Work Text:
Of course the newest meta of the week came while Barry was off world.
Cisco was left dealing with this ‘Ninja’- that was a perfectly acceptable name, Iris - completely alone in a forest, at night, in the dead of winter.
A beam of ice encased the shadow Ninja had just jumped from, and, okay, maybe he wasn’t completely alone. “You couldn’t have done that sooner?” Cisco asked, trying to figure out which shadow this meta would be jumping from next.
“You’re welcome,” Len snarked back, and Cisco almost chuckled at his own joke. Snark, Snart- okay maybe he needed to focus.
This meta had been acting as a gun- or knife- for hire for the mob for the last three years, and this time had finally been noticed by the team. By killing a reporter that had gotten too close to the mob.
Cisco and the others had been tracking him for the last three days, finally getting a hit in this forest, a few miles from Central. Cisco had breached himself and Cold there, and now they were playing hide and seek with the army of shadows the meta was hiding in.
Something snapped behind him and Cisco turned only to feel a sharp pain sliding into his side. Cisco gasped, unable to make a sound as the meta grinned, and disappeared back into the shadows. “Vibe!”
Arms wrapped around him before he could fall, gently lowering him to the ground. “Hey, stay with me, okay?”
He tried to pull on his powers, but they refused to cooperate while he was injured. “Can’t-” He coughed, something metallic leaking from his mouth. Ohhh that was bad. “Can’t breach.”
“That’s alright, we’ll figure this out.” A noise crackled to life in his ear and he flinched, only for Len to dig the offending earpiece out. He heard Len speak again, but it wasn’t directed at him. “I don’t think he can, he’s barely conscious.” A hand was moving his own, pushing it into his abdomen.
Pain.
Sharp, stabbing pain and he cried out, trying to pull away. “No, no, Cisco I need you to help me put pressure on the wound, okay? The meta pulled the knife out, so you’re bleeding out, I need you to try and keep pressure on it.” Len’s voice shifted again. “I’m going to try to lift him, I can steal a car and get to a safehouse nearby, try and stabilize him there. It's our only option, I don't care about your 'morals' right now. Alright.”
Len shifted behind Cisco, and Cisco could feel him moving. A moment later Len was lowering him to the ground, tucking his folded up parka under Cisco’s head. “Keep pressure on the wound. I’ll be back, I promise.” Cisco nodded, staring up at the skyline as he tried to breathe through the pain. The trees looked odd at this angle, and snow was starting to worm its way under the cuffs of his pants. The sky was too bright, so he closed his eyes. A moment later Len was back.
“Cisco? No, no you need to keep pressure on the wound, okay? I’m about to pick you up. I know it hurts but you can’t fall asleep just yet. Can you talk to me?”
Cisco whimpered as he was moved. “Hurts…” he managed.
“I know it hurts, but can you keep talking? Please.”
Cisco tried to open his eyes as their surroundings shifted, Len holding him close as he moved towards the nearby parking lot, where a door was already open. “Snow...it’s really cold,”
Len chuckled. “Was that a pun?” Cisco didn’t respond. “Cisco Ramon, making puns as he’s bleeding out. I think that’s the most on-brand thing you’ve ever done.”
Cisco shivered, curling closer towards Len as he tried to keep pressure on his injury. “Who taught you what on-brand meant? Are you trying to blend in with the modern crowd?”
He shuddered as Len set him in the seat of the car, buckling him in before he moved to the other side of the car and got in.
Cisco blinked and the scenery had changed again, they were pulling into a cabin and Len was undoing the seatbelts, lifting Cisco into his arms and carrying him inside.
“You drive fast,” he muttered.
“No, you’re just losing time.”
Cisco hmmed. That would make sense. A moment later and there were warm blankets surrounding him as Len pressed against his side. “Cisco? Are you back with me?”
Cisco nodded, trying to sit up. “No, don’t sit up just yet, you’re still bleeding out. Caitlin’s on her way, she should be here in under an hour, but for the moment you need to stay still, and I need to keep pressure on this wound, alright? Just stay still.”
Cisco nodded, distant from everything. “...am I going to die here?”
“What? No, don’t say that! I’m going to make sure you make it out of this. I promise. You’re just going to be a bit sore for a few days. You’re going to lie in bed, and you’re going to make me run and grab everything for you, and you’re going to be absolutely fine. Absolutely fine…”
Cisco tried to smile. “You know your body gets weaker when you lie? If you’re supposed to be putting pressure on… I don’t think you should be lying…”
“Hey, Cisco? Don’t close your eyes. Don’t close your eyes Cisco. Don’t do it.”
“I think...if younger me could see me...he’d be really proud.”
His hand was getting wet, and he wasn’t sure if it was the blood or if someone had started crying. “I’m sure he would,” Len managed, choking on the words. “I’m sure younger you would absolutely love the person you’ve become. Why don’t we visit him in the waverider when you get better? You can tell him bedtime stories about the amazing hero you became.”
Cisco smiled weakly. “...You know I’m dying, Len.”
“Don’t-don’t say that.”
“Don’t blame yourself, when I do. You did everything you could…”
“Cisco I swear you’d better be faking it. I can’t lose you. Cisco...Cisco please, please don’t leave me…”
Cisco reached out a bloodied hand, gently cupping Len’s face. “...I love you Len.” And everything faded.
He woke up to a steady beep, and the familiar walls of the Star Labs medical bay.
A steady pressure was on his hand, and he glanced over. Len was asleep in a chair next to his.
He smiled, squeezing Len’s hand. Len sat up immediately, blinking blearily around himself at the room. “...what?”
“Hey sleepyhead,” Cisco managed, wincing at how raw his voice was.
“Cisco, you’re awake!” Len relaxed, smiling briefly. “You scared us. I thought I’d lost you.”
“Who, me? Nah, you can’t kill me. Thawne already tried and failed, this wannabe b-lister villain’s not gonna bring me down.”
The smile on Len’s face faded. “...He almost did. You were pretty touch and go there. If Caitlin hadn’t made it in time…”
“Hey, she did, and it’s fine. I’m still here.”
“But you almost died.”
“That’s the job.”
“It’s a sucky job.”
Cisco smiled. “But it means watching your back.”
“I’d prefer you to stay alive.”
“Did we catch them?”
Len shrugged. “We didn’t, but Barry got back a few hours ago and was able to catch Ninja- fine, the name stuck.”
Cisco looked down, seeing that Len was still holding his hand. “So...is this a thing now?”
Len fought hard not to blush. “...Do you want it to be?”
“Yeah. Yeah I think I like this.”
“Good.” They were both quiet for a moment, before Len spoke again. “...I love you too. Idiot.”
Cisco just smiled.