Title: Sidekicks and Heroes
Fandom: Revenge, The Flash
Pairing/Characters: Cisco Ramon, Caitlin Snow, Emily Thorne, Barry shows up, Nolan is mentioned
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1558
Prompt: For the hc_bingo amnesty challenge, crossover fic, prompt "unconciousness"
Summary: Cisco takes Caitlin to the Hamptons when Nolan is found unconscious and none of the specialists Emily Thorne hires can seem to wake him. While Caitlin runs tests, Cisco tries to comfort a guilt-stricken Emily, and considers his relationship with Barry and Caitlin.
Author Notes: In My Hero, I had Cisco visit the Hamptons, where Declan offered to help him meet his hero, Nolan Ross. For the purposes of this fic, Cisco and Nolan have become friends.
Also this is post-Revenge, but Amanda is now divorced and has returned to using the name Emily Thorne.
Content Notes: No standard warnings apply.
Also @ AO3

Cisco headed down the hospital corridor, Caitlin close behind. He'd bluffed his way this far, but when he saw the imposing woman in red, his heart leapt in his chest.

Amanda Clarke, Emily Thorne, Amanda Clarke again? Though last time Nolan had emailed Cisco he'd mentioned a project he and "Ems" were working on, so maybe Emily once more?

She stopped her pacing and fixed him with a glare. Cisco's throat was dry and he struggled to say anything.

"I'm Cisco Ramon," he said, "I called earlier? I'm Nolan's friend, or at least we've hung out a few times, and I waved to you when Nolan was skyping with you that one time -"

Caitlin gave him a discreet shove. Cisco cleared his throat and held out his phone with a shaking hand. "See," he said, displaying a photo of him with Nolan at a tech conference the previous year.

She took the phone, skimmed through a few more photos, her severe expression softening. "Yes, I heard how you and Nolan got into trouble at the conference's after party. Mostly for having an after party at all."

Cisco smiled despite the circumstances and Emily returned his phone. Cisco gestured and Caitlin stepped forward. "This is Doctor Caitlin Snow," Cisco said, "my friend and colleague. Nolan might have mentioned her? If anyone can figure out how to help him, it's her."

Caitlin gave a supportive smile. "I will certainly do my best, with your permission, Ms Thorne. I understand you are listed as Nolan's next of kin."

Emily nodded. "Please, call me Emily. I am indeed, and I will give you whatever authorisation you need."

A few minutes later Caitlin was in discussion with the specialists Emily had already hired.

"So, er, it's Emily and not Amanda?" Cisco asked, sipping a coffee while Emily stared out of the window.

"When my marriage broke up I did some soul searching. I realised I never felt more myself, more purposeful, than when I was Emily Thorne. So here I am again."

There was silence which Cisco felt obliged to break. "Do you want to tell me what happened to Nolan? Reports are sketchy."

"I know little more than what you do," Emily said. "I was finishing up a job in Mexico, and then Nolan and I were going to investigate a pharmaceutical company in New York that we'd been told was illegally testing drugs on patients. Nolan called me, said he was meeting with someone from the labs. I told him to wait, that I'd be back in less than twenty four hours."

Cisco sighed. "He didn't wait."

She shook her head. "I came home and found him unconscious." She broke off, took a few shuddering breaths. "It's not the first time something like that has happened to me. It was a minute before I realised he was still alive. The longest minute of my life."

Cisco wanted to put a hand on her shoulder but he didn't dare to invade her personal space. They weren't friends the way he and Nolan had become, and she could flip him over her shoulder and possibly through the window if she felt threatened.

Another moment passed and Emily gathered herself together once more. "No-one has been able to figure out why he won't wake up. My assumption is one of the drugs that the pharmaceuticals firm was working on, but there's no sign of anything in his bloodwork, and when I called in some favours and had the labs searched by the DEA, nothing untoward was found."

"Caitlin will figure it out," Cisco said, making a promise he hoped Caitlin could keep.

"If they think I'll back off, they're wrong," Emily said, turning to face Cisco. "I'm going to hunt them all down and make them pay. That's what I do."

Cisco suppressed a shiver. She was beautiful but deadly, an avenging angel. She didn't even need a disguise, not a cover identity nor an iron suit. She was who she had created herself to be, and she would exact her vengeance by any means necessary.

Caitlin wandered over, heels clicking on the tiles, brow furrowed as she studied the tablet she was carrying. "Cisco, I may have something. I'm having Barry bring me some samples. That work I did on," and she faltered for a second, "on Jay, trying to reverse the cellular disintegration? I came up with an idea that used a sample of Barry's blood and a chemical compound I developed to sort of flush out Jay's system and regenerate all the damaged cells. I think I can adapt it."

Emily regarded Caitlin, hope in her eyes. "You can help us?"

"I hope so," Caitlin said. "The formula needs to be tailored for Nolan, but it's the best I can come up with right now."

A breeze ruffled Cisco's hair and a moment later Barry jogged up, clutching a plastic case with a biohazard symbol on it.

"I hope these are the right ones," Barry said, and then blinked as he realised Emily was giving him an odd look. "Hi, I'm Barry…"

Emily raised an eyebrow. Caitlin took the box, and Barry, off to the hospital's lab.

"That was fast," Emily said.

"Um, he was in the area," Cisco suggested, wincing.

"With the samples?" Emily moved to sit on a plastic chair. "It's all right, Cisco. I know how to keep a secret. So does Nolan, though he's made enough jokes about speed that I gathered you were working with the Flash."

Cisco sat down next to her.

"Thank you," she said. "For at least trying."

Yoda's "do or not do" speech rose in Cisco's mind but he clamped down before he said something stupid.

Emily blinked rapidly. "I can't lose him. I've lost so much already."

Cisco reached out and took her hand and she didn't pull away.

"I get it," he said. "Every Batman needs their Robin."

That drew a sharp laugh. "Nolan made me watch Iron Man twice," she said, "and sometimes he calls me Black Widow, but I'm no Batman. He's not my Robin. I'm not a hero, I'm just trying to hand out justice where it is needed. But if that does make me a hero, then he is one too. Sidekicks can become heroes in their own right."

Cisco resisted the urge to reel off a list of fictional sidekicks who did indeed take on the hero mantle for themselves. Even when Caitlin was too upset to listen she seemed to take comfort from his attempts to distract her, but Emily wasn't Caitlin and likely wouldn't appreciate his ramblings.

A few hours passed before Caitlin returned with a vial of a cloudy liquid.

"We're going to try this drug cocktail," she said. "I think it will work. I don't think there will be any adverse effects whether it works or not. However I do think you might want to sit with him for a while, before we make the final preparations."

"You think I should say goodbye," Emily said, getting to her feet.

Caitlin gave a short nod. "I don't think it's necessary but I would never forgive myself if I didn't give you the opportunity, just in case."

Emily headed off to Nolan's room. Cisco slipped one arm around Caitlin's waist and leaned his head on her shoulder.

"Thank you."

"I haven't saved him yet."

"You will." Cisco gave her a squeeze and then let go. "I have every faith in you. You've been the undoing of many a metahuman. What's some little designer drug compared to that?"

Caitlin gave him a wry grin and went to finish her preparations. Cisco got another coffee and stared out of the window. Nolan had got caught up with Emily's plans for revenge, become her friend – maybe more, Cisco was still confused on that score, and eventually taken up the fight for justice himself.

Cisco understood; he'd willingly become Barry's sidekick, he and Caitlin had become part of Team Flash, and Cisco's feelings for Barry and Caitlin were confused. Then he had started to develop his own powers, get a taste of what it meant to be hero.

Bisexual geniuses like Cisco and Nolan seemed destined to get into mischief with strong willed justice seekers, and end up changing in ways they could never have anticipated.

"Hey." Caitlin put a comforting hand on Cisco's shoulder, shaking him from his reverie.

"Good news? Bad news? No news?"

"Good," she said. "He's not fully awake yet but he's improving, starting to stir. The drug is working."

Cisco dropped the empty coffee cup to the floor and swept Caitlin into a tight hug.

"It's all right," Caitlin said, muffled from being pressed against him. "It's all right."

Cisco couldn't explain the depth of his relief, of how tired he was of worrying himself sick over his loved ones, of how much he cared for them all. He didn't think he could explain that he needed her and Barry the way Nolan and Emily needed each other.

Cisco had never been able to tell her how much it had hurt when she went to work at Mercury labs, had accepted it because she'd needed some space. But he'd kept hoping she would return and at last she had, and at times like this he never wanted to let her go.