It had been a long day, and the mission took a lot out of him. “Gideon, can you fabricate me something healthy and delicious?” His voice lilted as he tilted his head from side to side. In seconds, a berry-filled summer salad had appeared in the fabricator. Ray shuffled over and pulled it out, popping a berry in his mouth. Nate walked in, and Ray’s face lit up. “Nate! Hi! How was the mission? I know we were on different teams and well, it went alright for us, how’d it go for you?” His words practically spewed out of his mouth at his best friend, his excitement was difficult to contain.
sorry i’ve been MIA! I’ve revamped things a bit, making cisco’s dark/evil side being a primary verse but not his main. his main verse is now more compliant with the show, but still canon-divergent.
all that being said, like this for a starter!
i’m back! muse is high for everyone right now, so like this for a starter!
Allie was taken aback when the man said he knew. “What do you mean ‘you know’? How could you possibly know?” She asked as her fingers found the smooth skin that had been previously covered in a burn. How did he take her burn? So many questions flew through her mind and his words pulled her from her thoughts. She took the paper and held it between two fingers.
She stared at the man’s handwriting, and part of her wanted to ignore the man but she knew he was trying to help. She hated when people tried to help her. She was a grown woman, and she could take care of herself. “Why-” Allie started, wanting to ask why he was helping her, but stopped herself, accepting the help. “Thank you. For helping. I know you could have ignored me, but you didn’t. So…thanks.”
“Because you’re not the first person to worry about where your next meal is gonna come from, or how you’re going to stay warm and dry, or what you’ll do if you get hurt, and you won’t be the last.” Lucan fell silent, watching as she inspected her now-healed skin, clearly trying to understand what happened. “…It’s like the firethrower, only he can throw balls of fire and I can heal people.”
“It was my fault you got caught in the crossfire,” Lucan pointed out. He thought he was smart going down the alley, hoping to avoid putting anyone else in the path of the firethrower, not to mention there would be fewer witnesses. But he was wrong. She got hurt as a result of that, and it had been up to him to fix it. Still, he added with a brief nod of his head, ‘You’re welcome.”
As her fingers felt the burned edges of her pant leg, her head snapped up at his comment. “So you’re some sort of metahuman? Do you only heal who you want to heal? Why do you feel the need to take on other people’s wounds?” Her questions were rapid fire, one after the other. She stopped at three, though there were many others she could have thrown out there. She tilted her head up too look up at the man, as mysterious as he was.
“It was just an unfortunate coincidence, us both being in the alley at the same time,” Allie spoke in an attempt to pull some of the weight off his shoulders and onto her own. “You don’t have to carry this all on your own, you know,” she kicked off her shoes before standing up and crossing to the bathroom. She couldn’t remember the last time she showered, and she was going to take full advantage of warm running water. “I’m going to shower, wash all this grit and grime off. Just…please don’t leave me,” she said, her voice wavering as she shut the door behind her.
Tom nodded his head slowly at the incoming information. His mind was racing, trying to decide where he may or may not get said symbol tattooed. Maybe he would just constantly keep holy water at his disposal. So many maybes and what ifs clouded his brain these days, it was sometimes hard to sift through it all. His eyes refocused on Cara at the question directed at him. “It’s something I mostly keep to myself. My Mother and my work partner know, though. Took quite a bit of convincing, and I think my Mom is still skeptical of it all, but I gifted her a vervain bracelet on her last birthday, which will protect her from the vampire, at least,” Tom stated, cocking his head to the side as he shrugged his shoulders. “Wait, so you’re telling me that you have a whole slew of business cards with varying last names? That’s wild,” he added with a smile.
Cara nodded in return, “For most, seeing is believing. And even then, you have no idea how many people witness a supernatural creature outright and still choose to bury their heads in the sand. To come up with some sort of explanation, or to deny it happened altogether. …Not that I can blame them. Once you know what’s out there, everything changes. How can it not?” Her brow then furrowed in confusion, “Vervain – what is that? Is that a plant?” She didn’t know of any such thing that would fend off a vampire, but she also knew there were different types of vampires. Different breeds, so to speak, and that meant there were different ways of stopping them. A smirk tugged at her lips at his question about her business cards, “Varying first names, too; I just gave you one that actually matches up with my real one. Taking on different personas to gain access to certain locations or to pertinent information is part of the job. It’s not legal but it’s what’s necessary to save people. People like Lilah.”
“Yeah, I know that all too well,” he’d had his own run-ins with the supernatural, yet even he still struggled to believe in it. Tom pulled a small purple sprig from his pocket. “Vervain is a herb, of sorts. I keep it on my person constantly. A bracelet and usually a sprig or two, in case someone needs some. It’s the most potent herb that can be used against vampires. It can burn them if they come into contact with it, and incapacitate them if they ingest or are injected with it. If a human ingests or holds vervain somewhere on their person, they are protected from a vampire’s compulsion,” Tom explained, his words getting rushed and ramble-y. “Here,” he smiled, handing the purple sprig to Cara. “I’ve got my bracelet. You take this.”
His smile was genuine, as he was enjoying his time with the woman. He still didn’t want to leave her in this weakened state, and he would stand his ground if she tried to make him leave. “Well, I’m grateful that you’ve trusted me with your real first name, Cara. While I don’t agree with breaking the law, I can understand it.”
“I’m not admitting to being the one to hack into the system. I’m just saying that if the code was good, maybe someone wouldn’t have been able to get in.” He shrugged his shoulders, not really caring about the other person in the room. It wasn’t really his problem that they managed to lose a lot of their files, more importantly it wasn’t his problem that they had yet to find a way to pin him to the crime. “How about you come back when you have some actual evidence?”
“You do realize that there is such thing as a digital fingerprint, right?” Cisco quipped, narrowing his eyes at the man. His fingers flew across the keys as he searched for the source of the hack into the mainframe. “It’s only a matter of time before I find your fingerprints all over this, Winn.”
Tom looked at the tattoo hidden behind her ear. “Gotcha,” he said with a nod of his head. “That’s all it takes? A tattoo?” He tried wrapping his head around the whole thing, and he was thankful for this woman, despite being kidnapped by her. “Is a tattoo of that symbol the only way to prevent possessions? ‘Cause I doubt I could convince the important people in my life to go get matching tattoos with me,” he added with a laugh. He remembered the card in his pocket, and realized he knew her name but she didn’t know his. “I’m Tom, by the way.”
Cara settled back onto the sleeping bag, nodding, “Symbols hold a lot of power in the supernatural world. I’ve got others painted throughout the building. Sigils and wards to hide us and keep us safe. And yeah, the tattoo is the only thing I know of that will prevent it. Even then – like I said – the symbol has to remain intact at all times, or it’s null and void.” She paused before asking, “The important people in your life – do they know? About the whole doppelgänger issue, I mean. And it’s nice to meet you, Tom. First name is Cara, last name changes depending on the card I give you.” She offered him another small smile as if to punctuate her statement.
Tom nodded his head slowly at the incoming information. His mind was racing, trying to decide where he may or may not get said symbol tattooed. Maybe he would just constantly keep holy water at his disposal. So many maybes and what ifs clouded his brain these days, it was sometimes hard to sift through it all. His eyes refocused on Cara at the question directed at him. “It’s something I mostly keep to myself. My Mother and my work partner know, though. Took quite a bit of convincing, and I think my Mom is still skeptical of it all, but I gifted her a vervain bracelet on her last birthday, which will protect her from the vampire, at least,” Tom stated, cocking his head to the side as he shrugged his shoulders. “Wait, so you’re telling me that you have a whole slew of business cards with varying last names? That’s wild,” he added with a smile.
Tom sighed before nodding at the doctor. “Purple’s great, thanks.” He readjusted on the bed, shifting Jesse so her good side was leaning against him. “I know, honey. I know. Remember when the chair squished your arm? Well, it didn’t just squish it, it broke your arm.” He pointed at his own arm, approximating where the break was on his forearm. “Mama hasn’t called, but we can look. Here,” he said, pulling his phone out and clicking the home button to illuminate the screen. No missed calls, no missed texts. “I’m sure Mama is very busy at work and will call the second she can,” he assured his daughter, setting his phone on the side table before turning back to her and locking eyes with her.
“Jesse, honey. When the doctor comes back, he’s gonna bring one of the nice nurses back to help put the cast on. Now, the cast itself won’t hurt, but it will protect and help to fix your arm. Putting the cast on, however, will hurt. But Daddy will be right here, and there’s hot chocolate and delicious marshmallows waiting for us at home.” Tom added with a sympathetic smile.
Cisco backup 