he moved to the door, Lisa grabbed Rory's arm, "If you find a way I better be part of it, even if I'm just along for the ride."
Rory's lips twitched, putting a hand to her face almost paternally. "I know. You'd never forgive me if you weren't."
"Damn straight." She let him go and when the door shut, Lisa wrapped her arms around herself. "Do you think," she said quietly, hesitantly, "it might be possible?"
"Don't know," Cisco admitted. "But if it is, even at .1%, I don't doubt for a second you two will get him back."
She smiled at him, wanting so badly to hope and Cisco never imagined he'd ever want to see Leonard Snart again so much.
