Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Today was a bad day. No—bad wasn’t even the right word. It was devastating. Shattering. The kind of day that rips the ground out from under you and leaves you free-falling with no end in sight.
My best friend just admitted to me that he was the one who killed my brother.
The words kept replaying in my head, looping like a cruel, broken record. No matter how many times I blinked, how many drinks I knocked back, they wouldn’t go away. They were burned into my brain, branded like a scar I’d never be rid of.

I gripped the edge of the bar, my knuckles turning white. The whiskey in my glass barely burned anymore. Maybe I was getting numb to it, or maybe I had already crossed the line where nothing really mattered. Either way, it wasn’t helping. Nothing was.
The last time I was here, I wasn’t alone.

Dante had been with me.
Before the accident.
Before I lost him.

And now? Now I was here again, drowning in memories and regret.
Then, as if the universe wanted to remind me just how much worse things could get, I heard his voice.

"Hey, Cisco."

I stiffened. My fingers curled tighter around my glass, and I closed my eyes for a brief second. Of course, he would show up. Of course, he would come looking for me.
I let out a slow, unsteady breath before shaking my head.

"How did you know I’d be here?" My voice came out quieter than I intended, but the weight behind it was sharp.

"Lucky guess." Barry’s voice was soft, hesitant, like he was stepping on eggshells. He should be.

I scoffed and took another sip of my drink, letting the bitterness settle on my tongue.

"Huh… so what do you want?" My tone was flat, but there was an edge to it. A warning.

Barry hesitated, and for the first time, I looked at him. Really looked.
He looked wrecked. Dark circles under his eyes, his jaw clenched so tightly I thought it might snap. His shoulders were tense, like he was carrying the weight of the world on his back. Good. Now he knew how it felt.

"I wanted to say I’m sorry," he finally said. His voice barely rose above the hum of the bar, but I heard it clear as day. "I—I never meant for any of this to happen."

Something inside me snapped.

I let out a sharp, bitter laugh. "Well, I guess you didn’t think hard enough."

I pushed away from the bar, the stool scraping loudly against the floor as I stood. My vision swayed slightly, but I ignored it. "I’m leaving.

Barry reached out, desperation flashing in his eyes. "Cisco, wait, plea—"

I turned on him, my chest tight with anger, betrayal, and something deeper—something raw. "Just leave me alone! Please, you’ve done enough already."

Barry flinched. For a second, guilt flickered in his expression, but I refused to care. He didn’t get to do that. He didn’t get to apologize and think it would fix things.
I turned and stormed out of the bar. The cold air hit me like a slap, but it didn’t sober me up as much as I hoped. My head was still swimming, my thoughts still tangled in a whirlwind of emotions I couldn’t control.
I just needed to get to my car. Needed to get away.
But the moment I stepped into the street, everything shifted.

The sidewalk seemed to tilt beneath me. My legs felt like they weren’t mine, like they had suddenly turned to lead. My breath came in short, shallow gasps. The streetlights above blurred together, streaks of white and yellow blending into the darkness.
Something was wrong.

My knees buckled, and I hit the pavement hard. The distant sound of a car honking barely registered before my vision darkened.

Then, everything went black.

Chapter Text

STAR Labs – The next day
Barry paced the length of the cortex, his hands fisting and unfisting at his sides. Something wasn’t right.
Cisco was never late—hell, if anything, he was usually the first one here, cracking jokes and making coffee that was way too strong for anyone but him. But today? Nothing. No texts, no calls, no sarcastic remarks over the comms.

Just silence.

Caitlin exchanged a look with Harry, concern etched across her face.

“Barry, are you sure nothing happened last night? Cisco wouldn’t just ghost us like this.”

Barry exhaled sharply, rubbing a hand over his face. “I mean, yeah, we fought, but it wasn’t—”

He hesitated, the memory of Cisco’s face flashing in his mind. The raw hurt, the betrayal in his eyes. The way his voice had cracked when he told Barry to leave him alone.

Maybe he had been more than just angry.
Harry adjusted his glasses, already typing away at the nearest console.

“Well, whether or not your argument is relevant, Cisco isn’t here, and that’s a problem. Let’s check the city cams—see where he went after he left the bar.”

Barry didn’t argue. He just stood there, waiting, dread settling in his stomach like a stone.

A few seconds later, Harry’s screen lit up with security footage from the street outside the bar. They all leaned in, watching as Cisco stumbled onto the sidewalk, barely able to keep his balance.

“That doesn’t look like someone who just had one too many drinks,” Caitlin muttered, eyes narrowing.

Barry felt his pulse spike as the video continued. Cisco barely made it a few steps before he collapsed onto the pavement.

And then—Barry’s heart nearly stopped—a dark van pulled up beside him.

“What the hell?” Harry muttered, rewinding the footage and slowing it down.

The van’s door slid open, and two figures dressed in black hauled Cisco’s unconscious body inside before speeding off.

Caitlin gasped. “Oh my God—he was taken.”

Barry’s hands clenched into fists. His mind raced, a thousand worst-case scenarios flashing through his head.

“We need to find him. Now.”

Harry was already scanning the footage, tracking the van’s license plate. But Barry wasn’t going to wait. Whoever had taken Cisco had a head start, and he wasn’t about to let them keep it.

Without another word, he blurred out of the room.

*Unknown location*

Cisco’s head pounded like a jackhammer against his skull as he slowly came to. His body felt heavy, his limbs sluggish, like he had been drugged—or worse. The cold, hard surface beneath him sent a shiver up his spine as he forced his eyes open.

Dim, flickering light barely illuminated the space, but he could make out the grimy concrete walls, the rusted pipes overhead. A basement? A warehouse? Either way, it wasn’t good. He tried to move, only to realize his wrists were bound to the chair he was slumped in. Great. Just great.
A slow, mocking clap echoed through the room.

“Finally awake. Thought you were gonna sleep through all the fun.”

The voice was smooth, almost amused, but laced with something sharper—something dangerous. Cisco squinted toward the sound, his vision still adjusting, until a figure stepped into the light. A tall man, lean but strong, dressed in dark clothes. But what stood out the most were his eyes—crackling with an eerie, electric-blue glow. A meta.

“Who the hell are you?” Cisco rasped, throat dry. The man smirked, tilting his head.

“Oh, you can call me Volt. And you? You’re gonna help me whether you want to or not.”