Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Vibe! Flash!” Harry grumbled, his voice cracking out through the comms. “She’s on Orchard Drive.” “Got it” Cisco replied, before opening a breach and hopping through. “Barry’s right behind you” Iris states as she watched the red streak move throughout the city on the monitor.

He landed in front of the meta - Catharsis, the name Cisco dubbed her with - and  brushes the hair out of his face. “Got you” Cisco cheekily says, holding his hands in front of her if she tries to escape.

Catharsis showed up about a week ago. Like rainbow raider, she can change people’s emotions, filling them with extreme cases of rage, melancholy, or giddiness (which is what Cisco has seen so far). Cisco has already seen a handful of people persuaded by her into doing illegal things for her. He just has yet to find out how she does it.

Catharsis smirks, and chuckles at Cisco, asmused. “No..you really don't” She taunts, raising her eyebrows behind the metallic sunglasses covering her eyes.

“Barry, where are you?” Cisco yells into the comms, hands still in mid air pointing at the meta advancing towards him.

He doesn’t reply back.

“Harry, Iris, Caitlin?!” He rushes, hoping for any type of response.

Silence on all ends of the comms.

The meta raises a hand in front of her, and Cisco tries to hit her with a vibrational blast but she easily deflects it, and with the flick of her wrist, sends Cisco back, hitting him with a wave of energy that knocks him out.

Barry arrives seconds later, seeing Cisco unconscious on the gravel, and frantically looks around for the meta, but she is nowhere in sight. He speeds to Cisco’s side and reaches two fingers out and touches his neck, feeling for a pulse. His pulse thumps back and Barry breathes a sigh of relief. He picks up Cisco in his arms, ready to run when the static in Barry’s comms clears up, Iris’ panicked voice ringing out. “Iris, Cisco, he’s-” Barry starts but Iris cuts him off. “Harry - he collapsed out of nowhere!” She fumbles, hovering over him.

“I’ll be there in a sec” Barry says, electricity coursing through his veins as he takes off, running towards S.T.A.R Labs.

He speeds into S.T.A.R to find Iris and Caitlin, attempting to drag Harry’s unconscious form into the medbay and quickly puts Cisco on the gurney, preparing the other for Harry. Iris and Caitlin lift Harry onto the other gurney beside Cisco, arranging him carefully.

Barry speed changes out of his suit, throws on his normal clothes and comes back to see Iris and Caitlin hooking both Cisco and Harry to monitors, looking at their vitals, and taking off both the boys’ glasses. Iris steps back, crossing her arms over her chest and frowning. She spots Barry and runs towards him, wrapping him in an embrace. “Babe, Harry was fine until we lost signal on the comms, then he collapsed out of nowhere!” Iris says. Barry looks toward Caitlin who frowns at her tablet, fingers rapidly typing on it. She looks down at Harry and Cisco, giving them both a worried look. “Guys, I don’t know what’s wrong with them” She says, shaking her head at the tablet. “Both their vitals are stable. They’re fine but…” Caitlin trails off, biting her lip. “But?” Iris says, raising her eyebrows. “I don’t know when they’ll wake back up” Caitlin says, setting down the tablet. Barry sighs, walking over to the space in between his best friend and coworker.

“Then we wait.”

-

Days passed, and still no sign of Cisco or Harry waking up. Caitlin couldn’t explain it. It was like they were both put in some type of trance, except they were asleep and couldn’t wake up.

On the third day, Barry called Wally in to help fight crime in Cisco’s absence, whereas Iris and Caitlin had tried to wake the two up with everything they could think of. They had first tried burning some incense, hoping the potent smell would jolt them awake. Which was a bad idea due to the smoke that rose to the ceiling and caused the fire detectors to wail.

It was on the fifth day where Caitlin suddenly remembered something, while her and Iris were doing research to figure out how to wake them up. She gasped, and smacked her forehead with her palm, groaning. “What? What is it?” Iris said eagerly, rolling the chair from her side of the desk to Caitlin’s and peered at her computer. “I just remembered how I woke Barry up a couple years ago” Caitlin says, standing up and begins to walk towards the medbay, Iris following right behind. “What?” Iris says, when they stop in the middle of the room. “I’d slapped him” Caitlin replies, shrugging her shoulders and Iris raises an eyebrow. “And you’re sure that’ll wake them up?” Iris questions, and Caitlin nods. “I assume so.” “God, I hope you’re right” Iris says, leaning over and looking at Harry’s rested face. Caitlin stands next to Cisco’s body, nodding at Iris once again. “Because if not, I really don’t wanna go to hell for hitting an unconscious defenseless person” Iris says, raising her arm.

“This is going to hurt. A lot” Iris whispers to Harry before striking him across the face, hard.

-

Cisco awakes with a start, pain rapidly spreading throughout his cheek and he groans, holding his hand to his face. “Mmmh what time is it?” Cisco mumbles, rubbing his eyes. He reluctantly opens his eyes, to find blurry Iris and Caitlin starting down at him. “I’ll ping Barry” Iris says, walking out the room. Cisco nods, still disoriented. Caitlin pauses, before placing a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll get you a glass of water, ok? Then, we’ll try to wake Cisco up” She says, patting his arm and winking. “Thanks Cait” Cisco says, giving her a confused grin. She steps out, and Cisco looks toward the ceiling, vision still unfocused. He frowns, and instinctively goes to run a hand through his hair, but finds….it shorter than before. He sits upright in a panic. Who the fuck cut his hair? He frantically runs his hands through his hair, eyes widening as the hair stops short. He’s been growing out his hair for years now! Who would commit such a..a..hate crime?!

“CAITLIN? HARRY? IRIS? WHO THE FUCK CUT MY H-” Cisco screams out,  rage filling him until he realizes something isn’t right. The words that come out of his mouth are rugged, thick and heavy and familiar on his tongue and his eyes widen and he gasps, and Dios mío, even the gasp is recognizable. The same voice that would berate him endlessly in the field, in his workshop, the voice that he had grown accustomed too over the past year.

The familiar sounds of heels click closer as Iris and Caitlin rush pass the Cortex, and into the medbay where he lay. “Harry, what’s wrong?” Caitlin rushes, and places the glass of water she retrieved for him on the table. He squints and his heart drops when he sees a blurry figure lying across from him. Ignoring Iris and Caitlin’s confusement, he reaches, with shaky hands, and picks Harry’s glasses up off the table and pushes them onto his face. He gasps, hands flying up to cover his mouth.

He’s sees himself. Unconscious, his locks splayed around his head like a halo, eyes closed. Its weird seeing his sleeping form, just lying there. He stands up, and stumbles, head swimming as black dots cloud his vision.

Iris springs forward and holds his shoulders, forcing him to sit back down on the bed. “Hey, hey ” Iris says softly, looking into his eyes. “Cisco’s gonna be ok.”

His breathing speeds up, looking back and forth between Iris and his body. “This can’t be happening” Cisco breathes, mostly to himself, resting his elbows on his shaky knees and hold his face in his hands. “Hey, Harry, just look at us, what’s wr-” Caitlin begins but Cisco pushes Iris away from him, her stumbling back in shock.

“I’M NOT HARRY” He yells, voice ringing out into the room, dead silence following. He clenches his hands, forming them into fists by his side and squeezes his eyes shut, not daring to look either of them in the face.

Iris is the first to speak, her voice cutting into the thick silence. “So..then who are you?” Iris says slowly, backing away from him. He opens his eyes and takes a step towards her and Caitlin steps forward, hair beginning to turn white at the roots, a clear sign that her alter ego is about to make herself known. “Make one more move and it will be the last one you make” she threatens, voice ice cold and holds up a hand, vapor starting to form at her fingertips.

Cisco throws up his hands, exasperated and at lost for words. “Guys, I-it’s me!” He exclaims making another move to step forwards when Killer Frost raises another hand, glowering at him. “You’re who?” Iris says, eyes forming into slits as she glares at him.

“Cisco” He stutters out, pointing at himself. Iris and Killer Frost look towards his body, and turn to face him again, confusion evident on both of their faces. “What about Cisco?” Iris says.

“It’s me!” Cisco groans, rubbing his forehead. “So you mean to tell us, that you’re...him” Iris says bluntly. Cisco nods furiously, panic in his eyes. “I’m CISCO!” he says exasperated. “If you’re Cisco, tell me something that only him and I know” Iris says, crossing his arms. Cisco’s face heats up, knowing exactly what she’s talking about.

“I - um” Cisco coughs, feeling his face, no, Harry’s face turning a deep shade of pink, a feeling he’s never had before. “I walked in on you and Barry, in the..uh the speed lab, and you guys were, i mean - you were-” He began and Iris gasped, stepping forward and covering Cisco’s mouth, face flushed. “Okay OKAY!” Iris shushes him, embarrassed. Killer Frost raises an eyebrow and smirks. “We trust you” Iris says, nodding towards Killer Frost. Killer Frost takes a deep breath and sighs, all traces of her melting away as she turns back into Caitlin. “How did this happen?” Caitlin says, eyes widening. “I-I don’t know!” Cisco exclaims, going to play with loose curls but once again, his hand finding air in its place. “It must’ve been that meta I fought.”

“Well...if you’re Cisco in Harry’s body, then who’s in Cisco’s?” Iris says slowly, craning her neck to see his body. “Well, there’s only one way to find out” Caitlin says, walking over to Cisco’s body.

She braces herself on Cisco’s shoulder and winds back her arm back, and hits Cisco’s body hard.

Chapter Text

Harry awakes with a grunt, his hand flying up to reach his stinging cheek. He sees Caitlin, hand still raised slightly and she quickly hides it behind her back. “What the hell was that for Snow?” He growls, bringing his hand down to his side. Iris, who stands at the foot of his bed, coughs. Caitlin raises a shocked eyebrow, as if she’s shocked Harry would say such a thing. He hears a familiar intake of breath.

Harry groans, bringing his hands up to rub his face and freezes. Not only does his mouth feel like bubblegum but his once slender, pale fingers were now brown, and twice as small as his. Behind the hands he finds black leather pants, accompanied by a predominantly black jacket, with red at the bottom. Black hair falls into his face as he stands up abruptly. He expects to keep growing, rising above both Iris and Caitlin but he just...stops. “Harry?” He hears a voice call out, his voice call out. His head snaps to the left and he sees his lanky figure, widened eyes staring back at him. The room spins as he realizes what’s transpired.

He’s swapped bodies with Cisco.

Harry nods weakly, sitting back down on the bed. “I’m assuming that’s Cisco in my body?” Harry questions, staring at himself. “Yup” Cisco says, and Harry rolls his eyes. “If you’re going to be inhabiting my body, the least you can do is not sound illiterate” Harry deadpans, his heart racing but masking it up. “This is...weird” Iris says and Caitlin claps her hands together, making a move for the doorway. “I’m gonna go and get some things to run tests” Caitlin rushes before leaving and Iris follows her. “I’m going with her” she hollers to them, following after Caitlin, leaving Harry and Cisco alone.

Cisco looks at Harry who, fidgets with his curls, obviously annoyed by their presence. “Hey! Don’t touch the merchandise” Cisco hisses, leaping forwards and pulling Harry’s hand down from his face. He stares down at his own face, which lies a head beneath his. Harry notices this, and cracks a smirk. “So this is how it feels to be this short?” Harry says, peering up at Cisco. “Not funny” Cisco says, slightly freaking out.

How could this have happened? He can’t be stuck in Harry’s body, he refuses.

“This is crazy!” Cisco says, beginning to pace, long strides taking him further than expected. Harry eyes watch Cisco as he moves back and forth in the medbay, mumbling to Harry but mostly to himself. “-I mean, it’s like that one movie I saw but I didn’t really think anything of it but I guess -” Harry cuts Cisco off by clearing his throat. Cisco takes one look at Harry’s calm but anxious face and stops his pacing. “We need to switch back” Harry grunts, walking out of the medbay and into the Cortex. Cisco follows after.

Harry frantically wipes the white marker off the board with the sleeve of Cisco’s vibe jacket and grabs a marker, taking the cap off with his teeth. He spits the cap out and it skitters somewhere in the Cortex. He begins writing, and Cisco holds his head in his hands. “Caitlin said she’s going to work on that” Cisco exclaims, watching Harry write equations. “You know, I can bet it was that freaking meta you were fighting today” Harry says, turning back and looking back at him. “If it even is still that day, who knows how long we’ve been knocked out.” “Lemme check.”

Cisco reaches down for his phone in his pants but finds the space empty. “My phone is in your pocket” Cisco says, reaching over Harry’s hip and digging his phone out of the pocket. Harry steps away, annoyed. “Ever heard of personal space Ramon?’ Cisco huffs, turning on his phone. “Personal space? That’s my body dumbass!” He deadpans, looking at the date. His mouth shrinks in size and he taps Harry on the shoulder and shows him the date. “5 days?!” Harry says, eyes widening. “Jesse probably thinks I’m dead!” He says, turning on his heel and jogging out the Cortex.

Cisco follows, but arrives slightly slower than usual, his knees creaking as he runs. Harry opens a drawer in Cisco’s workshop and pulls out a contraption. He immediately begins fiddling with the screws and buttons on the things. “What’s that?” Cisco says and Harry presses one final button, it making a whoosh sound. He sets it down, sitting in a chair. “It’s contrivance that sanctions communication between Jessie and I” He explains. “It’s marginally like instant messaging.” Cisco nods, sitting down next to him.

He stares at the ground and bites his lip, fidgeting with the fabric of his, no, Harry’s pants. In his peripheral vision, he sees Harry staring at him. He turns his head and stares back. He watches as Harry’s eyes glaze over his figure and Cisco shifts awkwardly. “It’s so weird...seeing watching myself from a different perspective” Harry observes, eyes squinting at him. “I never noticed how much my back protrudes when I sit, or the fact that I have a freckle, right there” He says, reaching over and poking a mark on the back of Cisco’s neck. “Yeah well,” Cisco says, poking his stomach. “I’m getting a little fat” He jokes, and Harry stares back, eyes narrowing. “Shut up - your body is perfect..ly fine” Harry says, trailing off. Silence ensues. Harry avoids eye contact with him. A com is pressed, and Iris’ voice rings out. “Cisco and Harry, come back to the Cortex immediately! Nobody told y’all you could leave!” it clicks off. Cisco stands up, his face flushed. He can feel it and he hates it. At least when he flushes, it blends into his skin. With Harry’s, you might as well run a red marker across white paper. “Lets go” Cisco says, turning on his heel. Harry follows him slowly.

Chapter Text

As they arrive in the Cortex, they find Iris hovering over Caitlin who, furiously types on the keyboard. “Did you find anything?” Cisco asks nonchalantly, walking over to them. Harry remains in the entrance of the place. “Well, you see-” Caitlin says, her desk chair swiveling to face them. “-there’s not that much information out there. I mean, this is folklore we’re talking about” She says, eyes flickering back and forth between them.

“There’s gotta be some database you can check, right?” Iris says, and Caitlin raises an eyebrow at her. Harry suddenly rushes to the computer, with his newfound agility, and begins typing. “What are you doing?” Cisco questions. “Well this meta’s been around for some time now, and I figured there’s got to be someone who’s reported our current situation” Harry deadpans. A beep resonates and with the flick of his wrist, Harry pulls up a picture of a couple people, from the CCPD database.

“Mariah Vance, and Ezra Whitefield” Iris reads, staring at the picture of the disheveled pair. “Hey! Barry and I went to high school with Ezra!” Iris says, and Caitlin nods. “That’ll be good when somebody goes and talks to him.” Caitlin realizes and Iris lets out a cough, eyes flickering away. Iris continues speaking.“They reported being swapped into each other’s bodies a week and a half ago-” Iris says but Caitlin cuts her off. “-which lines up with the time our meta appeared” she realizes. “Can you find an address?” Iris says and Harry slides it onto the monitor. “There was only one listed, and it’s for Whitefield” he says, standing up, arms crossed over one another, shoulders tensing. “99 Central Rd” Cisco reads, making a mental note of it. Barry suddenly appears, blowing hair in Harry’s face. Harry huffs, tucking the curls behind his ears. He wonders how the hell Cisco deals with this nonsense. Shocked, Barry runs up to Harry, hugging him from behind. “W-wait that’s not” Iris tries but it goes over Barry’s head. “Cisco you’re awake!” Barry exclaims, smiling. Still hugging Harry, he looks towards Cisco, acknowledging his presence. “So is Harry!”

Harry, bewildered, shoves Barry off of him, uncomfortable. “Don’t touch me Allen” He warns, stepping back next to Cisco. Barry, obviously hurt, looks at Harry confused. “Cisco? What did I-” he begins and Iris facepalms, pulling him away. “I was trying to say, that he’s not actually Cisco” Iris says, looking towards the real Cisco. She points at Cisco, who smiles at Barry. “That is.” Barry’s eyes widen, seeing Harry smile, something he rarely does. “ I’m Cisco” Cisco says, and then points towards Harry. “And that’s Harry.” Harry’s stone-cold face nods back.

“OH!” Barry says, eyebrows furrowing. He pauses, processing the information. “I’m sorry, but what? How is this even possible?” Barry, flabbergasted, turns towards Iris and Caitlin for help. “I’ll explain, just take me int-” a lightning comes and goes and Iris and Barry are seen in a different spot than milliseconds before than, Barry less confused this time. “Alright I’m all caught up” Barry says, giving a thumbs up to them all. Cisco who has questions of confusion on the tip of his tongue is answered by Iris before he can get the words out. “Flashtime” Iris says, and they let out a chorus of understanding. “Alright Cisco, we should go and ask Ezra or Mariah or whoever they are some questions” Barry says, looking at Harry. Harry raises an eyebrow and Barry realizes what he’s done. He looks at Cisco now, giving him a sheepish smile. They’re about to take off but Harry reaches into the desk and launches something at Cisco, him catching it just barely. “You’re gonna need it” Harry says plainly, rolling his eyes. Cisco looks down at the black baseball cap a flimsy disguise but nonetheless one, and nods. He puts the baseball cap on. “Let’s go” Cisco says.

They arrive in seconds, Barry whooshing them there. Cisco vision spins, and he stumbles for support. Barry grabs his arm and pulls him upright, Cisco groaning. “Harry’s body does not do well with speed” He slurs, catching his breath. Barry chuckles. Moments pass before Cisco feels alright enough to walk up the stairs and ring the doorbell. It’s a quaint neighborhood, despite the contradicting name, and when Barry rings the doorbell, Cisco checks his reflection in the stained glass of the storm door, not that it would matter, because he’s wearing a disguise. Barry turns toward Cisco. “Hey so I, uh, have to tell you something-” The door swings open, revealing Ezra, who peeks his head around the door. “Can I help you?” Ezra says, giving them a smile. “Yes, I’m Barry Allen with-” Ezra’s eyes open wide, door swinging fully open. “Barry Allen?! Oh my gosh! How are you?!” Ezra says, stepping forward and embracing him in a hug. “I’m great! What about you? It’s been a hot second since high school” Barry says, stepping back and chuckling, shoving his hands in his pockets. Cisco watches this interaction, intrigued. “Well anyways, I’m here with-” Barry tries again but gets cut off again. “Oh is this your boyfriend?” Ezra says, sticking his hand out for Cisco to shake. Barry and Cisco make eye contact with each other, freezing.

Oh.

“No” Barry flushes, running a hair through his hair. “I actually have a wife. Iris.” “I knew you guys would end up together! How sweet!” Ezra exclaims and Cisco finally takes Ezra’s hand and shakes it, flashing a grin. “What’s your name?” Ezra asks him and Cisco scrambles to find a name, looking at Barry. “John Smith” Cisco says quickly, and Barry raises an eyebrow. “Well I’m Ezra Whitefield, and my pronouns are they/them. It’s nice to meet you!” Ezra says brightly, motioning them to come inside. “Come in and have a seat, I’ll get you guys some drinks!” they walk in the direction Cisco would assume is the kitchen and Cisco and Barry sit themselves on the couch. “We were in GSA together” Barry says quietly, and Cisco mouth falls open, but quickly shuts it. He knows Barry caught that, but doesn’t acknowledge it. “Cool” Cisco says patting Barry’s back.

Ezra returns moments later with bottled fentimans lemonade and gives them each one, and sits down in the lazyboy opposite of them. Cisco takes a sip, the chilled drink quenching his thirst he didn’t even know he hand. “So, what did you guys say you were here for again?” Ezra says, taking a sip from his own rose-lemon and sets it down on the table in front of them. “We are with the CCPD, following up on a report you and Mariah Vance filed a couple of weeks ago” Barry explains and Ezra nods. “Also known as, the best thing that’s ever happened to me?” Ezra says and Cisco and Barry look at them quizzically. “I’m obviously back in my own body, if that’s what you’re wondering” Ezra laughs. “Well, how did you swap back?” Cisco asks eagerly, leaning forwards seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. “Babe?” a voice calls from upstairs, followed by  steps down the stairs. Barry and Cisco turn around and see a tired-looking woman, who rubs her eyes. “What’s going on? Who are you talking to?” she questions. Vision clear, she widens her eyes seeing the three of them there. Embarrassed, she shakes of their hands, giving them curious smiles. “Sorry, I was studying and I must’ve fell asleep and oh my gosh I probably look like a mess” She says and Ezra watches her ramble, heart eyes on display. “Mariah, it’s okay” Ezra says as she tries to stretch out her slightly matted coils. “They’re from the CCPD, following up on our body-swap” Ezra explains and she understands, sitting down on the arm of Ezra’s seat. They wrap their arm around her hip comfortably.

“So” Cisco tries again, eager to get an answer. “How did you swap back?” “Well, Mariah was attacked by the metahuman, and we both collapsed in different locations, but you guys already knew that” Ezra says and they both nod. “At first, we had tried finding the metahuman who switched us, but that was difficult to say the least” Ezra says. “So after that, we attempted to research body swapping. We spent practically 24/7 together last week, and we had...realized some things.” “Like what?” Barry asks, and Cisco feels a tight knot forming in his stomach. He knows where this is going. “We have known each other for almost a half a decade now, and I’ve liked them for the longest time, but never had the courage to say anything” Mariah says shyly, taking Erza’s hand in her own. “Same here, but I never even realized how deeply I was in love with her until she admitted it to me” Ezra says. “I truly think that true love is what switched us back.” they say confidently, both of them grinning proudly at Cisco and Barry.

Cisco feels Barry’s gaze on him and closes his eyes, stomach dropping. He opens them and finds all 3 pair of eyes staring at him. “Excuse me” he manages to mumble, getting up from the couch and stumbles out the front door, and closes it behind him. He sits down on the step, putting his head in between his legs. Harry’s muscles throb in protest of the awkward, new position but Cisco could care less. He tries to concentrate on breathing the fresh air, ignoring his racing heartbeat.

He hears the door open and close, and Barry’s footsteps find their way over to him. “I told them that’s all we need” He says softly. Cisco looks at Barry, and gives him a half-smile.

“Lets go to my place. I’ll explain..stuff there” Cisco says warily. “Alrighty” Barry says, ready to run but Cisco puts a hand out to stop him. Instead he opens a breach the warbling noises startling the wild animals in proximity. “The body isn’t made for running, ironically” Cisco cracks a weak joke, and Barry takes a sharp inhale of breath, the manipulation of Eobard still present in his mind. “Lets just go.” They hop through the breach into Cisco’s apartment, Cisco’s heart thudding in his chest.