(no subject)

[captaincaveman]

Early in the morning, Barry was already at work at CCPD, Claire would be greeted with a knock at her door. Wells, in his classic black attire and black baseball cap to hide his face was standing at her door. He wasn't wearing his glasses and had the collar of his jacket popped to help conceal his face. In one hand he was holding a Jitters carton with two to-go cups of coffee.

Assuming she opened the door, the very first thing he did was raise his free hand in a show of surrender and say, "It's me, Harrison--or Harry, not... you know..."

Comments

[infinite1ups]

Claire loved her new nerd family just as fast as she'd fallen for Barry. Which was good, because she knew she couldn't really have one without the other. It was a huge relief that they all seemed to like her, too.

For now. That might change when she told the truth. She knew exactly what Cisco was referring to, the one thing that would set Barry off. For now she held on to hope that if he could forgive her, the others would too. Harry didn't seem to hold it against her much, especially now that she'd promised to stay away from Thawne.

"So, we have a game plan. I'll try to get Caitlin to open up a little while we're doing labs. Maybe a girly movie night is better than partying? I can talk to her about it. And while I'm doing that, we find ways to help her out here. I know you said she's a workaholic, but we can try to convince her that it'll be more productive if she lets us carry some of that load."

Now, with a plan, Claire was feeling far more confident. She shot Cisco a grin, nudging him playfully. "We got this. We're gonna keep Killer Frost defrosted."

Yeah, she did take it to heart when Barry told her to own her puns.

"If not a girls night, maybe a STAR Labs team thing. What if y'all came to my place for dinner one night?"

[namesthevillains]

The pun made a bright grin explode across Cisco's face. "Hey, girl. Puns are my jam. We're either gonna be the best of friends or rivals." He laughed.

"Dinner? You sure you want us all there? I mean, you've met Oscar the Grouch sleeping off his injuries in medical, right? He's certainly not the life of any party." Look, it would be more fun to take shots at Harry if he were here to get pissed off at Cisco for it, but he'd have to just settle for being a brat behind the genius' back.

[infinite1ups]

"Of course I want you all there. Heck, Harry's already been to my place twice. Once when I met him after that crash, and then again today." Today, when he'd been attacked yet again.

"Okay, for Harry's safety, maybe I could bring team dinner to the lab. Doesn't matter where, as long as we're together."

That... was unbelievably cheesy, Barry would probably be proud. She was sticking with it.

"I think it'd be good for all of us, but it could also be important to remind Caitlin we're all here for her. Being a Meta doesn't change that, and it doesn't have to change who she is as a person."

[namesthevillains]

"Oh, you poor thing. I'm sorry." Said like a sweet old lady offering condolences. "No one deserves to have that emotionally stunted genius in their place once, let alone twice." He teased. "But no, really, thanks for saving him. Twice. I may tease, but we'd miss him if something happened. He's... he's family. Me, Barry, and Cait have pretty broken families, so we collect our little nest of people and hold them close."

He waved off her concern. "Hey, I could always Breach Harry there. That's another facet of my power. I use multidimensional energy to make breaches in space, like little wormholes. It's how I picked up you and Harry." He gestured over at the open space where they'd been standing earlier for the Vibe. He held out his hand and closed it into a fist. At the end of his fist, a turbulent mass of energy started forming. It looked like a violent, churning ball of water. It extended outward from his fist into the open space until it was big enough for a person to fit through. Then it stabilised so that it had something of an eye to it. "I can create Breaches to other Earths, too. If I've never been there before, it takes some practise." He let the Breach close after a moment and rubbed his eyes with his thumb and index finger. It was a strain to do without his Vibe Glasses on.

"Tell her that, for sure. So she can hear it from someone who she knows isn't biased."

[infinite1ups]

"My family is pretty solid now even though we're spread out, but here I've just acquired more family." She was adopting all of them. It was almost scary how quickly she was growing fond of everyone, how fast she was really building herself a new life.

In some ways, it felt a bit like a house of cards, but she was ready to fight for it. She'd never had so much to lose before.

Claire watched, entranced, as Cisco displayed his breaching power. Yeah, that certainly explained how they'd gotten to the lab. "Whoa, that's so cool. I met a guy who could open up a vortex at will, it sucked in everything around it, including people. I almost went into one, but I was saved. I didn't want to find out what was on the other side. Pretty sure no one ever found out and was able to survive."

She leaned back in her chair, more relaxed now, and fixed another smile on Cisco. "I will. I'll try to make sure it's natural conversation, so she doesn't get suspicious. If it looks like some kind of intervention, it could backfire. We don't want to accidentally cause the thing we're trying to prevent."

[namesthevillains]

Cisco held his fist out for a fist bump. "Here's to more family." He would still mourn Dante's death, even if they hadn't been close. His parents were torn up about it and he was still a bit irritated with Barry, but after his own muck-up in the timeline, he understood.

"Hey, I promise, my Breaches won't eat people." He joked, but shuddered. He remembered the singularity that nearly destroyed Central City when Thawne tried to go back to his time. The one Ronnie died to close. "They're harmless, unless I want them to be harmful. And that involves Roadrunner cartoon like antics of opening one under someone and then dropping them from the top of a building. Which, I really wouldn't do! ...not without reason." But now that he thought about it, that might be a good way to corral an evil speedster.

"C'mon." He got up and held a hand out to her. "Let's go to my lab and actually get this watch sorted like I said we were gonna do."

[infinite1ups]

Claire reached out for the fist bump, grinning. She was already growing as excited for her dad to meet the rest of her new friends as she was for him to meet Barry. Meredith and Nathan would always be a part of her, despite how briefly she'd had them in her life, but she sorely wished they could be here for this. They'd be proud of her, she thought, and happy for her.

"If that doesn't work, we can try dropping an anvil on someone," she joked in return. "Y'know, hypothetically..."

She took Cisco's hand to get up and follow him to his lab. As they walked, something else occurred to her. "And maybe after that, lunch time? Healing makes me hungry."

[namesthevillains]

Cisco laughed, she was getting along just fine in their weird little crowd. Even Harry liked her and he was a picky bitch.

"Oh shoot! Just like Barry? I've got some of his nutrient bars here, but I don't know how good they taste. I can pull for Bug Belly Burger." He seemed excited for lunch.

Once at the lab, it was a large room, cluttered with tools and work stations. It was split down the centre by a walkway. One side was all work and no play, bland as far as decoration went. There were two glass boards on wheels filled from top to bottom in equations in white marker. The other side had a bit more personality. Amidst the tools and projects were figurines. Star Wars models, Star Trek models, Harry Potter LEGO sets the works.

"This is where the Grinch and I work." He did a little twirl with his arms outstretched to indicate the room. "Give you three guesses what side's mine and the first two don't count."

All these years and she's never gotten to reference her username outside of that meme.

[infinite1ups]

"It's as extreme for me - I'm not gonna pass out if I skip a meal, even after I use a 1-up." She thought Cisco would appreciate that one. "My regen can keep me going."

And the mood had lightened considerably since her arrival with Harry, so she didn't think she was in any danger of getting hangry.

Yeah, the difference in the two sides of the lab was night and day. "I dunno," Claire started, heavy on the sarcasm, "Harry could've been a Star Wars guy for all I know. But I could maybe see him getting annoyed that Harry Potter has the same name."

She could get in on the teasing too, she was going to fit in just fine.

Just for you!

[namesthevillains]

"1-up. I like it!" He laughed again, then he held up a finger. He rushed to one of his desks and pulled open a drawer. After rifling through it for a minute, he found a sleeve of stickers. Cisco peeled off an 8-bit green and white mushroom sticker then stuck it to Claire's shirt, over her heart. "Super Claire-e-o!" He declared.

"You joke, but Harry's actually a movie buff. I was surprised. He gets like 95% of my references and even has his own to add. He's just ass at room decor. He's lived here for almost a year now and hasn't added a thing to his room in the basement. It's just four concrete walls, a bed, and the bare essentials. When Jesse moved in with him for a while, at least she added posters. I swear, he likes being miserable."

"We, uh, we kinda started the Harry thing. Or, I did. He showed up too soon after Thawne, our Dr. Wells betrayed us, and I couldn't stand the idea of another Dr. Wells. So I started calling him Harry. It was bad enough that he had the face of the guy who killed me, I wasn't going to keep using his name, too. He didn't argue. I think he knew I needed a way to cope." Cisco explained, sobering up from his giddy nature a bit. "He'll deny it, but he's a pretty good guy under all that bluster." Cisco pulled the watch out of his pocket and set it on his desk. He plucked a tool from Harry's desk and started unscrewing the back of it to expose the inner components as he spoke.

That's TOO cute!

[infinite1ups]

Claire just beamed at the sticker and the silly antics. They were obviously gonna need to have a game night, she thought.

Cisco's description of Harry's room somehow made sense and once again starkly reminded her of Noah. He just had that way about him - no frills, gruff. Almost like he didn't want to have any attachments. "Maybe dads are allergic to interior decorating. My dad's place in Virginia only has curtains 'cause I got them and hung them up," she pointed out with a laugh. "He used to let me do my laundry there, I figured it was a fair trade."

She listened as he talked about the origin of Harry coming to be called that. That also tracked with what she knew of the man. "He reminds me a lot of my dad. I think that's why he and I get along so well. We bonded over it while I was patching him up in my kitchen the day we met. I'm glad you two have each other."

As much as she didn't want to lurk over Cisco's shoulder too much, it was still interesting to watch him work. She was a quick learner, and was catching on pretty quickly to all the new Meta-human information that was being thrown at her, but fixing things... she never really had those mechanical talents. She impressed herself getting all the furniture and things together in her apartment without much help.

Re: That's TOO cute!

[namesthevillains]

There was a reason he called them all by their last names. It helped him pretend he wasn't attached. It let him think he was keeping them at arm's length. He was pretty sure they all knew it and he was also pretty sure they all knew it didn't work. Cisco certainly knew but he'd let Harry pretend until he saw the man spiraling.

"I think you remind him a lot of Jesse, too. The way he looked at you in the med lab. When you were... is there a better word than 'dead'? When you were unresponsive and he was bleeding from the ears, barely able to stand on his own, he wouldn't leave your side. He kept running test, even though he could hardly see straight. He found the venom still in your blood, but also that your blood was still regenerating and that was the only thing that made him calm down. Caitlin had to sedate him or he wasn't going to let her treat him. That wasn't just Harry repaying a favour. That was Harry caring about someone. He's a stubborn ass, but he's our stubborn ass." Cisco glanced up from the watch and smiled at her. "Someone has to call him out on his bullshit."

He picked up a cord and plugged the watch into a tablet, bringing up the program and inner code of the Meta app. "Huh. That's new." He said and accessed a file. The Meta Data encrypted in it was too familiar. "He has this thing programmed to detect Thawne and instantly send a panic ping to our computer on detection. I mean, not a bad idea." It just seemed a bit overprotective. He backed out of that file and found the newest one created, putting it on the whitelist with him and Barry. Jesse was also on that list, he noted.

[infinite1ups]

No, she didn't think there was a better word than dead, but Claire was happy to roll with unresponsive. It made her feel warm inside to hear how he had been so protective over her while she was out, though. Though, it also worried her that he could've hurt himself worse fussing over her.

"I'm just as stubborn as he is," she said quietly, the fondness obvious in her voice. "It was him or me. I'd make the same call every time."

With everything that had happened over the last few hours, she'd completely forgotten Harry telling her about that extra safety precaution. Now she'd been given the perfect opportunity to come clean. She felt obligated to take it, much like she had with Barry. Except she hadn't told Barry about the case of mistaken identity. Now she supposed she could, and hopefully he'd understand. She knew he'd likely be glad that Harry had the foresight to add the extra feature to her watch.

"Right." A slow, calming breath. "When I first met Harry, I thought he was Thawne. We met when I was in California, not too long before I moved here." She quickly put up a hand, because she wanted to finish explaining herself before Cisco reacted. "He was very friendly with me, but he was also pretty honest about being a killer. He... charmed me, made me feel..." No, not special. He chose a different word when she said how much she hated that. "Made me feel remarkable. I know now that that's what he does, how he manipulates people. Barry said so when I told him about this, and I promised him I wouldn't be in contact with Thawne. The next day, I changed my phone number."

More nervous now, she kept going, almost rambling. "I wanted to tell you and Caitlin immediately, but the watch was pinging, then you and I were trying to figure out how to help her, which was more important at the time. I didn't want to make it all about me. I'm sorry I didn't tell you right away."

[namesthevillains]

Things were all fond and warm fuzzies as he listened to her talk about Harry. They'd all been there once. But then things changed quickly at then mention of Thawne.

Cisco turned in his rolling chair to face her fully, his back against the desk. "Lemme get this straight," He, at least, was much calmer than Barry had been. "you and Eobard Thawne were buddies before you moved here?" The tone was sceptical. "So that's why Barry and Harry have been acting so weird about the Thawne precautions? I know Barry said he was back, but no one would say how they knew. And Harry's been being sketch as Hell since that first chameleon attack."

He crossed his arms over his chest and frowned. "Did Barry tell you everything that jerk did? That he's the Reverse-Flash and he caused all the Metas in the city. He killed the original Harrison Wells and Barry's mom. The man's plans have plans. I don't even fully get how he could be alive. His ancestor killed himself to kill Thawne. If he's still alive, Eddie died for nothing."

[infinite1ups]

"Like I said, he was manipulating me, and I fell for it. But, he doesn't know I'm here. He doesn't know I'm with Barry. We had made an arrangement for me to teach him about evolved humans, and for him to teach me about Metas. It never went anywhere, though. I moved here and met you guys, that was the end of it for me. As far as he knows, I've just gone radio silent with no explanation."

Claire shifted her weight from one foot to the other, still nervous. "I know what he is, and now I know a lot of what he did. He told me some things, but even when he was being honest he found a way to soften the blow, to make himself sound reasonable. To hear him tell it, The Flash is some egomaniac who deprived him of his dream. I didn't know what to make of it, until I actually met Barry. I told him about Thawne as soon as I put it all together. Almost lost him before I even had him, but I couldn't lie. Just like I don't want to lie to you."

It had to count for something, Claire hoped, that when they thought Harry was Thawne, she was ready to go through with Cisco's plan capture him. She only stopped because she wanted to make sure they didn't accidentally kill Harry.

[namesthevillains]

"Welcome to the Manipulated by Eobard Thawne Club. Unfortunately, it's not a very exclusive club. Our numbers keep growing by the day, apparently." He sounded bitter, which was understandable.

"He's really good at making himself sound like the this great guy. Cait and I worked with him for years building the particle accelerator and we had no clue. Joe was the only one who hated him from the beginning. The rest of us couldn't believe it. Even when clues started adding up. Even when I started having nightmares about him being the Reverse-Flash and killing me, I still didn't want to believe it. It wasn't until Joe and I took a trip to Star City where the crash happened that killed Dr. Tess Morgan and I scanned for tachyons that we found the body of the real Harrison Wells. He's scary good at lying in wait." Cisco turned back around and unplugged the watch. He screwed the panel back on and held it out to Claire.

"For the record, I wasn't accusing you of anything. I know how tricky Thawne can be. Barry loves you. And Harry trusts you. That's good enough for me. You also saved my friend's life twice now. Arguably, three times. Because that dart I sent you in with would've killed Harry."

[infinite1ups]

The relief on her face was obvious when it finally sunk in that he wasn't going to rake her over the coals for it. Part of her still thought she deserved that, for being so damn naive.

Now Eobard Thawne was just another person she ghosted.

"Thank you," she sighed. "When I told Barry, he was concerned that Thawne might have set me after him. I'm so grateful he heard me out and trusted me. I wouldn't have blamed you for thinking something similar."

Claire took the watch and strapped it back onto her wrist. "I want Caitlin to know too. That can happen whenever the time is right. Preferably when it's not going to stress her out too much. I'm tired of holding on to this secret, but I think helping her avoid the whole Killer Frost thing is a little more important than my conscience."

Already she felt more relieved, and that would do for now.

"I was ready to take Thawne down. Thank goodness for Caitlin." She held up her hand, with the watch back in place. "Now we'll know when Thawne finds me. It's... probably not going to be pretty. I don't love the idea of any of y'all being in danger because my stupidity, though. I told Barry I'd leave town before I let him use me to hurt him. That goes for any of you, now."

[namesthevillains]

"We all have our trauma when it comes to Thawne. Barry's is so much more personal than the rest of us, just because everything Thawne did, he did purely out of hatred for Barry. Anything done to the rest of us was a side effect of that. So, he might be a little paranoid." Cisco explained. It wasn't that they weren't all hurt by Thawne in deeply personal ways, but when you find out that the man travelled back in time to kill you, then spent fifteen years plotting your downfall while stalking you, it got scary personal.

"We can tell Cait together, if you want. I think she'll take it okay. She hates him, too, but not a viscerally as Barry." He reached out and gave her shoulder a light squeeze.

"He's a time travelling jackass who can run faster than Barry. Leaving town won't stop him. Like it or not, you're one of us now, and we'll fight evil speedsters to protect you. Barry's not the only superhero on this team, remember?"

Cisco threw an arm around her shoulders and started walking them back to the Cortex. "Now, what do you like on your burgers? I'm gonna get two triple triples. Caitlin's gonna decline like she always does because she brought her own lunch, and Harry's a basic bitch. He always gets a number one combo." He pulled out his phone and texted Barry and got a response so fast the 'Barry is typing' didn't even show up. "And Barry wants five cheeseburgers. He's also waiting out the clock because Julian won't let him leave early. Followed by 'I hate this guy'. But he says that all the time, don't worry."

[infinite1ups]

"Hearing Barry talk about it... kinda broke me a little. I know how that feels, to have someone obsessed with hurting you. My villain isn't after me anymore, but regeneration doesn't heal emotional and mental scars." Claire couldn't outrun Sylar, and he wasn't even a speedster. She couldn't stay hidden from Thawne forever, especially here in Central City. The Flash had called this place home first, and for far longer, of course The Reverse-Flash would be back sooner or later.

It felt nice to be part of something again. Her own group was scattered, not as close-knit as the STAR Labs team. She hoped now that she had settled down, she could see more of her parents, Peter, and even Angela. It'd be nice to see more of Lyle, too, but she understood why her brother wanted little to do with her.

For now, though, she decided to focus on lunch. She walked with Cisco, her arm around his waist, as she considered her order. "Bacon cheeseburger combo, extra pickles. With... pickles on the side. And a Coke."

Just the mere mention of Barry joining them had her lighting up like Christmas morning, but she tried to play it cool. As much as bonding with the team had calmed her down after that morning's ordeal, she still sorely needed one of Barry's hugs.

"His boss is a jerk, huh? I think that's why I've never been very good at having a job."

[namesthevillains]

"Regeneration doesn't, but I think maybe friends can help." he sounded hopeful.

Cisco noted down her order with a grin. But then he looked up with surprise. "Boss? Nah, man. Julian's just another CSI that works with him. His boss loves him, actually. Captain Singh's always got Barry's back. I think Singh might know Barry's the Flash and that's why he's so lenient with Barry's absences and emergency leaves. But that's just a theory. He's always been good to Barry. Even before all the times the Flash saved his husband from angry baddies. But Julian really hates him. Apparently he doesn't like Metas either, from what I hear. He keeps telling Barry since he's been in the gig longer overseas that he has seniority over Barry." Cisco explained with an eye roll.

She'd perked up so much just at the mention of Barry. "You two have it bad." He laughed. "It's so sickeningly cute." He nudged her with his elbow.

[infinite1ups]

"Friends definitely help." She was having an easier time with navigating all these unknowns. Her dad could only do so much, at least until he got there and learned more about the situation.

That this Julian was just a coworker sounded even worse. If he didn't like Metas, he'd probably hate evolved humans, too. She disliked him already on principle. But, she was glad to hear that Barry's boss was cool.

Claire blushed as Cisco called her out, and she couldn't help giggling. "I swear I've never been like this about anyone before. I mean... I've dated, and I've been in love, but with Barry it's different." She'd never been so ready, or found it so easy, to fully blend her life with someone else's. That was the difference.

[namesthevillains]

Oh, Julian would definitely hate Evolved Humans too. He had a problem with superpowers. Good or bad, they were all the same to him. He didn't like the Flash, either.

"Barry's unique." Believe him. Recently, he had been so mad at Barry that they weren't on speaking terms and then he found out Barry didn't even know why, because he'd screwed with the timeline, so none of this strife was in his memories at all. Which just made Cisco angrier. But... it was hard to hate your best friend. Especially after he owned up to his mistakes and apologised for them. They were all still coming to grips with the timeline thing now that Barry had come clean, which might also be why he wasn't as phased by Claire's admission about Thawne. He was a bit numb to blindside punches at the moment. "Barry throws his entire body and soul into everything. Which means he gets hurt easily, but it also means he loves so completely, friends, family, and significant others. Sometimes I think the big dummy is made of love or something cheesy like that." Spoilers, he is.

There was a rush of air and Cisco jumped with a squeak. "We were having a friendly, emotional moment!" He yelled.

"Sorry." Barry said sheepishly putting a hand on Cisco's shoulder, then wrapped his arms around Claire and kissed her. "I'm so glad you're okay! Where the Hell is Hartley? I'll throw his ass in the Pipeline!" Protective speedster, much?

[infinite1ups]

With the exception of Gretchen, her relationships as an adult had been pretty private. Mostly because she'd been on the road, but also because she just didn't see herself being able to fully immerse herself with someone else, or let them do so with her. Gretchen had kind of put her off letting someone get that wrapped up with her - Claire preferred to chase, rather than be chased. Barry had shattered those walls just as fast as he did everything else.

Made of love. Claire liked that description. She was already beaming, but that rush of air brought an even bigger smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she assured him, hugging him a little tighter. "He knows now that it was a misunderstanding. I was taking his ass down when he knocked me out, though." See, Leonard? She could brag about her badassery.

As she drew back (reluctantly, but trying to keep it light with the PDA) from the embrace, she caught Barry's hand and laced her fingers with his. "Harry's gonna be okay, too. Caitlin probably still has him in the med lab. Cisco was making sure my watch thingy didn't get messed up in the fight, and he was showing me around a little more," she explained, holding up her wrist.

It was a convenient way to leave out any mention of Caitlin's confession to them and not outright lie.

[feelthelightning]

Lenny would be proud of her. Barry held her hand tightly, almost afraid to let go of her completely. "We should've told him about Wells. It was only a matter of time before something like this happened." Barry was kicking himself over this. "He was hurt just as badly as we were by Thawne's betrayal." From what he understood, Hartley might have even had a slight crush on Wells before the whole firing thing happened. So there were a lot of emotions wrapped up in that angry outburst.

"Hartley's gauntlets really suck. He's a genius and he knows how to make sound deadly." Hartley had almost killed him with them once and Thawne had to save his life, but that was in a timeline he altered and thus didn't exist anymore... so it was best not to bring it up or that might open fresh wounds with Cisco. Which was actually why Hartley was more or less an ally to them now, because things played out differently.

"Yeah, I stopped in to check on Harry." And by that, he meant, that gust of wind had gone past them at first. He'd made a pit stop in the med lab because he thought that's where everyone would be. He hadn't bothered to slow down, though, before backtracking to the Cortex. "Caitlin has him sedated from what I can tell."

Cisco raised his hands in an exasperated 'see? This guy's a headache' way then dropped them back to his sides and trudged off. "I'm gonna go get us food." He grumbled.

"Thank you." Barry said sincerely to Claire. "For protecting Wells. He's--"

"--our Princess Peach!" Cisco shot over his shoulder from the hall as he waited for the elevator.

"I was gonna say accident prone." Barry finished.

[infinite1ups]

"So I noticed," Claire huffed. "Downed my ass immediately. Better me than Harry, though. I shook it off... eventually." She looked up to Barry with a frown. "It took an hour for me to wake up when it should've been a few minutes at most. Turns out, the chameleon's toxin is still in my system while the antidote and my regen continue to fight it off. Caitlin is gonna keep running labs and let me know when it's all clear. In the meantime--"

Hang on. This part was hard to say. Claire almost wanted to pout, but smiled instead. It wasn't fair, Barry brought the joy right out of her. "I'm going to take it easy and be careful. But I'm almost as accident prone as Harry, so I don't know how that's gonna work. And hello? I'm the blonde, I get to be Princess Peach."