"What's up?"

Caitlin was ready to tell Cisco all about how she'd just been woken up by a giant flash of blue light. How it looked vaguely meta human related. She'd been terrified when she saw it and Cisco was the first person she thought to call, but glancing at the clock which read 4:36 AM, she instead said:

"Why aren't you sleeping?"

He hesitated, and then countered, "I could ask you the same thing, so, what's up?"

She was quiet for a few seconds. Of course she wanted to talk to him about the mysterious blue light but Cisco had been looking terrible for almost three weeks now. And now she may have gotten a confirmation as to why.

"I woke up to a weird bright light I wanted to tell you about, but... what're you doing up?"

"I... woke up when you called me."

"Cisco, I'm a doctor. I know the difference between the voice of someone who just woke up and someone whose been awake for a while. Besides, you answered immediately, there's no way you were sleeping."

He was quiet again. The silences were getting uncomfortable.

Caitlin glanced at the clock again and then said, "I'm coming over."

"Wh-? Caitlin, you don't-"

She hung up.

He opened the door for her and she hated how exhausted and sick he looked.

"God, you look terrible." She said, passing by him.

He rolled his eyes with an intentionally plastered on smile, "Good to see you too, Cait."

He shut the door and turned back to see Caitlin glaring at his blaring TV.

"Why the hell are you watching Supernatural right now?! You should be sleeping, Cisco!"

He flushed, a little embarrassed and combed a nervous hand through his hair.

"I, uh... I can't."

Caitlin stared back at him as he fidgeted nervously.

"You'll never sleep if you're just watching TV this loud and-"

"No, no... it's not... it's not that. I... I've been having trouble falling asleep and, uh... I'd been trying to fall asleep since 9 o' clock and it was just... just a no go, basically, so I figured I'd just do my laundry and get to work early today."

Caitlin frowned at him, noticing how pale he looked. How shadowed his eyes were. How awkwardly he was moving. Slow and disconnected.

"Why didn't you tell me? I could-"

"What? Give me advice on how to fall asleep easier? I'm not a kid, Cait, I went to my doctor. But nothing's been working. I mean, I do sleep-"

"How much?"

Cisco turned away, unable to face her, "I don't know, like... I got five hours a few days ago... and last night was around... three... tonight is closer to... none."

"Jesus, Cisco!"

Caitlin guided him toward the couch. Irritated, he ripped his arm away, but he sat down. She felt his forehead, had him track her finger with his eyes, she took his pulse...

"Cisco, you gotta be honest with me right now, alright?" She said, sitting across from him, looking worried.

"Alright, alright, what'd you wanna know?"

"Have you been hallucinating?"

Cisco hesitated.

"Yeah, a little."

"Any panic attacks?"

"... just one or two..."

"How bad is your anxiety?"

"C'mon, Cait! Look, yes, I'm not sleeping much, it's not like I really have a choice in that!"

"What happens when you try to fall asleep? Do you have nightmares or are you too wired or...?"

"I... I keep having to stop myself from Vibing because it's just hurting my head and stopping me from sleeping..."

"You're Vibing?"

"Yeah, and I can't figure out why, I'm just... they keep happening."

Caitlin felt a cold rush of fear grip her heart.

Two times they'd nearly lost Cisco to his powers. Once with the ruptured timeline when she had to watch him seizing, blood gushing out of his nose as she tried to stop it. A second time when he'd Vibed into an adjacent dimension trying to make contact with Barry, but he stayed there too long, and it almost killed him.

"What are you Vibing about?" She whispered, her voice near breaking.

He sighed, feeling her broken voice eat at him.

"I don't know, exactly. There's like... I see Reverb, and he's staring right at me... and that's all I get. It just disappears and... and I'm just staring at my ceiling again."

*I'll have the next chapter up soon, I hope