[ This isn't the first time, Cisco has been grateful for Taako's sedate under-reaction to revelations that have always made other people in his life freak out. He doesn't even think it is something intentional - Taako has just lived a life full of so much fantastical, tragic, strange, awful, wonderful things that he merely takes Cisco's comparatively modest story in stride. It's nice, to skip the step where everyone's shocked and disbelieving, and Cisco feels like he needs to prove what he's saying is true, and also comfort the person listening, or apologize to them. Instead, he can just... get it over with. ]
I was an idiot.
[ He's quiet for a moment after that, closing his eyes and enjoying the feeling of the brush moving through his hair. It's still a bit of a challenge, putting it all together into a neat narrative. But he has to try. ]
I knew that trap I'd build for the Reverse Flash should have worked. Scientifically, it should have. And suspicions were starting to pile up against Wells. Eddie... Iris's dad, Joe... this reporter named Mason... a lot of people smarter than me noticing a pattern where people were "disappearing" and Dr. Wells was the last one to see them.
[ In retrospect, so painfully obvious, but at the time, so impossible to believe. He'd been blinded by his love for the man. Cisco's hands fidget in his lap and he stares down at them, his back tense, the words coming a little jerkier. ]
I didn't want to believe them. But I had Caitlin lure him out of the lab anyway. I didn't know he had surveillance cameras everywhere. He knew exactly what was going on. I went down to the basement, alone, to see what went wrong with the forcefield. He... showed up.
[ That part, Taako had glimpsed, in that first vibe during their experiment. The moment when those elevator doors opened and he saw Dr. Wells standing up and knew he was going to die. He doesn't know if Taako had been able to feel it - the fear so dense in the air he could hardly breathe. He doesn't even know how to ask. But he does know that Taako has died before, and remembered it. If anyone might understand...
Cisco lifts a hand to rub absently at his chest, over his heart, not realizing he is doing it. ]
I tried to talk my way out of it, but he didn't buy it. He... said a bunch of shit about how it was a shame he had to kill me, because I was like a son to him, and then he shoved his hand in my chest and ripped my heart to shreds.
[ Cisco looks down, noticing what he is doing and deliberately drops both hands into his lap, lacing his fingers together. He doesn't know what Taako's 'how' had meant - the method of the murder, or why he's still alive. Hastily, he adds. ]
Barry reset the timeline by a day. He didn't know what happened to me, it was just... a coincidence. An accident. The second time stuff happened in a different way, I never went down in the basement, never got my ass murdered. But that's when I started having my vibes. Just kept... reliving it over and over. I thought I was going crazy, but. I wasn't.
no subject
I was an idiot.
[ He's quiet for a moment after that, closing his eyes and enjoying the feeling of the brush moving through his hair. It's still a bit of a challenge, putting it all together into a neat narrative. But he has to try. ]
I knew that trap I'd build for the Reverse Flash should have worked. Scientifically, it should have. And suspicions were starting to pile up against Wells. Eddie... Iris's dad, Joe... this reporter named Mason... a lot of people smarter than me noticing a pattern where people were "disappearing" and Dr. Wells was the last one to see them.
[ In retrospect, so painfully obvious, but at the time, so impossible to believe. He'd been blinded by his love for the man. Cisco's hands fidget in his lap and he stares down at them, his back tense, the words coming a little jerkier. ]
I didn't want to believe them. But I had Caitlin lure him out of the lab anyway. I didn't know he had surveillance cameras everywhere. He knew exactly what was going on. I went down to the basement, alone, to see what went wrong with the forcefield. He... showed up.
[ That part, Taako had glimpsed, in that first vibe during their experiment. The moment when those elevator doors opened and he saw Dr. Wells standing up and knew he was going to die. He doesn't know if Taako had been able to feel it - the fear so dense in the air he could hardly breathe. He doesn't even know how to ask. But he does know that Taako has died before, and remembered it. If anyone might understand...
Cisco lifts a hand to rub absently at his chest, over his heart, not realizing he is doing it. ]
I tried to talk my way out of it, but he didn't buy it. He... said a bunch of shit about how it was a shame he had to kill me, because I was like a son to him, and then he shoved his hand in my chest and ripped my heart to shreds.
[ Cisco looks down, noticing what he is doing and deliberately drops both hands into his lap, lacing his fingers together. He doesn't know what Taako's 'how' had meant - the method of the murder, or why he's still alive. Hastily, he adds. ]
Barry reset the timeline by a day. He didn't know what happened to me, it was just... a coincidence. An accident. The second time stuff happened in a different way, I never went down in the basement, never got my ass murdered. But that's when I started having my vibes. Just kept... reliving it over and over. I thought I was going crazy, but. I wasn't.