Only Because I Need You Too

Chapter 9: Past Mistakes

Cisco bolted awake. His eyes were wide and his ears trained. Springing to his feet, he was met with a wave of nausea. Nausea he had felt before. Stumbling around in the dark, his bare feet slapped against the cold floor. After a moment of frantic searching, he found his door. Flinging it open and stepping into the burning light, he was met with a familiar scene. There was Sonny, at the centre of Cisco's rustic looking apartment, his hands outstretched towards a rippling purple breach. The boy turned to face him, his blue eyes wide and mouth ajar. "Don't," Cisco called, reaching out to the child and taking a few cautious steps forwards. The boy's head fell, but he leaned towards the breach. "Trust me, time travel is a dead end alley,"

"But..." Sonny trailed off, his blue eyes filled with tears. "I don't think I can live without them."

Cisco's shoulder's drooped. Closing the distance between himself and the child, he pulled the kid into a tight hug. The breach flickered out of existence, leaving the two of them embraced in dim lighting. "I thought that too." Cisco began, feeling the boy's form shake beneath him. "My brother died a while ago. I barely had a bond with him... I always wanted one though." Inhaling deeply, he continued his story, "but when he died it was too late." Pulling away from their hug, Cisco placed his palms on the boy's shoulders and sent him a warm smile. "At first I thought I couldn't live with myself. I had barely made an effort to speak or connect with my brother and I turned to time travel, but Barry refused to let me. I am grateful for that now."

"Why are you grateful?" Sonny asked, his bewildered eyes met Cisco's. "You had a chance to go back in time and save your brother but your own friend stopped you?"

Cisco paused. Pursing his lips, he took a deep breath. "I was so angry and bitter about it for a long time... but eventually I realised it was for the best. I loved my brother and I would do almost anything to bring him back, but you should never mess up the timeline. It could end up killing thousands of other people, or making the person you save so much more miserable."

Sonny gritted his teeth, "it's not fair!" He snapped, his blue eyes filled with tears. "I hate Tate. I hate him."

A corner of Cisco's lip tugged downwards. "I know it's not fair. If life was fair then crooks wouldn't become millionaires and good people wouldn't be betrayed, but they are." Cisco gently squeezed the boy's shoulder. "I've hated a lot of people in my time, and let me tell you. Hating someone is like drinking poison and expecting them to get hurt. It's venom in your system. It will just make you hurt and miserable."

"So I am just supposed to forgive him?" Sonny reeled backwards, throwing his hands up into the air.

"No. You aren't supposed to do anything. Grief is a unique experience to every individual, but one thing that makes it easier to deal with is letting go of the hatred and anger that comes with it." Cisco hummed, rubbing his eyes. "It's difficult to do, but I am sure in time you will manage."

"No," Sonny grumbled. "I am going to hold on to my hate because right now it's the only thing keeping me ticking," a watery tear escaped his reddened eyes.

"Anger will only keep you going for so long. You will burn out and crash very quickly." Sonny crossed his arms over his chest, an aggressive pout consuming his face. With a sigh Cisco kneeled down to the boys level. "Whatever you do, just remember that team Flash will always be there for you. I will always by there for you."

*

Caitlin's mind was reeling. The team had gathered in the cortex and were clustered around the desk. Ethan stood behind her with his hands placed on her shoulders. "So what did the archer look like?" Barry asked, cocking a brow.

"I couldn't see. He had a black mask on. I didn't recognise him at all," Caitlin blinked hard. Barry turned to Nora who just shrugged. With a sigh Caitlin dug into the small bag placed at her heels and pulled out a long, pointed arrow. "I took this from my bag." She held it up with a frown.

Iris turned to her with wide eyes. "You protected yourself with your bag, from a fired arrow?" Caitlin nodded her head with a meek smile. "You move quick," she hummed.

"Adrenaline makes people do crazy things," Caitlin sang, sitting back into her seat. A small pain erupted on the side of her stomach. A small lump had formed in her baby bump. It slid around her skin before disappearing. The doctor smiled.

'Looks like Dawn agrees,' Killer Frost's icy breath drifted through Caitlin's mind, only making her smile wider.

"Thank goodness for that," Ethan said, gently squeezing her shoulders.

Cisco reached over and gently took the arrow from Caitlin. Turning it over in his fingers, he typed something into his computer. The shaft of the arrow was made from some form of dark metal, the feathers were plastic and black also. The only part of the weapon that wasn't dark was the arrow head, which was a gleaming silver. "I don't think I have seen an arrow like this before," Cisco frowned down at the small weapon. "I don't recognise the metal alloy in the tip either, but I am not an arrow expert," he snorted.

Barry sent them a wry smile. "It's a good thing we know someone who is then," he told them, plucking the arrow from ontop of the desk. "I'll take this to Oliver and see what he says about it."

"Hold on," Cisco told him, pushing himself over to a different computer. "Oliver might know the archer, I will pull up the church's security footage."

"Good idea," Barry praised him, leaning down on the cortex desk. Within moments Cisco had the footage displayed on the main screen. There was Caitlin, standing at the centre of the church car park, her eyes wide and mouth ajar as she stared up at something unseen by the camera. The dark shadow of an arrow cut through the air, straight towards Caitlin. Lightning crackled around the doctor as she raised her handbag over her face, blocking the arrow's path. A strangled gasp escaped from Cisco's mouth. With a blur and a stream of lightening, Caitlin vanished out of the picture. Not seconds later a dark silhouette jumped down into the parking lot. Cisco froze the picture. There he was. The black armour. The powerful curving bow. The unreadable demonic mask. Caitlin clenched her teeth. She could feel the eyes of her teammates on her back. Nora's eyes narrowed at the grainy shadow of the attacker on the screen before her.

"Since when did you have speed?" Cisco squeaked, raising an eyebrow at her.

Caitlin's mouth hung slightly open. "That's news to me,"

Iris and Barry traded a looked. "Don't you remember when Iris was pregnant with Nora?" Barry asked, the corners of his lips tugged upwards.

"Of course. I realised it was probably a gift from Dawn," Caitlin placed a palm on her stomach.

"I guess that means you're having a speedster as well?" Iris shrugged, sending her friend a sympathetic look. Ethan's hands tightened slightly around her shoulders. Caitlin leaned back into him with a heavy sigh. "I mean, at least she has already saved your life," Iris added with a shrug. The doctor smiled. She already owed Dawn her life, she could only hope she wasn't going to have to pay that dept.