Cisco blinked his eyes open. His head throbbed with pain. He lifted his head slowly from its previously slumped position and looked at his surroundings.

He was in a dimly lit room, dirty and gray from years of abandonment. Bits of trash and metal littered the floor, the largest piles of which shoved into corners around machines that were, presumably, out of order. In one of the corners, a mass of flesh sat reeking while flies audibly buzzed around it, bearing a definite resemblance to a human body. Cisco took in a shaky breath.

He tried to move his hands from behind his back, but he could feel thick, plastic zip ties binding his wrists, keeping them trapped to a pipe that ran along the bottom edge of the room's back wall. His feet were bound too, he noted when he tried moving them. He pulled on the pipe, hoping that, in a place this grimy, it might be weak enough for him to break. To Cisco's dismay, the pipe held.

Footsteps thudded above him, creaking closer to a sliver of light across the room from him, which Cisco assumed was a trap-door. He had seen enough horror movies to know what was going to happen next. His heart sped up and he pulled desperately against the zip ties, hoping that by some small miracle they would break.

The hatch opened. Light filtered in, leaving the figure that stepped down into the room a black silhouette. Cisco's whole body was trembling. He stared with wide eyes as the person pulled the overhead door shut.

A dingy fluorescent light flickered on and the person strode over to Cisco. They grabbed his chin with gloved hands and forced him to meet their eyes.

Cisco took in the shadowed face, certain that even if he did survive, he would never forget it. They were a man, early fifties, Cisco guessed. He had two large scars going down the bridge of his nose to the bottom of his jaw, with eyes that were devoid of emotion. His Clint Eastwood scowl made him look more terrifying.

Cisco struggled to pull his head away, but he couldn't break free from the man's iron grip. The man glared for a few seconds more, then let go.

He got up and pulled a video camera out of his pocket. One hundred different scenarios ran through Cisco's mind, all of them bad. The man set it on one of the broken machines, angling it towards Cisco.

"W-what are you doing?" Cisco stuttered, pleased to hear that he only sounded three-fourths as terrified as he really was.

The man ignored him and continued to set up the camera. Cisco tried again, louder this time. "What are y-"

His head was slammed against the wall, causing him to yelp in pain. The man grabbed a fistful of Cisco's hair and yanked upwards. He leaned in closely.

"I only need you to be alive for approximately the next ten minutes," The man growled, his breath hot against Cisco's ear. "Whether or not you continue to live will be determined by your actions. Understand?"

Cisco nodded shakily. He understood that he was to be a model kidnapping victim, which included shutting the hell up. He also understood that he might break his twenty-four year long record of not peeing his pants.

The man released him and went back to the video camera. He pressed a button and Cisco saw the little red light begin to blink. The man walked to Cisco, stopping next to him.

"I am the Exterminator." He told the camera. The name rang a bell in Cisco's mind. He'd heard that name before, but where? "I have taken it upon myself to assist the gods in wiping out the metahuman plight caused by STAR Labs."

Cisco remembered. He'd heard of this guy on the news. He was responsible for several deaths so far, all gruesome, all leaving little to no evidence. Most of the victims were metas, but there had also been a few former STAR Labs employees mixed in. Barry had told him that the CCPD had virtually no leads, other than knowing that it was the same killer.

"Here," he gestured at Cisco, "we have one of their employees who helped create the particle accelerator, which in turn created this plague of defective freaks." The Exterminator crouched next to Cisco and grabbed his hair again, forcing him to look directly into the camera. Cisco winced in pain. "Tell them your name."

"C-Cisco Ramon." The man let go and stood up. Cisco was beginning to think he was due for a haircut.

"Now, Cisco," he hissed, "who's the most well known metahuman in this city? I'll give you a hint: his suit is the same color as your blood." The Exterminator slid a knife out of a sheath attached to his belt and twirled it with his fingers.

"The F-Flash." Cisco stuttered in a small voice, keeping a wary eye on the knife. He was growing more nervous.

"Correct." The man redirected his gaze to the camera. "So, Flash. If you want this boy to live, start looking. You have two hours."

"Don't d-!" Cisco was punched hard by his captor and blinked the stars out of his vision. Blood trickled from his split lip.

"Maybe I should show everyone how serious I am." He growled, glaring at Cisco. He walked to a work bench next to the machines and grabbed something Cisco couldn't quite see.

The Exterminator walked back, pliers now visible in his hands. Cisco's heart was pounding and his eyes widened. He wished he'd kept his mouth shut. The man crouched next to him and used his knife to cut the ties binding his hands. Cisco pushed away from him but the man caught his wrist and yanked him back into the camera's field of vision.

He grabbed Cisco's right hand and brought the pliers to his middle finger, clamping onto the tip.

"No. No, don't. Please! No! No!" Cisco shook his head and breathed heavily, voice growing higher with fear, nearly sobbing the words out. "Stop! Please! NO!"

The Exterminator twisted the tip, bending Cisco's finger back at an odd angle, until splintered bone stabbed through the flesh. Cisco screamed. The man moved the pliers to the nail on Cisco's index finger and tugged. The nail pulled off, strands of skin still connecting it stretched and snapped. "Please stop! Please!" Cisco begged.

"But we aren't done yet." The man's voice was cool and calm. He clamped the pliers onto Cisco's broken middle finger and squeezed hard, repeating the action with the tender nailbed of the next finger. Cisco cried out. His eyes watered and his body shook. "Try it again, and I'll break the rest of your fingers."

Cisco nodded and inhaled shakily. Trying to warn Barry was officially out of the equation. Cisco just hoped that his little attempt hadn't changed the Exterminator's mind about letting him live.

The Exterminator walked to the camera. "See you soon, Flash." He turned it off. "That was a live broadcast, by the way. So, don't expect your little hero to live for long. Yourself either, for that matter, as that outburst just cost you an hour of time your hero would have had to attempt to rescue you."

He re-zip-tied Cisco to the pipe, being purposefully rough with Cisco's wounded hand. He turned off the light and returned to the upper level from the trapdoor. The hatch shut, leaving Cisco in complete darkness.

Cisco rested his head on the wall and blinked back tears. He was alone. He was scared. He would probably die soon. And his fingers hurt like hell.

Cisco wished he was back at the lab, with Caitlin and Barry. Safe, and happy, and not sharing a basement with a corpse.

He really hoped Barry would find him. Then again, the Exterminator wanted the Flash to come there, so obviously the man had some sort of trap waiting. He had already managed to kill several other metas, Cisco thought, so killing one more wouldn't be that hard, would it?

He sighed. Cisco wanted Barry to save him. He needed Barry. But, what if his hero couldn't do it? What if tonight was the last night of their lives? He sat in despair as the minutes flew past.

He guessed about half an hour had passed. The Exterminator would be back down soon if he stayed true to his word, which Cisco had a feeling he would. Where was Barry? It shouldn't have taken him this long to search the entire city. Unless, he thought, they weren't in Central City.

He pictured Barry's face in his mind. His beautiful eyes, his sweet smile. Cisco would probably never get to hear his voice again.

A loud bang from above roused him from his thoughts, like a door slamming open. Muffled shouts accompanied footsteps. Cisco was fully alert now, listening for any indication that it was Barry who had found him.

There were several crashes, then one final thud. Cisco allowed his hope to rise. It remained silent for a few minutes. The trapdoor opened, silhouetting the bottom-half of someone.

"Flash!" Cisco broke into a grin, relief washing over him as the figure descended the steps. The rest of the shadowed person came into view.

Something was wrong. They were carrying a limp body over their shoulder. Cisco's heart stopped.

"...Flash?" The fluorescent light flickered on, revealing the Exterminator's leathery face. "What did you do to him?" The man said nothing as he dumped the body next to Cisco. "What did you do?!" Cisco pulled against his bonds, pain reminding him of his injuries. This earned him another lightning-quick punch to the face, renewing the pain from the first assault.

"Is there a tracking device in that suit?" The Exterminator asked, ignoring Cisco's distress.

"I don't know." Cisco lied.

"Yes, you do." He moved his hand to his knife. "Now tell me."

Cisco felt sweat beading on his forehead. The Exterminator pulled the knife out and let it linger in the air. Cisco remained silent, scared as he was, as a small act of defiance.

The Exterminator narrowed his eyes, then stabbed the knife into Cisco's left shoulder. Cisco screamed through grit teeth.

"Is there a tracking device in the suit?" He twisted the knife, deepening Cisco's pain. It was too much for Cisco.

"Yes!" Cisco hissed, breathing heavily. He backed against the wall as much as he could, frowning at the Exterminator. The man pulled his knife out, wiped the blood on Cisco's shirt, then resheathed it.

He stripped the suit off Barry, leaving him in just his boxers. He set the suit on the ground. Cisco glared at him.

The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a metal choker roughly wrapped in wires. Definitely homemade, Cisco thought. He attached it around Barry's neck, twisting the clasp together with a click. The choker beeped.

"What is that?" Cisco asked, though he could guess the answer. It must have been how the man had managed to kill all of those other metahumans.

"A gift from the gods." The Exterminator had a ghost of a smile. He pulled thick, black zip-ties out of his coat pocket and bound Barry near Cisco on the pipe. He picked up the suit and walked to the stairs, pausing at the bottom. "I'll be back. Enjoy your last moments."

The Exterminator walked up the stairs and shut the trapdoor. "I'll be back" Cisco replayed the line in his mind. More like the ex-Terminator, he thought. Had he not been tied up in a basement next to one of his best friends and about to die, he might've laughed at his own joke.

Cisco turned to Barry. His hand and shoulder throbbed with pain, but it was nothing compared to his concern over Barry's motionless form. At least Barry was still breathing.

Barry scrunched his face and groaned. Squinting, he opened his eyes and tried sitting up from his awkward position on the floor.

"What... Cisco?" His eyes widened. "Oh God, Cisco! I've gotta get you out of here! Are you okay? Hold on, let me just..." Barry tried to use his super speed to vibrate through the ties. Unfortunately, the choker worked exactly as Cisco suspected it might. "What the...?"

"Barry, you can't use your powers. He put a collar on you that dampens them."

"What?! Shit!" Barry pulled somewhat frantically against the zip-ties. "Are you okay? What did he do to you?"

"I'm fine, minus a broken finger and stabbed shoulder." Cisco said, trying to pass it off like it wasn't a big deal despite the pain he felt. "And my face hurts. A lot." He added. Barry's face twisted into horrified shock.

"He stabbed you?! Oh, God. Cisco, I'm so sorry. I should've gotten to you sooner. Where'd that bastard go?"

"I think he's putting the suit somewhere so they can't trace our location. Or destroying it." Barry looked down at himself in confusion, as if noticing his lack of clothes for the first time. Cisco rested his head on the wall. "Dude, what happened up there?"

"I looked everywhere for you." Barry looked into Cisco's eyes and swallowed. "I searched the city thirteen times, top to bottom. But, I couldn't... I couldn't find you." He looked down. "Wells traced the broadcast location to a thirty mile radius. The guy scrambled the signal, it was the best we could do. This place is a condemned tech warehouse, just outside of the city."

That explained the broken machines, and why it took Barry so long to figure it out, Cisco thought. "So, what happened when you got here?"

"I came in to check this place, and he was just waiting. I tried to beat him, but he was smart. Got the jump on me." Cisco nodded his understanding. Barry sighed. "I'm sorry, man. I was just so worried about you, I couldn't think straight." Cisco blushed.

"It's cool. You found me now, that's what counts." He smiled. "But we seriously have to get out of here. That psycho could come back any time now, and if he does, me and you are both dead."

Barry nodded. Cisco looked around, trying to come up with a plan. He was grateful in some ways that The Exterminator had forgotten to turn off the light, but being able to really look at the basement in all its horror was unsettling, especially with the mound of maggoty flesh in the corner. His eyes caught on the metal choker around Barry's neck.

"Hey, Barry, do you think you could get us out of here if I got the collar off?"

"Yeah, man, of course. Is there a way?"

"Yeah," Cisco paused, "but, I don't know what will happen if we get it off."

"You mean, you think it might explode or something?" Barry asked, looking at Cisco.

"Maybe. I don't know." Cisco shrugged. "This guy is crazy, I wouldn't put it past him."

"No way. I've been following this case for months at work. He likes to kill people slowly. Messily. Exploding people isn't his style." Barry smiled as reassuringly as he could. "Besides, I'm willing to take that risk if it means I can get you back safe."

Cisco looked into his eyes. He wasn't sure of this plan, but it was the only one they had.

"Are you sure about this?" His voice shook. Barry nodded his head and gave a small smile.

"Positive."

"Alright, let's do this." Cisco let out a breath and scooted as close to Barry as he could go, the zip-ties preventing him from going far. "I need you to come closer, then lean down so my hands can reach the clasp."

Barry complied. His ties caught on the pipe, preventing him from moving any closer. He was still just a bit too far away for Cisco's bound hands to be able to reach.

"Crap, I'm stuck." A jolt of panic went through Cisco. He reworked the plan in his mind, trying to stay calm.

"Uh, it's fine. It's okay." Cisco scooted forward as far as he could go. "Just lean forward and put your head in my lap. I can try to reach the clasp with my mouth." Barry leaned down and awkwardly followed instructions, placing himself face first into Cisco's crotch.

Cisco had imagined having his friend in a position similar to this before. Many times, actually. However, in those scenarios, they were usually both a little more naked and a little less tied up. Usually.

Cisco tried to ignore the thought, as right now would be an especially bad time for that to happen. He bent down and grabbed the clasp in his mouth, brushing Barry's skin with his lips as he did so. The touch sent shivers down Barry's spine.

"Heh," Barry's muffled voice sounded. "You're pretty flexible there, Cisco."

"Shuh uh, 'arry." Cisco said with the choker in his mouth. He twisted the clasp with his teeth and tongue, almost undoing it. It fell from his mouth, sliding downwards to Barry's collar bone. "Fuck... sit up, it slipped."

Barry sat up, stretching forward so Cisco could reach his neck. Cisco leaned into the crook of Barry's neck where the clasp had slid. His bruised cheekbone pressed uncomfortably into Barry's shoulder as he took the clasp into his mouth again. Cisco could've sworn he saw Barry blushing, but it was probably just the light.

The clasp finally untwisted and the choker fell to the ground. It gave a quick beep. The two men stared at it for a moment, uncertain if it was going to do something more explosive. It stayed silent.

Cisco let out a sigh of relief. He pulled away from Barry just enough to be able to see his face. Barry smiled at him and brought his forehead down to touch Cisco's own. They both started laughing, quiet and somewhat hysterically, but together, happy just to be alive. The laughter died down and they caught their breath.

"Oh my god." Barry sighed, looking into Cisco's dark eyes. "I actually thought we were going to die for a second."

"Me too." Cisco whispered. They went silent. Barry's eyes traveled down Cisco's face, stopping at his lips.

The dirty and terrifying basement wasn't exactly romantic, but Cisco felt the world stop anyway. In the ecstasy of still being alive, Barry began to close the gap, leaning in.

A loud slamming noise came from upstairs. They jumped back from each other, minds fully alert again to the danger they were in.

"Shit!" Barry whispered. He vibrated his wrists through the zip-ties. Footsteps thudded overhead, growing closer to the trapdoor.

Cisco's eyes widened, keeping them trained on the hatch. Barry grabbed Cisco's wrists and vibrated them free. Cisco grunted as his injured fingers were jarred, the vibrations causing the slight scabs to rupture and ooze fresh blood.

The trapdoor flew open, revealing the Exterminator at the top of the stairs. He carried something like a bag doctor's used to use to carry their tools in.

Cisco's heart sped up. His feet were still bound. Barry knelt to pick him up. Cisco grabbed the metal choker off the ground and slipped it into his pocket as Barry picked him up.

"We're leaving!" Barry declared yo the figure still at the top of the stairs. The Exterminator smiled.

"No, actually, you're not." He pulled a grenade from his belt and armed it, tossing it down the steps.

The world dissolved around Cisco as Barry ran. They stopped outside of the warehouse. Barry set Cisco down on the weedy ground and ran back in.

Cisco heard several more explosions, then Barry ran out. He dumped the Exterminator a few yards away from Cisco. Cisco could see that the man was tied up and rather bloody from all the shrapnel sticking out of his body, but still alive.

"I'm gonna go get the cops," Barry panted. "Are you okay staying here with...?" He pointed at the Exterminator.

"Yeah, just untie my feet." Cisco was actually terrified to stay alone, even with the man all tied up. He would have preferred to go with Barry, but he wanted at least to be able to run if he needed to.

"Great," Barry flashed him a smile as he tore through the zip-ties with the help of super powers. "I'll be back in a few minutes. Don't go near him."

Cisco didn't need Barry to tell him that. Barry zipped away in a blur of speed, leaving only wind. Cisco found it vaguely impressive that Barry could still manage to look and act so heroic while standing in his underwear.

Cisco looked at the tied up villain. He looked like he was shaking. Cisco crept a little bit closer, making sure to stay at least two yards away. Now that he was closer, he could hear the old man laughing.

"Why..." he faltered. "Why are you laughing?"

"Why? Why wouldn't I be?" The Exterminator struggled against his bonds for a moment, then stopped. "Your little hero just left you alone with a serial killer."