Killervibe Week - Day 3: Time Travel
So this is basically an AU of the last episode in season 4, where instead of Barry and Iris’s daughter coming back from the future, it’s Cisco and Caitlin’s daughter instead, which of course freaks everyone out (especially Caitlin and Cisco) :)
The girl appeared seemingly out of nowhere, yet it was as though she’d been there all along. Cisco tried to keep up with the conversation around him, listening as people pointed out where they’d seen this strange girl before, and speculating on who she really was. Yet Cisco found himself caught off guard by her appearance. She just looked so familiar, with her slender build, bronze skin and chocolate brown hair. Her eyes reminded him of the color of caramel, and the way she smiled, albeit nervously, struck him as oddly recognizable.
“Who are you?” someone, probably Barry, asked, and then the strange girl locked eyes with him.
Have I seen her in a vibe? Cisco asked himself, but this familiarity came from his gut, not his mind. She almost looks like she could be—
“My name is Angelina Ramon,” she announced, her voice steady despite her apprehensive expression. “I’m your guy’s daughter, from the future.”
Cisco realized she had shifted her gaze away from him and onto someone else, and the realization hit Cisco harder than Barry’s super-sonic speed punch.
The smile, the eyes, the behavior. That’s why it all seemed so familiar, because it reminded him of his best friend.
“Wait, me?” Caitlin gasped, the glass in her hand falling to the living room rug. “You’re my—our—” she gave Cisco a fleeting glance before turning back to the young woman, “daughter?”
Angelina Ramon nodded, twisting her fingers together nervously. “I came because…I’m in trouble, and I’m afraid I’ve made a really big mistake.”
                              **
It had been three days since Angelina Ramon showed up and completely turned Cisco’s world upside down. He had always wanted to have a family with kids, but he never even dreamed he’d be meeting them before they were even conceived.
Or that Caitlin would be the mother of his children.
It’s not necessarily a bad thing though, Cisco reminded himself as he watched Caitlin run a DNA test on Angelina, just to be sure. I mean, Caitlin is beautiful and smart, and a great person overall. She’s probably a terrific mother.
It was just the fact that he had never once found himself having romantic feelings towards Caitlin that made the whole situation seem so much more bizarre. Would there be a sudden change in their relationship coming up soon? Were they married in the future? Did they have other children too? Cisco wanted to know all the facts, but Angelina would hardly reveal anything about their personal lives, except that she was their child.
He watched as Caitlin walked over to him after the test had been conducted, and sat down by his desk, staring at the tablet screen in her hands.
“Well?” he asked. “What’s the consensus?” He already knew she was without a doubt their daughter, but wanted to hear Caitlin acknowledge it for herself.
“She is extremely healthy, has perfectly working organs and strong bones, plus…a perfect mix of both of our DNA.” Caitlin finally looked up at him, her expression unreadable.
“So…” Cisco started, watching as Angelina enthusiastically interacted with Barry and Iris. “We have a daughter.”
“I suppose we do,” Caitlin replied.
Their eyes met, and despite the strangeness of the situation, Cisco couldn’t help but smile.
                              **
It was soon discovered that some twenty odd years in the future, metas were being hunted. Angelina explained to them all that there was a man, simply called “The Hunter,” that had the ability to drain metas of their power, and that Team Flash was in a desperate need of help.
“The majority of our team had lost their powers, leaving only me and Nora,” Angelina told everyone, as they all gathered in Star Labs to hear her story.
“Wait, who’s Nora?” Barry immediately interrupted, his expression inquisitive.
“Oh, um, your daughter. She’s a speedster too,” Angelina revealed, and then quickly resumed her story. “Anyway, I was supposed to go back in time to get you, but I kept stalling because I was sure there was another way around the problem without messing up the timeline.” She grimaced before continuing. “But because I delayed so long, The Hunter found us and ended up breaking into our facility and took my powers right after I opened a time-breach, but Nora didn’t know he took my powers so she pushed me through, and now I’m stuck here with no way to get back and she has no idea.”
Everyone was silent as they took in what she said.
“So what are your powers again?” Caitlin eventually asked.
Angelina smiled at her and Cisco before responding. “I can vibe. And I also can freeze things. Back home I’m called Crystal Vibe.”
“You inherited both of their meta powers?” Iris asked incredulously. “I didn’t know that was even possible.”
“Wait, you said you opened a time-breach,” Cisco pointed out. “And…what is that?”
Angelina blinked in surprise, and then softy laughed. “Right, sorry, you haven’t invented them yet. It’s a breach that lets you travel through different timelines, including the one you’re in.”
Cisco held up his hands. “Hold up—I invent time travel?”
Angelina laughed again, a sound that Cisco was coming accustomed to. “Uncle Barry kinda did it first, but you invented a version of it.”
When everyone had finished their questioning, Angelina left to catch up on some sleep, and Cisco found himself drawn to wherever Caitlin was.
“She is pretty cool, you have to admit,” Cisco said as he watched Caitlin clean her instruments in the med lab.
“Of course she is—she has us as parents,” Caitlin replied with a smile.
Cisco found himself wanting to make her smile more and more. He never noticed how happy it made him until now.
“Y’know,” Caitlin continued as she rinsed off her scalpel. “I never mentioned it earlier, but out of everyone I could’ve had a daughter with, I’m…I’m glad it was you. I know I can trust you with anything.”
Cisco wasn’t sure if it was his imagination or if she was actually blushing, but his heart leapt at her words.
Maybe the notion of him and Caitlin eventually hooking up wasn’t so absurd after all.
                              **
The real trouble started when The Hunter found a way to come to present-time Central City.
It was a complete surprise to all of them, and unfortunately caught them off guard. The Hunter burst into Star Labs, ominously moving through the corridors as he sought out more meta power to consume. Immediately, Iris ordered Cisco, Ralph, and Barry to flee the premises.
“You’re our three metas with powers, and we’ve got to keep you safe,” she commanded, disregarding all of their protests. “At least just hide until the Hunter has left, and then we’ll come up with a plan.”
Cisco hated it, but knew she was right. He breached Barry and Ralph out of Star Labs to the other side of the city, where they brainstormed ways to defeat The Hunter while awaiting Iris’s “all-clear” signal. Yet when they got the message and returned to Star Labs, they were met with an unpleasant sight.
Almost half of Star Labs had been demolished, or at least severely damaged. Apparently when The Hunter realized there were no metas there, he went into a rage and started destroying everything in his wake.
Cisco was annoyed, of course, but then he felt his heart stop in fear when Iris told them Caitlin had been injured in the attack, and wasn’t waking up. He rushed as quickly as he could to the Med Lab (or what was left of it) and saw Caitlin lying eerily still on the white bed, her face scratched and bruised. For two whole days he stayed by her side, trying everything her could to help her heal faster and wake her up, but as the hours stretched on so did his anxious thoughts.
He had known Caitlin for so long, and for so long they had been best friends, always laughing with each other and spending time together, whether it be at work or at their apartments, watching cheesy Netflix shows and giving a running commentary while gorging themselves on snacks. He didn’t think he could picture his life without her. He didn’t want to picture his life without her. He wanted to always have her by his side, to see her smile at his jokes and help comfort him when times grew tough. He wanted to be there and support her through all of her troubles and be there to celebrate her triumphs. He just wanted to be around her, whether they were saving the city or just going to the grocery store, he just wanted her, and that was when he realized that maybe, just maybe, he was in love.
It took another few days before Caitlin awoke form her coma, and Cisco had never felt more relieved when she did. He hadn’t been able to function properly without knowing if she was going to be okay, and he shared his worries with her once she was fully awake and oriented.
“Don’t be silly,” Caitlin chided fondly. “I couldn’t die. We have to have our daughter first, remember?”
All Cisco could do in response was grip her hand tightly and try not to cry.
                              **
Throughout the next few weeks the Star Labs team worked nonstop, trying to come up with a solution. They knew that The Hunter was somehow harboring all of the meta powers he’d stolen inside him, so they couldn’t just kill him or else all the powers would be lost. They needed to find a way to siphon the powers away from him so they could return them to their respective owners in the future, plus also find a way to get to the future.
“The speed force only goes to the past, so Barry can’t do it,” Angelina told them. “It has to be you, dad.” She had looked at Cisco with so much confidence, as though she knew he could find a way to time-breach, but Cisco was completely clueless. He had listened to his daughter try and coach him through how to do it, but no matter how hard he tried his efforts were useless.
“It’s impossible,” he groaned to Caitlin after Angelina suggested they take a break. “A time-breach is beyond anything I’ve ever tried before. It’s literally vibing apart the time continuum and jumping into the future!”
“I’m sure it just takes time,” Caitlin reassured him, squeezing his hand comfortingly. “But if anyone can do it, I know you can.”
Caitlin’s encouragement meant more to him than she probably knew. The following days he trained harder than ever before, willing himself to go beyond his limits to try and save the future. And every day, after his long training sessions were finally over, Caitlin was always there to give his shoulder a comforting squeeze, hold his weary hands, or even gently kiss his throbbing forehead. Their physical contact was becoming more and more common now than ever before, yet neither of them really noticed. It just seemed so natural to the both of them, as though it was always meant to be this way.
Eventually all of Cisco’s hard work paid off, and he finally discovered how to open a time-breach. Everyone congratulated him and was encouraged by his positive success, but the proud smile Caitlin gave him and the way she gently kissed his cheek was all the reward Cisco needed.
                              **
They team now had a way to get to the future, and soon they discovered a way to reverse the powers of The Hunter and take the meta powers back. All they needed was to lure The Hunter into walking through a time-breach to take him back to the future.
Together they all devised a plan where Barry would lure The Hunter to Star Labs again, only this time Cisco would be ready with a time-breach that Iris, Caitlin, and Angelina would knock him through. Then Barry, Cisco, and Angelina would follow The Hunter through the portal and use their siphoning ray to take his powers, and then distribute them to all the powerless metas. Then The Hunter would be locked up in Iron Heights, and Barry and Cisco would go home.
The plan seemed fairly stable, but Cisco was slightly apprehensive about all the unknown variables they didn’t account for. What happened if The Hunter didn’t take Barry as bait? What if The Hunter somehow stole Cisco’s powers before he could open the breach? Questions raced through his head, but he shook them off for the time being, focusing on the plan and what they did know instead.
“I guess this means I have to say goodbye to Angelina,” Caitlin said to him softly, after Iris told everyone to get into their places.
Cisco squeezed her hand. “We’ll see her again someday.” Caitlin nodded at his words.
Both of them had completely accepted the fact that they were going to have a child at some point in the future by now, and Cisco found himself looking forward to the time when they would actually start a family.
“Just be careful, all right?” Caitlin told him, reaching up to tuck a loose strand of his hair behind his ear. “The future can be a scary place.” She smirked as he rolled his eyes.
“I’ll be fine,” he promised, and then drew her into a hug. He was about to pull away when Caitlin caught him by the arm, her deep brown eyes boring into his. Then without any sort of warning or preamble, she leaned forward and pressed her lips against his own.
It was a short and sweet kiss, but it left Cisco breathless all the same. When she drew back she gave him a shy smile. “For luck,” she clarified, and then turned to go and bid goodbye to their future daughter.
Barry walked over a few minutes later, checking to make sure he was ready when he frowned, giving Cisco a wary look. “You looked dazed. Are you feeling alright?”
“I’m feeling great,” Cisco assured, thinking about how that kiss was just the beginning of several more to come.
                               **
The plan went off without a hitch. The Hunter took the bait as planned, and Cisco was successfully able to transport everyone to the future. There Angelina used the gun on The Hunter and released all the stolen meta power, which was quickly returned to their rightful owners, and everything had been restored.
“Thank you so much,” Angelina told Cisco once everything was over, giving Barry time to talk to his future daughter Nora for a bit. “We never could’ve done this without you.”
“No problem,” Cisco said, and then cleared his throat before continuing. “And, uh, thank you as well. If you hadn’t come, I don’t think you would’ve ever been born.”
To his surprise, she shook her head with a laugh. “I don’t think that’s completely true. You and mom have always shared a special connection, even before I showed up. You would’ve found your way to each other eventually.”
Her words initially shocked him, but after a moment he began to see how she could be right. “You really think so?”
Angelina nodded confidently. “You’ve always been in love with her, I just helped you come to the conclusion a little faster.” She glanced around behind her. “Speaking of parents, I should find them. Well, I mean my current-time parents.” She giggled as her eyes lit up, so similar to Caitlin’s when she got excited. “Your future self is gonna freak when I tell him I met you and mom.”
Cisco smiled. “Freak him out good for me.” He then gave her a quick hug, and she was gone.
Once Barry had finished talking to Nora, he came back to Cisco, smiling widely. “I can’t wait to meet her in our timeline,” he said excitedly, and then the two of them jumped through Cisco’s time-breach back into Star Labs.
“You made it!” Iris exclaimed, racing over to Barry and embracing him. Cisco hardly took notice of them though, for his eyes were focused on Caitlin, and how she gave him a warm smile before coming over to embrace him as well.
Later that night, with their hands intertwined, Cisco and Caitlin sat on the roof of Star Labs, watching as the sun set and painted the sky with pinks and yellows.
“So…” Caitlin began, shooting him a playful smirk.
“So,” Cisco parroted, turning his head to face her.
“You think we should skip all the dating and stuff and just get busy on creating Angelina Ramon?”
Cisco nearly choked on his own breath at her words, but then saw a large grin split her face as she began laughing hard, tears sparkling in her eyes.
“Your face, Cisco, was priceless,” she managed to say while still laughing.
Cisco couldn’t help but laugh along with her, and once they had eventually calmed down he turned to her, his demeanor more serious. “I do want to start a family with you,” he admitted, rubbing his thumb gently across her knuckles. “But I want to start out properly.” He glanced up at Caitlin, noting the affection in her eyes as she stared at him. “So, how does a date sound?”
“It sounds perfect,” Caitlin responded softly, almost glowing due to the sun shining on her hair.
This time Cisco leaned forward and captured her mouth with his own, and enjoyed the feeling of her soft lips and the sweet smell of her caramel hair. He soon became lost in the kiss, thinking of nothing but Caitlin and how he was the luckiest man in the multiverse.
The future looked bright for them, and for the moment, that was all he needed to know.
