Handy Man

[makes_the_toys]

S.T.A.R. Labs is a huge building, with a lot of doors. Currently, Cisco is wandering down the hallways opening and closing every one of them.

He of course started with the one Barry used to take Cisco into Milliways, but when opening and shutting that one repeatedly yielded nothing, he went trying to find the place somewhere else (hey, the entrance into Narnia didn't always stay the same, either).

"Oh, c'mon!" he exclaims when the latest door yields nothing. He's out of lab portals, now. That just leaves the pipeline and Cisco would really rather not go looking for secret wormholes in there with Nimbus.

"What are you doing?"

Thinking about Nimbus, and how utterly bad it would be if Cisco released a murderous gas cloud into the bar at the end of the universe, the voice startles him out of his skin. He leaps into the air and gives a most impressive, 'BWAaaAAaaH!' in the process.

His reactions causes Caitlin to startle, and she gives her own yelp and jumps back half a foot.

"Caitlin! GEEZ, give a guy a heart-attack."

"Me? I could hear you slamming doors from my lab. What are you doing?" Caitlin replies, giving Cisco an incredulous look.

Patting his chest to calm his hammering heart, Cisco pauses, struck by the question.

"Me? Nothing... " An idea lights and he smiles. "Maintenance. I got some down time so I thought I'd take care of the light work I never get around to. Y'know, light bulb inventory, checking door hinges, stuff like that."

"Maintenance," Caitlin repeats, skeptical.

"Mm-hmm." Cisco's smile is wide and winning, and made of absolute innocence.

"Great! Because the sliding glass on my lab has been driving me nuts. It sticks all the time. Also, there's a fluorescent bulb in the infirmary that has been flickering for a month, and Barry said the treadmill might need some alignment. Oh, there's also... "

*****

So that turned into the worst excuse ever.

It's a few hours later and Cisco is finally done with Caitlin's to-do list, and the add-ons Dr. Wells added when he also found out Cisco was doing maintenance chores.

Pulling the door to his workshop open, Cisco is so ready to call it a day.

"You have GOT to be kidding me."