Only Because I Need You

Brotherly Bonding

Cisco's heart hammered in his chest. He fiddled with his fingers as he strode down the pipeline cells. He only had to pass three more cells until he reached Dante's. His curls swung around his ears. He was tempted to turn back, to walk the other way, but Harry's words rang in his ears. He couldn't let fear win. He would not let a simple emotion best him. With renewed confidence he strode in front of Dante's cell. Cisco's other worldly brother was slowly doing press-ups in the minimal floorspace his cell had. He groaned with effort as pushed himself back up into a plank position. He tilted his head up to look at Cisco, his face was reddened and he was softly puffing. Cisco's Dante had always been more athletic than his younger brother, however, that wasn't hard. Dante kept in shape, but that was the extent of his physical exercise and he certainly never over exerted himself. He couldn't risk his piano playing for anything, "do you play the piano?" Cisco asked, leaning against the glass that separated the pair.

Dante pushed himself to his feet with strained effort, "I haven't played piano in a long time," he said breathily. His eyes narrowed as they took in the form of his sibling.

"Why did you stop?" Cisco felt his heart twitch a little. A large part of what made Dante, Dante was his musical skills. Cisco nearly slapped himself, a person's personality was not defined by their talents, and Dante was not defined by his piano skills alone. He was so much more than that, but he probably never saw that.

"Why do you care?" His voice was cutting and sharp. It was the kind of voice, that only a few years prior, would have made Cisco flinch, or unexplainably angry. It was the kind of voice he used when he was trying to frustrate his younger brother.

"Just curios," Cisco sighed with a shrug.

"I stopped when... I stopped when my Cisco died," he replied crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back onto his heels.

Cisco bit down on his lip, he was fairly certain that Dante was telling the truth. A feint pain lingered behind his eyes. They were both feeling the same grief, the same misery and the same heart ache. It would only make sense if they were to console in one another, "How did your Cisco die?"

Dante's shoulders fell and his expression dropped like a wilted flower. He dropped his eyes to the floor, "he died on the job," he glanced upwards, clearly seeing the confused look on Cisco's face, "we were partners for a company of breachers that hunted down wanted men and criminals all over the multiverse," a small smile cracked his face, "and boy what a team did we make," Cisco adverted his eyes and let out a small huff of air. Cisco knew jealousy was an evil emotion, but he was only human, "what about you and your Dante, how do you get on?"

"We don't, we never really did," he explained, his emotions began to swirl in his chest. He sucked in a shaky breath, his heart ached for a man he would never know.

"Your Dante, is dead?" Dante tilted his head to the side, his lips were pressed into a thin line.

"For quite some time, yes," Cisco nodded. The brothers' eyes met, and in that moment Cisco could have sworn he was looking at himself. He saw the same lingering pain that haunted every waking moment of his day, he saw the brother sized hole in his heart, but most of all, he saw a man who had lost a close friend.

"I'm sorry about that," Dante dipped his head and stuffed his hands into his pockets, "I suppose it is destined for us to be apart,"

"I don't think so," Cisco chuffed, "because somewhere in the multiverse there will be a world where we act like brothers and neither of us are dead,"  a small smile crawled onto his face at the thought. He could imagine spending christmases by the fire with their families, laughing and truly living life to the fullest. He refused to believe that there wasn't a version of them that had it all right.

Dante lifted his head and sent Cisco a warm smile, "Maybe,"

*

Barry inhaled the sharp stinging oder of alcohol. It burned in his nose and nipped his eyes. He had to prevent his lip from curling in disgust. The room around them was littered with the colour paper decorations that had fallen from the rafters high above them. The centre of the room was dominated by a large platform that was surrounded by a small set of stairs that led to the ground level, where Barry stood. The platform couldn't have been higher than a meter and it's surface was covered in a sick liquid. He had no idea what the liquid was, and he didn't want to know. The ground floor, where Barry was, ran like a trench around the platform, only a few meter's wide, and a few bars were scattered about and embedded into the walls of the room. The bars were being cleaned by several people, none of them wore anything that resembled any kind of uniform. They all just wore scraggly clothes that hung loosely from their thin bodies.

Joe stood by Barry's side, his hand hovered on his belt, just next to his gun. Barry shifted his feet, he had to rip his shoes from the ground as they stuck to the sticky floor. He pushed his hands into his pockets and glanced around aimlessly. They had decided to visit Twoot to try and suss out what had been taking place. They were simply waiting on tha manager to appear. A young girl had met that at the door before scampering off to find her boss. From what Barry remembered she had blonde hair and dull eyes. In fact, Barry would go further, her eyes weren't dull, they were lifeless.

It didn't take long for the girl to return, her ponytail flapped behind her. A short and stout man followed behind her. He was well rounded and a bulbous nose possessed the majority of his red face. The pair stopped, barely a meter away from Barry and Joe, "What can I do for you gentlemen?" His scratchy and weak voice asked, he clasped his hands in front of his chest and plastered a smile on his face.

"We are here with the CCPD," Joe pulled out his badge and showed it to the man, "We would like to ask you a few questions," he slid his badge back into his inside pocket. Having it on display in that part of the city would have been inviting people to attack him.

The stout man's eyes widened slightly, "Well Officers, I can promise you we take part in no illegals activity," he chuckled nervously, "do we Olivia?" The blonde shook her head.

"We are here about the disappearances of several women around this area, we wanted to know if you knew anything," Barry clarified, keeping his tone flat and emotionless. He often found that when he was talking to people for work, it was easiest to get information by making yourself seem intimidating.

"No, sorry, I can't say I know a thing," the man raised his pudgy hands in defence. He plastered a smile onto his face, but it never reached his eyes.

"Are you certain that you haven't even heard any rumours?" Joe pressed him further.

"No, this is the first time I am hearing if such a thing," the man assured them.

Joe and Barry shared a look, "Well, thank you for your time sir," Barry said, "if your hear anything, be sure to let us know," the man nodded his head. Barry and Joe turned together and strode out of the disgusting club. All Barry could think about, was that he was sick of dead ends and liars.

A/N - Three uploads on time, Bap!