Struggling to move on..

[bringstheheat]

Grief counseling was a ridiculous idea. Even back in juvie Mick had just stared down the overworked counselors, the ones that tried to reach him before writing him off as a pyromaniac and a brute.

But Mick is seeing his dead partner everywhere and if he doesn't figure something out soon he's going to break. All he's been doing is marking time since the Oculus, since he woke up to find out that his partner (his lover, his whole everfucking world) was dead. He'd left him behind and Mick didn't even get a chance to say goodbye.

Sara is worried that he's suicidal, a thought he openly scoffs at.

He'd made a promise to Snart a long time ago that he wouldn't take that way out and dead partner or no, it's a promise he means to keep.

So he hangs back, he doesn't say much or look around until the kid walks in. Ramon. Part of the team that Flash had assembled to stop the Dominators. Huh. Small world, right?

Comments

{But with news this good, you'll wanna hear it

[thisismadfreaky]

The weeks since Mick had last been in town flew by in a whirl, like they always seemed to because Central City never stopped and STAR Labs was always busy with some crazy or another. But in his spare time, Cisco spent a lot of it working on a project he refused to share information about with anyone. Not even Caitlin or Barry. Lots of late nights locked in his workshop in the lab.

All spent in an effort to get something halfway useful. Some kind of information to give to Mick. He'd been trying so hard, for so long, he was starting to think that the reason he was coming up empty was because there was nothing to vibe.

He sighs heavily, leaning his chin in his hand as he holds the ring up with his free hand, squinting at it. "Why won't you tell me something?" he asks, accusatory and judgmental in his tone, like he was daring the ring to give him something to go on.

The blue haze of his vibes has become familiar by now, with all the clips and images flying by in the peripheral before something specific comes into focus in front of him.

Someone.

Leonard Snart, in all his snarky glory. "Hey, Cisco."

Directly talking to his vibes was still jarring, and he can't help the shock that registers on his face. "You're alive?"

He lifts one shoulder casually, "A version of it."

Cisco's never quite sure how long one of these will last, so he keeps it brief, quick and to the point. "Where are you? Do you know?"

"Not real sure." He drawls, "Better make sure Mick gets that ring back." That pins and needles feeling that always comes with the onset of a vibe is already fading and then in a blink it's gone.

Cisco sits in his workshop, mildly stunned that it had actually just happened. But then his brain catches up and races to get something out. "Shit, shit, shit," he mutters, fumbling around his desk for the communicator that Mick had left for him and opening the connection that should go direction to him. "Mick? I got some news."

[bringstheheat]

The response isn't immediate - sending signals across time can take a little bit and about the time Cisco's signal reaches Mick he's elbow-deep in a firefight. But the reply comes as soon as he's able, voice rough with exhaustion.

"I'm here. What do you have?" Struggling to keep his voice even, trying not to brace himself for the worst or hold on to hope. All he wants now are answers. Periodic trips to Central have helped, as had getting away from the team now and then, but he was still lost without any kind of answer about the hallucination that followed him and occasionally talked his goddamn ears off.

[thisismadfreaky]

He knows it takes time to transmit the signal and that there's a chance Mick won't be able to respond immediately, but Cisco is on edge while he waits.

And he's immediately on it the second he hears the now too-familiar gruff voice coming over the comm. "I- I talked to him, Mick. I don't...I don't think I can talk to people that I vibe if they're not...if they're not alive." He'd explained the basics of how his powers worked to Mick awhile back, just so he understood what he was doing, why he needed to keep the ring.

"It wasn't long, I asked him if he was alive and he said 'A version of it' and he doesn't know where he is." Which wasn't helpful, basically at all, but it was something and that was more than what they'd had in weeks.

[bringstheheat]

He talked to him. Cisco managed to talk to Snart.

"Typical Snart. Gotta be cagey even when we're trying to find his ass," he mutters. "I'm boosting the jump ship. If the Waverider can't divert course, I'm coming. Shouldn't be more than a day."

Because this is the first sign of even vaguely positive news Mick has had in a year and damnit he needs this. He needs to know whether or not Snart is alive.

[thisismadfreaky]

Despite his annoyance at the way Snart had answered his questions, Cisco can hear a certain tone in Mick's voice that's a little too telling about exactly how much this is hitting him, even if he's not letting himself feel the full force of it just yet.

"All right, yeah, good." Because at this point, he wants Mick here for this. He's too close to something more tangible for him to be anywhere else.

***

That sort of ended up being the gist of the conversation. Cisco went home that night, but he didn't really sleep, he had too much going on, too many ideas and possibilities running through his head to calm down enough for it.

He'd told Mick to just come to his apartment because it was quieter and private and there wasn't anything he needed from the lab to do what he would need to. And if that changed, they could head over easily enough.

He finally gave up on it around six a.m. because it was proving too impossible to stay out once he fell asleep. Coffee was his friend and he was curled up on the couch with a cup between his hands. He has no clue what time Mick will arrive, but Cisco will be here and ready to go when he is.

[bringstheheat]

What are you doing?
Brain surgery, what does it look like?

The Doc had given Mick the implant, not even asking why he wanted it. The Time Masters had put it in there as part of his Induction and if there was some kind of chance that Snart was using it, scattered across time, he wanted Cisco to confirm.

Whether or not anyone noticed the jump ship being taken - Mick didn't care. He cut all communications and made the jump back to Central. There were answers back home and he wasn't getting back on that ship until he had some.

Someone else had seen him. Spoken to him. Mick doesn't understand metahuman powers or exactly how Ramon's work - but he'd made some kind of contact.

It's almost seven am when he's knocking on Cisco's door, a heavy fist on the wood. He could pick the lock or just bust down the door but that's not what friends do.

.. at least so he's been told.

[thisismadfreaky]

Cisco can't help but jump at the sudden, loud pounding on his door. He'd dozed a bit and the sound startled him, but he sets his coffee aside and jumps to his feet, quickly coming to focus and realize it' must be Mick-- because he isn't expecting anyone else.

"Hey," he swings the door open and steps aside to let Mick inside, kicking it shut behind him.

[bringstheheat]

He resists the urge to pace in the small apartment, but only just so. "You seen anything else? Any sign of him?" Mick was never one for basic social graces, but when he's finally been given confirmation that his partner might be out there somewhere - he needs answers.

[thisismadfreaky]

"No," He shakes his head, eyes following Mick's unnerved mannerisms. "But there's something I wanna try." He gives Mick a quick run down of the time he tried to pull Barry out of the speedforce. And, with Mick's knowledge of timelines and all the other things connected to it, he's pretty sure it makes enough sense for him to follow. "...and I think if I can do it again, if I take you with me, we can get to him."

At least, if he was right and he really was stuck there, and just needed a solid way out.

[bringstheheat]

The hallucinations, or whatever they were, hadn't stopped. In fact they were getting stronger. Was his partner reaching out to him somehow or was he just going fucking crazy?

Mick listens to Ramon's idea, mulling it over in his head. It's not the craziest idea he's ever heard, but it's pretty damned close. "So you think he's trapped out there, in that space outside of time?"

[thisismadfreaky]

Cisco nods a little, “I think so. Maybe.” He wants to keep the realism in this, not push too much hope in Mick’s direction because he knows if he’s wrong, it’s going to crush him, even if he would never let on about that. But he’s got a pretty good feeling about this.

[bringstheheat]

The funny thing is, somewhere along the way, just like their friendship, Mick has grown to trust Cisco. It's unexpected but it means something and he nods. If the kid says that there's a chance to get Snart back, Mick believes him.

Not a guarantee, but shit, he'd take it.

"Okay. What do you need me to do?"

[thisismadfreaky]

"Come with me back to the lab. We'll do the rest there." If he could do it without the added push from the machines, he would, but there's no time to be wasting, here. They're very much on the edge of something solid and he wants to get a hard confirmation or denial, here.

So, he doesn't waste any time, instead of driving or walking to the lab, he just opens a breach between his apartment and the lab, right near the tech he needs to push this all through, and drags Mick along with him. "I don't think that's ever gonna stop being cool." He mumbles, shaking his head a bit as he moves around and starts setting up, explaining things as he goes.