Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“You should go.” Harrison began suddenly.

He didn’t need to look up to know she was staring at him… He could sense it; the unwelcome presence of Caitlin’s gaze caressing him like something physical lingering on the hardened edges of his face. His fingers tightened against the steering wheel – the steering wheel of the car he’d ended up hot-wiring over an hour ago right out of the S.T.A.R. Labs parking lot and he clenched his eyes before pushing a ragged breath through his nostrils. There was nothing left for her, for him – for either of them to hold onto… Everything around them had been ripped away in a matter of minutes and the only thing left for them to do was run - retreat from the heart of the battle and hide in the cracked ruins of fear like two rats evading the sharp claws of a violent end.

Central City had fallen…  Some of the city’s most iconic skyscrapers had been reduced to a pile of ash and rubble, the lab, when they’d left it, was burning to the ground with a series of isolated explosions helping it to crash and sear, what with all the chemicals lying around.  The police department and whatever was left of the CCPD… Everything was just gone.

Harrison had a bright red target on his back and everyone in the city was tearing through the wreckage to find him. Zoom lead the onslaught – an uprising of as many meta-humans he could find – and took Central City by force. There were no saviors and saints left to charge in and rescue whatever had still been worth saving; only devils and monsters coming up from the ground to grab their ankles and drag them back underneath a suffocating layer of darkness. Zoom was looking for him and he wouldn’t stop until he had him in his merciless grip. There was nothing Harrison could do to save himself, nothing he could do to outrun the danger, nothing he could do to change the fact that it was only a matter of time until he was caught.  He couldn’t be saved and certainly couldn’t even begin to hope to save her.

Caitlin would face her decline if she couldn’t fight off her propensity for optimism and finding beauty in the broken… But if she could leave – just get out and get the fuck away from him she might make it through this somehow – she might survive.

“You should go.” He repeated, his voice barely scraping above a rough whisper. “You’re not safe here. I’m not safe.”

“Where?”  She asked as if it was just some normal day – as if she was expecting a normal answer – as if he hadn’t been parked in the middle of a ruined street just to gather his thoughts and plan out his next move.

“Away.” He answered. It was vague but it was all he could give her at this point. “Somewhere better.”

He chanced a sidelong look in her direction and immediately regretted it… Her pink lipstick had been smeared down her chin, her usually sleek hair had formed napped-out curls, and a decent amount of cinder – evidence of the fire - had rubbed off on her brow and lab coat. Fluttering her large eyes, she lifted her hand and began nervously chewing her red-painted nails. She didn’t like this but neither did he… There was nothing to gain from sticking with him.

“Please.” He whispered, turning his gaze back to the steering wheel.  “I’m not safe.”

“You’re not doing this alone.”

He took a deep breath and sighed before allowing his forehead to drop to the wheel… He couldn’t offer her anything. This – whatever it was – was going to end in pain and nightmares. He couldn’t keep her safe, couldn’t shelter her from the horror of the world Zoom was creating, and couldn’t offer the slightest bit of reassurance… He couldn’t even do those things for himself. Zoom wanted him dead… Or worse. And he didn’t want to drag her down that unforgiving road just because he was afraid of what tomorrow had in store for him – because he didn’t know if he could stay strong on his own – because he hated the thought of being alone.

“And you’re not doing this with me.” He countered, lifting his head away from the wheel to run his hands through his messy hair and get another look at her. A moment of silence passed and he took it as a sign of submission… She wasn’t going to argue.

Harrison reached for the ignition and twisted the wires to start the car back up… He could take her as far as the bridge if either of them made it there in one piece and then, she would be on her own. He’d give her the car, of course… Of course. He’d find another and go on alone but she was sure as hell not going with him. He didn’t have much control at this point but he could control this and that was enough. He could give her a chance. A shot. He could give her all he had so she could get away and survive.

There was nothing left for either of them but there was this. He could give her up and run by himself if it meant she’d be okay and for now, that was more than enough…

Chapter Text

He nearly hit her with the car last night…  

If it hadn’t been for the bright contrast of her lab coat against the dark backdrop of the parking lot as she darted across his path, he probably wouldn’t have stopped in time.  But he did… His foot slammed so hard into the brake pedal that his ankle cracked under the weight of his own stomp. The car screeched to a violent halt and his body lurched forward, causing him to lock his arms and brace for the impact that never came.

He wasn’t sure what happened in between stopping the vehicle and feeling his seat belt catch around his shoulders but car crashes, even close calls, were such a funny thing. There was always the moment before - the part where the driver saw it coming - and then moment after when the driver realized he’d fucked up and slammed into something… For some reason, those few seconds between the reaction and the impact always seemed to be missing as if the human body automatically threw itself on defense and shut out the actual crash as some strange form of self-protection.

Harrison didn’t really understand what happened. All he knew was that he saw a flash of white and stopped the car. With his fingers curling against the wheel, he blearily registered that he was now staring into the largest set of brown doe-eyes he’d ever seen and even though the situation was foreign, it was an oddly familiar sight.

Bracing her palms flat against the dingy-yellow hood of his stolen car, Caitlin Snow stared through the windshield, wide-eyed and just about as stunned as an actual deer standing in his headlights. Harrison clenched his jaw and wiped a hand over his mouth, instantly feeling the unwelcome bubble of anger licking its way up his lungs and heating through his skin, causing him to sweat… Yes, he was mad – mad she was still at the lab, working late hours without letting him know when shit was about to hit the fan – mad that he didn’t bother to check if anyone had been hanging around after that first explosion blew through the cortex and he was absolutely enraged at the fact that she was staring him down through the windshield; the headlights illuminating her pretty features as she watched him with those dark eyes - watched him like she wasn’t sure what he was going to do next -  like she was scared and silently begging for his help. He didn’t want her anywhere near him but couldn’t bring himself to leave her there…

Completely incensed, he grit his teeth and waved her on before leaning over the center console and groping for the door handle on the passenger’s side. Without hesitating, she gripped the edges of her coat and wrapped herself up as if she meant to hold herself together and quickly rounded the car to slide into the seat next to him. She was barely buckled in before he started speeding through the parking lot and into the city.

And that’s how she ended up in his car…

With the light of dawn touching down into the streets between the buildings, Harrison continued driving at a comfortable pace; only swerving out of his lane to evade a pothole or an abandoned car that someone had left in the middle of the road. He wasn’t exactly sure what went on in the heart of the city after the metas-humans attacked, but he knew it wasn’t good. There was a lot of wreckage and broken windows, buildings that had been charred or blown to bits from either explosions or metas, and a heavy cloud of debris hanging in the air, making it difficult to breathe… It was Central City’s very own ground zero.

There was a body count too… And the further he drove, the more he saw evidence of death. At first he wasn’t sure if the smell wafting through the air was just the aftermath of the attack but it wasn’t just burnt rubber, hot metal, or plastic that had been melted down. Spending most of his life in a lab, he’d gotten familiar with different objects and their scents, especially when those objects were tested under extreme temperatures. It wasn’t like any of those things he’d tinkered with in the past although there was one memory that came to mind…

There was a scar on Harrison’s knee where he’d accidentally dropped an acid-like substance a few years back. Seconds after coming into contact with his leg, it instantaneously devoured and seared his skin away, leaving behind the bite of pain and the smell of burnt flesh. It healed, like any other ordinary injury typically would, but that unpleasant odor carved itself in his memory... And he was almost certain he was smelling it now.

Even if it wasn’t the stench of human bodies that had been swallowed up by flames, it was strong – whatever it was – and had him rolling up his window just so he wouldn’t gag. The truth about that matter was this: he knew that smell – knew what it meant and the longer he headed down the road, the more he sped up to avoid seeing confirmation of his suspicion. No matter how hard he tried to keep his eyes on the asphalt ahead, every so often something would demand his gaze – something limp and smoldering on the sidewalk – and he would glance there and back before pushing forward and forcing his foot further into the accelerator.

Yes, there were remains of bodies – bodies that had caught fire and been left on the side of the street to burn out on their own. He knew exactly what he was inhaling; singed skin, cracked and smoking, that had been branded by fire and destruction. He might have pulled over to check for survivors if it hadn’t been for Caitlin, the bounty on his head, the meta-humans and Zoom but no matter what his humanity was screaming for him to do, he couldn’t seem to stop the car or even slow down. Getting to the bridge was at the forefront of his mind… He wasn’t sure if that would really help either of them but it was a good start if he wanted to get her out of the state. Harrison didn’t know how far the damage went; if it was just Central City or if it extended beyond but Caitlin seemed to have a relationship of some sort with the Arrow and the rest of his team. If she made it to Star City, she’d be protected… Right?

He knew there wasn’t much hope for him. Harrison already screwed the pooch when he gave Zoom a big fuck you and said he wasn’t going to steal Barry Allen’s speed, consequences be damned.  Zoom would tear down every building in the city if he had to. He was determined to find Harrison Wells no matter what it took… Which was the main reason Harrison had to stay behind and either find his own refuge or just keep running. Maybe he could hide but for how long? How long could he run from a demonic speedster without being caught? Zoom wouldn’t stop at Central City, surely. He’d drag the world to hell just to draw Harrison out of his hole.

“How fast are we going?” Caitlin asked suddenly.

Harrison startled and quickly jerked forward, nearly slamming on the brakes in the process, before taking in a sharp breath and gripping the wheel tight enough to turn his knuckles white. His gaze rapidly swept to the passenger’s side to see Caitlin lying on her side - reclined - with her knees tucked against the center console, rubbing her eyes and poking her head out from underneath her coat, which she’d previously been using as a makeshift blanket while she slept. With a small yawn, she leaned up to get a look at the speedometer and it was then he realized she’d just asked him a question.

“Sixty.” He answered, not bothering to look. It was actually fifty-five last time he checked but he was already well above the city speed limit and he wasn’t really sure if it was too important at this point. There was no traffic and whoever was still alive in the city was probably hiding so, he didn’t exactly need to worry about slamming into a pedestrian.

Caitlin rolled onto her back and stretched her legs before gripping her seat handle and pulling her backrest upright. This time, Harrison really did slam on the breaks. They didn’t come to a complete stop because he seemed to realize the error in his actions – the rough jerk of the car as everything ripped forward – and took his foot off the break momentarily before replacing it and easing the vehicle to a full stop, this time to make sure he didn’t hurt her. He hadn’t, thankfully, but the halt had been so abrupt that Caitlin had slid right off the seat and landed with one knee on the floor and the other scrunched against the dashboard. He didn’t intend to react so strangely to her simply trying to sit up but he didn’t want her to see what the city had been reduced to and couldn’t think of a better way to stop her from looking out her window.

“I didn’t mean…” He began, watching as she frowned and pulled herself back on her seat. Once she was settled, Harrison quickly reached to her with both hands and grabbed her wrists before balancing his weight over the center console and tucking his chin to his chest. “Don’t look.” He whispered. “Don’t look. Please.”

The car was silent for a few seconds; long enough to make him wonder if he’d said anything at all... After what felt like hours, Harrison finally found the courage to lift his head and much to his dismay, Caitlin was looking out her window. Her already big eyes seemed impossibly larger as she regarded what was left of the city - her home - her world. Her expression was strangely distant but he could see it... There was an aggressive pain swirling through her gut and punching her insides like a fucking animal trying to break free from its cage. Her lips pursed and she quickly pulled her arm free of Harry’s grasp before bringing her hand up to cover her nose.

She’d seen the bodies too - smelled them - and for just a moment, Harrison thought she might cry. She didn’t and he was relieved, of course. He had always been shit when it came to emotional sympathy and he wasn’t sure if he could bring himself to offer any comfort. He wasn’t exactly on his best emotional behavior either...

“Why didn’t you wake me?” She whispered, as if staying up with him as he drove was going to make a difference for anyone in this city now.

“You didn’t need to see this.”

“Neither did you.” She turned her gaze on him and clasped a hand over his; the one still holding fast to her wrist.

“I did.” He shook his head, pulled away, and leaned back upright before resting his elbow against his door, cradling his forehead in his palm, and staring out his window... “This - all of it - was my doing, Snow. I can’t hide from that.”

“What are you going to do?”

Harrison turned back toward Caitlin and took a deep breath before saying, “I don’t know.”

“Come with me.” She pleaded. “Please, Dr. Wells. You can’t stay here.” Shaking her head, she tried to reach for him but he quickly moved; scrunched himself against his door and made himself as small as possible to put her off. She closed her eyes and pulled her hands into her lap to absently fiddle with the badge pinned to her coat. “You can’t stay here. He’ll kill you.”

He scoffed - dry and sarcastic - before grinding out, “Where would you have me go? If I came with you; where would we be safe?”

“Star City.” She answered. “Oliver has-”

“Oliver doesn’t have the means to keep me safe... He has a bow.” Harrison shook his head again. “So, where would we go?”

She didn’t answer... 

“If we stay together you’ll die...” He snapped before pressing his foot to the accelerator again. “The best thing for us to do is separate. Zoom isn’t looking for you. He’s looking for me.”

Harrison set his gaze on the road and slowly picked up speed. Tapping his fingers against the wheel, he pretended not to feel her gaze gingerly caressing him, as it typically did, and kept his eyes forward. He wished she wouldn’t stare at him like that - like she was memorizing him - like she was all but looking into his very soul but those eyes... They had a way of swallowing him up at times and even made him feel like he was drowning and that would have been fine any other day of their relationship but now that things had been derailed, he wasn’t sure if he could afford to sink into her gaze. He didn’t want to do this alone and she was silly enough to go with him if he’d let her...

Part of him wanted her companionship - a friend - as he braved this new world and tried to pick of the pieces and glue them together but that was dangerous for both of them. She was a liability and he was a man with absolutely no plan. He couldn’t afford to make the moves up along the way for himself and certainly could figure things out for two. Separation was for the very best.

“Do you see that?” Caitlin asked, her voice tight and slightly panicked. 

Glancing over, he saw her pointing in the distance towards their destination and he stopped the car before opening his door and stepping out to get a better look... 

Caitlin exited the vehicle as well and before long she said, “The bridge is out.”

Harrison met her gaze from over the roof of the car... Yes, the bridge was out but that wasn’t all. There was a jeep heading down the long strip ahead; coming straight for them... It could have been survivors seeking to exit the city but odds were, it wasn’t. 

“Get in the car, Snow.” Harrison said quickly.

“Are they metas?” She asked, biting her lip.

“We’re not going to stick around and find out.”

Chapter Text

Harrison was frustrated…

It was hard enough to run circles around Zoom and his army of meta-humans without altering his chemical makeup and becoming ghost-like so he could phase through walls but this…? Caitlin Snow was a pretty thing in an ugly world and probably couldn’t have made herself less useful if she’d tied dumbbells to her legs and jumped off a diving board. Her major was bioengineering and he was beginning to understand that it somehow made her an impractical asset when it came to survival in a broken city. Not that he had much room to judge her in that area… He was no boy scout and had absolutely no idea how to go about withstanding a Zoom-induced-apocalypse.

Harrison’s provisions included a collection of differently labeled chocolate bars, a couple cans of Mountain Dew, a box of swiss cake rolls, a bag of Doritos, and a handful of bottled waters that he’d swiped from some mom and pop convenience store and thrown into his backpack. He had a gun too… Along with a series of other travel-sized technological weapons that he’d built in the lab just in case Zoom decided to quit playing by the rules. He’d been prepared to some extent at the very least, but there was nothing he could have done to plan for this shit show.

Sitting on the grimy floor in that very same five-and-dime, he continued rhythmically bumping the back of his head against the glass of the store’s beverage cooler and waited for Caitlin to finish shopping. Shopping might have been an incorrect assessment of what she was actually doing but he’d been sitting on those dirty tiles for over an hour and it was starting to make him anxious, especially after narrowly missing confrontation with whoever had been driving that jeep.

“Snow…” He growled. “Are you almost finished?”

“Just about.”

He understood the necessity for this stop. Really, he did… They needed supplies and the general store on the corner of this ravaged block was the best bet at the moment, especially since Snow was still dressed like her very own version of a Mattel lab-tech Barbie Doll, what with her powder-blue button down, grey pencil skirt, and black pumps. She needed jeans and a pair of tennis shoes… Something she could run in if it came to that.

Still lightly hitting his head against the cooler, he watched her walk in between the shelves of the half-wrecked store and grab a few pairs of Levi’s before untucking her shirt and shimmying out of her skirt; her blouse riding up enough to show off the curve of her midriff. With the racks between them serving as her own personal little partition, he could only see her from the waist up but still couldn’t seem to help the flush that spread through his cheeks at the thought of watching her undress, modest as it was. It didn’t matter if he was twice her age… Caitlin was pretty and he’d have to be either blind or homoerotic not to notice. So, he stared…

“Do you think it’s a good idea for us to just be stealing all this stuff?”

Harrison blinked and met her eyes only to realize that somewhere in the depths of his inept gazing she had finished buttoning her jeans and was watching him with a raised eyebrow. Judging by her face, she looked a little irritated. Maybe he’d been caught but her expression was still too cryptic for him to decipher. So, he opted for pretending nothing happened and let his head fall back against to cooler before gesturing to the space around them.

“There’s nobody here to stop us.” He answered, jerking his thumb toward the front window, which had been almost completely blown out. “And judging by the look of this place, they’re having a close-out sale.”

She pursed her lips at his hard sense of humor and moved out from behind the shelves before tossing him her pair of backup Levi’s and shuffling around the store for more things. Rolling his eyes, he grabbed the jeans and stuffed them into his pack. This shop had a little bit of everything and a whole lot of nothing… The counters were stacked with boxes of snacks, there was a rack full of hangers with logo-tees, shelves on the walls with multiple nicknacks and a few teddy bears, and a some odds and ins targeted for personal hygiene; toothbrushes, combs, finger nail clippers and so much more…

Caitlin tracked back and forth, tossing things she thought she might need into Harrison’s lap; hair-ties and bobbi-pins, a pair of lime-green ladybug socks, some over-the-counter pain meds, a first aid kit, and last but not least, a box of tampons which made Harrison snap his gaze toward her.

“Those are for you.” She said without even a hint of sarcasm before floating by and heading to the back-end of the store.

Irked, he drew his brows together and huffed, quickly shoving the tampons into his bag - which was beginning to get crowded - because she was kidding of course, and would certainly need them at some point. Sure, he’d been pissy with her ever since they discovered the bridge had been blown out but that’s what happened when he was forced to hit survival-mode and start running from a narcissistic speedster with a girl he couldn’t protect. That kind of shit would put any man on edge and Wells wasn’t exactly the type of guy to keep it together under pressure even when he seemed to be doing all right.

Suppression was his corrective for stressful situations and it wasn’t even a good one… He knew bottling up his emotions was an unhealthy antidote for gaining his bearings because when his top popped - and it never failed to - he would morph into an ocean of acrimony and ire. And that wouldn’t help anyone right now, even if it did allow him to discharge his indignation. No, he’d keep a muzzle on himself and soldier on for as long as he could before ripping at the seams. Hopefully he could stifle the weight of his anxiety long enough to get Caitlin out of the city. He felt it though… That unwelcome squeeze in his lungs - the one that told him he couldn’t do this - couldn’t get her to safety - couldn’t do this alone. Regardless of that fear, he took a deep breath and pushed it down because he couldn’t afford to panic in front of her. If he showed any signs of weakness, he knew Caitlin wouldn’t leave his side even if it meant forfeiting her own safety.

The bridge wasn’t the only exit and even if Zoom had made an attempt to lock him within Central City, it wasn’t altogether impossible to escape, or he hoped it wasn’t… There were other roads, highways, and even the thin beginnings of forest and farmland on the very outskirts of it all.

“Are there suburbs nearby?” Harrison called toward the end of the shop.

Caitlin, who had been digging through a small vat containing gloves and scarfs, lifted her head to look at him. “On the Eastside. Why?”

He nodded and rubbed his chin as he stared at the dark pack in his lap. It may have been poorly formulated but the idea had merit even if it was still in it’s beginning stages. Suburbs meant neighborhoods - shelter if the houses were empty - and if the residents were truly gone, it meant they could loot the pantries for canned goods. It would be an excellent place to stock up and maybe even find Caitlin a pair of practical shoes… And beyond the backyards; freedom.  “Just thinking.”

“It takes about two hours from here but…” She bit her lip. “That’s when there’s heavy traffic… So…”

“So…” He scoffed. “We would probably make good time.”

“That’s not funny.”

“It wasn’t a joke.” And it wasn’t… It was the hard truth and that was the worst part of all.

They held each other’s gazes for a moment, neither of them wanting to be the first to break eye contact as if that somehow meant one or the other had given up or given in and and accepted this - this hell - as their reality. It was surreal even for Harrison who had been minimally prepared for this new dynamic. The world had gone to hell in a handbag, or at least Central City had and he was stuck with the very last person he ever imagined…

He’d thought up different scenarios in his head. Nothing this harsh but different scenarios none the less… He always imagined it would be Barry at his side. It was their story after all; Barry being the hero who was also the fastest man alive and Harrison being the scientist with the means to steal the Flash’s speed. It made sense - looked good on paper - and if he was told to put money down, he would have placed his bet on the horse with speedforce running through his veins. Even Cisco would have made more sense, as irritating as that would have been, what with his one-liners and sarcasm.

This wasn’t logical and it wasn’t the cosmos playing a cruel joke on him… Harrison didn’t exactly believe in any type of magical force that bent the universe to it’s will and manipulated the daily encounters of it’s inhabitants but being here in this good for nothing store and staring directly into Caitlin Snow’s large eyes felt like something oddly close to fate. He wasn’t with Barry or Cisco… He was with Caitlin Snow of all people.

When he pictured it, this scenario never popped into his mind but somehow it made perfect sense and he couldn’t imagine it any other way even if he preferred for things to have played out differently. No, she didn’t make sense with her silly ladybug socks and her box of tampons but there she was; staying strong and sticking with it under extreme pressure… She didn’t bend or break after seeing Central City nearly leveled and certainly didn’t cry, which still surprised him when he thought back to that moment in the car. It had only been a few hours since then but he didn’t think the sight of her grief-stricken expression and the way she confronted the horror around her would ever fade from his memory.

He continued matching her gaze until, at length, something broke him from his trance - a noise he shouldn’t have heard - a car door slamming from somewhere outside the shop and a series of muffled voices.

Harrison blinked and turned his attention toward the front window to see a jeep - that very same jeep they’d seen at the bridge - parked across the street. Standing near the front-end of the vehicle was a very tall, thin man with dark unkept hair - a few slick tresses hanging in front of his face - looking like he hadn’t had a decent amount of sleep in weeks. He quickly ran a hand through his hair to push it out of his eyes but his efforts were clearly made in vain after his stubborn locks fell right back to their original position. With a roll of his broad shoulders, he reached into his jacket and fished out a pack of cigarettes before lighting up and taking a drag.

“Hey, dumbass!”

Harrison’s eyes swept from the front of the jeep to the man hanging out of the driver’s side window, pounding his fist against the dented door and eliciting a metallic thump that seemed to echo through the now empty city. He was broader than the first - huskier - with short dusty-blonde hair; loud and a bit obnoxious as he continued hollering to his friend, who otherwise, seemed content to ignore the racket the driver had been making despite his efforts to get attention.

“You’re gonna get cancer one of these days. Shit, the way you suck those things down-”

“Shut up!” The man in front of the jeep barked. “If these things are going to kill me, then they haven’t tried hard enough because I’ve been doing this since I was nine.”

“You ain’t got a lick of sense, man.”

“No…” He smirked and took one more drag before flicking his cig into a pile of rubble. “I’ve got too much sense.”

“You ain’t gonna go on about that K9-chatter shit, are you? ‘Cause I ain’t in the mood to-”

“Be quiet.” The dark-haired man snapped. “You see that?”

It was then Harrison realized they were looking toward the shop servicing as he and Caitlin’s safeguard and he quickly turned and pressed his spine against the cooler to stay out of sight. Glancing toward the back of the store, he tried to find Snow but she was nowhere to be seen… If she had any sense she’d be hiding behind the shelf-rows or she would have bolted out the back door by now. But he knew better - knew her - knew she wouldn’t leave him unless someone dragged her away. She was still in the store somewhere and that pissed him off more than anything. These men were at least fifteen years younger than him, if not more, and they were both - even the thin one - in decent shape. There was no way he could fight them off alone and was sure as shit not going to put Caitlin through that.

He whistled as low as he could to get a beat on her location but nothing happened… So, he whistled again. After thirty seconds of silence flew by, Harrison glared and leaned forward to push his arms through the loops of his pack before lifting himself into a crouch and peering around the cooler.

They approached the shop, stopping only when they reached the car; the huskier of the two placing his hand on the hood and closing his eyes as if to concentrate.

“Is that the one we saw earlier?” The tall one asked.

“Looks like it… Engines still warm.”

“It feels cool to me.” He growled after running his fingers over the yellow hood.

“You ain’t got a relationship with these things like I do.”

Rolling his eyes, the taller of the two shoved a hand back into his hair and growled, “Zap it.”

“Thought you’d never ask.”

With both palms now flat against the hood of the car, he pushed down and braced himself for whatever it was he was doing… And within an instant, the vehicle began humming under his fingertips - screeching in protest - as if someone had been driving and picking up speed without bothering to switch gears. Smoke started rising up from beneath the cap and then, there was a charge - a loud pop - that signaled it’s finish. The man backed away from the vehicle and gave his dark-haired friend a quick thumbs up. From all appearances, he had sucked the life straight out of the car with his bare hands and last time Harrison checked, only meta-humans had those sorts of capabilities.

Fuck…

Chapter Text

Wells didn’t exactly have a plan but he knew getting away from that front window and sinking into the depths of the store to find Snow was probably a good start. It wasn’t easy moving through the building in the first place, what with all the debris and broken glass scattered across the ground but now that he was on his hands and knees, keeping his body as low as possible and scooting through the shop, making a futile effort to be soundless, he was beginning to realize how hopeless the situation truly was. Rubble and shavings of cracked glass slid around him; scuffing and grinding against the dirty tile - small bits of it sharply digging into his palms - as he caterpillared through the remains and made his way toward the vat of gloves. Caitlin wasn’t there anymore but he knew she couldn’t have gone far, damn her and her reverent loyalty.

He may not have been entirely soundless but Harrison did all right considering his nerves as he trepidatiously creeped across the gritty floors. He could still hear them outside the shop, talking and circling the now useless car while looking for some evidence of survivors. There was a flash of panic heating through his chest and flipping his gut at the though of them getting inside digging through the backseat. He didn’t have keys to the damn thing so of course locking the doors would have been an incompetent error on his part... But he never really considered crossing paths with anyone, at least not this soon, especially that jeep.

In hindsight, he probably knew better than to hot wire a vehicle and speed it through the now inert city, especially with meta-humans tearing through the waste to drag him out and throw him at Zoom’s mercy... If he wanted to keep a low profile, he was doing a shitty job so far and it didn’t help that he’d left his gun in the backseat of the car. There was also Caitlin to think about... Her and her impossibly large eyes; how much bigger they probably were after holing-up in this good for nothing store and waiting for the danger to pass. He was stupid. He was so fucking stupid.

“Snow.” Harrison whispered gently, trying not to make any more noise than he needed to - than what he already had. Once again, she failed respond and it made his chest tighten...

Maybe he was going crazy and maybe Caitlin had never been there at all... It was all a strange fantasy his mind temporarily conjured up as a defense mechanism to keep him anchored so this new world wouldn’t break him. It was just an imaginary twist of fate that would fade in and out when it suited him. Maybe she wasn’t real...

“Snow.” He growled again, a bit louder with a tremor in his voice. He refused to allow the echo of his own dark thoughts to take the wheel and drive him down that slippery slope of uncertainly. She was there... Somewhere hidden in the shadows. She was there. She had to be. Please... She had to be.

Pushing forward, Harrison continued to crawl, leaving a very subtle trail of blood that dabbed against the grimy titles as glass poked into his hands. He nearly made it to the first row of shelves when he heard an animate voice coming from his left. He all put jerked his head toward the announced direction to lock onto the sound. Sure enough, near the disarrayed clearance racks by the front counter was a small electronic, motion activated chihuahua lying on it’s side, wearing a sombrero with bells glued to the rim. Judging by it’s festive Christmas-tree-poncho and snowflake-booties, it was just some stupid piece of junk left over from the shop’s holiday inventory... That, and the fact that it was staring directly at Harry, singing a raucous version of Feliz Navidad while it wiggled and bounced against the floor.

Closing his eyes, he drew in a deep breath through his nostrils and held it... He knew he was boned after ignorantly triggering that damn singing chihuahua and the very next sound he heard had him forcing the air from his lungs and pulling himself to his knees. The dainty chime of a bell jangled from somewhere behind and he turned his head toward the door to see both men standing in its entrance; the dark-hair one staring at him with a hard expression while the huskier of the pair smirked and tucked his hands in his pockets.

Feeling the weight of silence after the chihuahua finally wrapped up its song and dance, Harrison slowly rose to his feet while keeping a wary eye on both gentlemen as they approached; their heavy boots crunching against the glass fragments between them.

“Hey, asshat.” The blonde casually greeted with a smug grin plastered over his face.

Wells didn’t reply, only looked back and forth between them as they closed in; the dark-haired man distractedly closing his eyes for a few seconds at a time and breathing deeply as if he was fixating on something in the air while the other cracked his knuckles and flashed his teeth.

“You got a name?”

“No.” Harrison replied.

“No?” The blonde laughed. “You mean to tell me, you came into this world kicking and screaming and your ma didn’t bother giving your sorry ass a name?” He nudged his dark-haired friend in the ribs. “Leith, can you believe this shit?”

Leith, as he presumed, didn’t bother to give either of them any attention... Just continued scanning the back of the shop as if he was hunting for movement.

“You all alone, princess?”

Harrison’s eyes drifted back to the husky blonde and immediately thought about Caitlin... He still wasn’t sure if he’d imagined her or not. There were times he thought he heard Jesse moving throughout the house shortly after her kidnapping but it was just his subconscious filling in the gaps that made him lose sleep - wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat and hyperventilating through a panic. It was always figments of his imagination and tricks of the mind; Jesse was gone but sometimes he could have sworn otherwise... 

His mind was a strange thing and he honestly couldn’t say whether or not Caitlin had been real. Regardless, under all existing circumstances - whether she was a fictitious image or was actually there, hiding somewhere behind the aisles - he was alone.

“Yes.” He finally said. 

And that’s when Leith’s dark eyes snapped onto Harrison... With a wicked smirk curling the corners of his mouth, he said, “He’s lying.”

“You got a friend in here somewhere?”

“A girl?” Leith asked, still grinning like a sharp-toothed-kook.

“No.” He frowned, feeling beads of sweat prickle along his neck and shoulders... He didn’t know much about Leith but Harrison was beginning to gather enough information to know he was far too perceptive for just a normal man. 

“Fuck.” Leith growled before running a hand through his hair. “That smell.”

“She smell good?” The blonde asked, causing Wells to glare in response.

“Willis that’s... Fuck, man.” Leith breathed again, shutting his eyes and taking a deep breath through his nose. “That’s like sex on a stick. She’s amazing.”

Despite his best efforts to remain calm, Harry’s legs were beginning to shake... He wasn’t sure if it was his nerves or his adrenaline building up momentum for whatever was to come because he was now completely sure Caitlin Snow was real and still in the store.

“There’s no girl.” Harrison bit, holding his hands to the side. “Just me.”

Leith stepped forward, causing Harry to move back... “You know what’s funny about being fucked up in the head like I am?”

Harrison frowned and shook his head...

“Ever since that particle accelerator went up, I can hear all sorts of voices and they never shut up... They’re not always clear but they tell me when someone is trying to sell me a load of bullshit.”

“K9-Chatter.” Willis supplied.

“Wolf-Sense.” Leith corrected. “I was working in one of those wildlife preserves when the city went boom... You want to know what my job was?”

“Enlighten me.” Harrison snarled in his habitual dry tone.

“I used to care for wolves in the rehabilitation center... And when things blew up, the whole damn pack pulled together and jumped my bones. I thought I was going to get ripped to shreds but then...” He gave another crooked grin. “I woke up all alone in the cage with a bunch of dead dogs lying around. A few weeks after the explosion, I started hearing these voices. Turns out I got the pack with me...” He tapped his head. “Right here. Always telling me what to do. And that wasn’t the only thing I picked up.”

Willis chuckled and waited as if he knew the punchline to this cruel joke...

“Now, either your estrogen levels are through the roof, or you’re hiding a bitch somewhere in here.” Leith’s grin faded into a horrid sneer. “I know a piece of tail when I smell one.”

“There’s no one else here.” Harrison growled.

“What’s in the bag?” Willis suddenly asked stepping forward to reach for the pack on Harrison’s shoulders. 

His fingers wrapped around the strap, causing Harry to jerk back and brutally shove Willis’ arm away. There was sharp click and suddenly Leith was on him; pressing a gun to Harrison’s head... 

“Easy tiger.”

The gun was Harrison’s... And yes, they’d gone through the car; probably found Caitlin’s lab coat and security ID in the process - probably knew she was here even before Leith picked up her scent. Setting his jaw, Harrison froze in place and allowed Willis to step forward and take the pack off his shoulders and in one quick movement he was dumping the contents to the ground. Pitching forward, Willis smacked the swiss rolls to the side and dug through the chocolate bars before gripping Harrison’s box of tampons and holding them up.

With a low growl, Leith snatched the box and shoved the end of the gun into Harrison’s temple. “No girl, huh?”

“No girl.” Harry repeated.

“You got a pussy you haven’t told us about, then?” Willis grumbled. “You lying son of a bitch! You got a backpack full of chocolate bars, tampons, and chick-jeans and you’re just gonna stand there and tell us you ain’t got no skank running around in here. How stupid do you think we are?”

“Is that a rhetorical question?” Wells snarled callously, looking directly at Willis with slanted brows. “Or should I start writing your biography now?”

“You dip-shit! We’re gonna find her...” Willis bit, stepping in and shoving at Harry’s chest, causing him to stumble rearward until his back smacked into the end of one of the aisles. Quickly grabbing his throat, he pressed Harrison into the shelves and whispered, “I’m gonna shoot you in the dick with your own gun and get my hands on that little bitch. There ain’t nothing you can do to stop me. It’s Caitlin, right?”

Fuck...

“Caitlin Snow?” He repeated before reaching for his back pocket to withdraw that damn ID badge of hers and lightly tap it to Harrison’s forehead. “She sure does take a pretty picture... She got nice tits? I bet they taste like sugar.” Willis’ voice came out in such a harsh pitch that he was practically spitting in Harrison’s face. “I’m gonna be so far up her cunt she wont be able to breath and I’m gonna make you watch.”

“That smell.” Leith said again, dropping the tampons at his feet to pinch the bridge of his nose like he was in pain. “I can’t get it out of my head. It’s intoxicating. We need to find that girl...”

“I’m on it.” Willis said before shoving off Harry and roaming toward the back of the shop.

Harrison exhaled the breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding and quickly pushed himself off the shelves to grab for Willis but before he got close enough, he was ripped back and all of a sudden, he was staring at the ceiling... Leith had hooked a leg around his ankle to knock him off balance and yanked him down... Blinking through the painful haze thumping at the base of his skull and the strange sensation of something dense knocking against his teeth, he registered the taste of metal as his tongue pressed into cool hardware and quickly realized Leith had shoved his own gun into his mouth.

“Don’t you dare try to warn her...” Leith growled. “If you make one noise, I’ll blow a hole straight through your head.”

Harrison’s hands coiled around Leith’s wrists in an effort to pull him back; the barrel of the gun touching the end of his throat and causing him to gag.

“This is our town now, you scrawny piece of shit. You play by our rules or you don’t play at all.” Leith swung a leg over Harrison’s chest and dropped down, pushing the air from his lungs at the weighted contact with his torso and quickly grabbed his chin to force eye contact. “Welcome to Cinder City.” 

“Check this out!” Willis called from somewhere among the aisles. “Still warm.”

Leith looked up to see his partner balling up a grey skirt and chucking it across the store before turning back on Harrison. “Do you still plan on sticking with that story? Or do you want to come clean and tell us where she is?”

Swallowing around the gun, Wells glared and shook his head; giving his very best set of fuck-you eyes. Leith grit his teeth and bent over him... He drew in a sharp breath to spit out another threat but before he could get it out, Willis let out a deafening holler and fell back against the racks, knocking over shelves as he went and temporarily causing Leith to rip the gun from Harrison’s mouth and whip around to see what had caused such an outburst.

Half wrecked at the thought of Willis stumbling upon Caitlin, Wells took advantage of his afforded slack and quickly balled his hand before rocketing forward and cuffing his fist into Leith’s jaw. The collision wasn’t as hard as it could have been, what with Harrison’s vantage from the ground, but it was enough to catch his opponent off guard and knock the gun from his grasp; sending it to slide over the rubble-buried tiles.

Get it...

Harry rolled as hard as he could to make an attempt to grope for the weapon but before he got close, Leith, who was still crouching overhead and holding him down, clamped a hard grip over Harrison’s shoulders and forced him once more to his back. His head hit the tiles and suddenly, he was holding fast to Leith’s wrists as his fingers aggressively clenched around Wells’ throat; one hand sliding into his hair to grip and pull. And before he had a chance to react, Leith was tugging him forward and slamming him back down into the ground.

The first hit was hard enough to knock the color from his vision... Harrison blinked, barely registering the dull throb at the back of his head before Leith had him up off the ground again only to shove him back down. There was a loud clap that echoed through the shop as Harry’s skull hit the floor for the second time; temporarily drowning out Willis’ voice as he continued screaming in the background.

Snow...

“Go ahead!” Leith yelled. “Call for her!”

Snow...

“She’ll come! Call her!”

For the third time, Harrison felt his upper body being lifted from the floor and he might have made an effort to brace for the impact if it hadn’t been for him drifting back and forth between the dark waters of unconsciousness and fighting back. But then, just when his head smacked down once more, by some stroke of luck he saw a flash of blue... And then, bong.

Cool hands rans soothing patterns over his heated skin; anywhere from his neck, up to his jaw, and all the way to his forehead.

“Harrison...” Came the familiar whisper of Caitlin Snow. “Harrison?”

Where were you?

Her thumbs brushed over his cheeks before running a path to his eyes where they began pushing at his lids. It was then he realized he was struggling to hold her gaze.

You were gone.

“Harrison? Come on, look at me. Harrison.”

He tried... More than anything, he wanted to but his eyes, along with every other part of his body, seemed so heavy. With a great amount of effort, he forced his stare on her before rolling his head against the tiles... Everything was blurred and made up of indistinct shapes and colors but he was able to make out Leith’s lifeless outline as he too struggled to gain his bearings.

That’s when Harrison remembered the danger. His hands shot out to wrap around Caitlin’s shoulders before his eyes snapped to her face. He took a deep uneven breath to jerk himself back to life... Willis was still yelling out threats while Leith grumbled at his side and tried rolling onto his elbows to hold his head together. She’d stuck him with something... And he wasn't sure what she did to Willis but he was still hollering and, from all appearances, temporarily disabled.

“Harrison!” Her voice seemed louder now that his senses were slowly rising up from the depths of unconsciousness. She was yelling and tugging at his shirt to pull him upright. “Get up, Harrison!”

Good girl...

“Stay awake, okay? Harrison... Stay awake!” She frantically ordered as she helped him mount an erratic stance. “Come on, follow me. Just follow me.”

His feet were moving long before he was ready but somehow he was running even though he was still wobbly and shook up. Her voice seemed to be the only thing keeping him conscious; her repetitive chant anchoring him as she continued thrumming his name.

Harrison had never been present to witness the birth of courage but Caitlin... Caitlin Snow who seemed so fragile and breakable on this chessboard of monsters and men was the very symbol of bravery. He was wrong about her before - so fucking wrong - and he was stupid to assume she was worthless in this situation. She wasn’t worthless... Far from it. He didn’t need to be her knight in shining armor when she was the ruthless queen and quite possibly the strongest piece on the board, what with her risking herself to save him and pull his useless ass out of a checkmate. Good girl...

Chapter Text

Every inch of his body was sore… The muscles surrounding his neck, shoulders, and spine were involuntarily tensing and every time he tried flexing or rolling through the stiffness, he winced and groaned. He’d taken a decent beating and doubted any amount of stretching was going work out those knots. But ugh… It hurt so fucking much and that hadn’t even been the worst of it. It was his head… It felt almost as if someone had tried hammering a chisel into the back of his head to hew chunks of bone away from his skull. If he didn’t know any better, he would have guessed Leith had broken right through to his brain as if it had been protected by nothing more than a thin layer of now shattered glass - the contents spilling out around him - but that wasn’t the case. His skull felt cracked and it hurt like hell, but there was no blood, despite how many times Harrison had tried reaching around the back of his head to feel for obvious signs of damage.

He supposed it was by some odd stroke of luck that he’d been isolated in a broken society with a doctor who happened to know her way around injuries and first aid, especially now that he’d been hurt. He still preferred Barry. He didn’t want Barry but preferred him never the less, even if it felt wrong now that he and Caitlin had come so far… If he could identify this - where they were now - as far. It hadn’t been twenty-four hours since she slid into that damn yellow car and if the next twenty-four were going to be anywhere near as daunting, he wasn’t sure they could actually keep lying to themselves; building each other up enough to brave through the horrors of tomorrow. Not that they’d spoken too much since the actual fallout but, at least for him, her temporary presence was enough to keep pushing him through. Harrison was driven when it came to planning and future goals - always had been - and the sooner he could get her through the suburbs and into the woods, the sooner she would be on her way to Star City for refuge. Maybe… He still wasn’t sure how far the damage went and cringed to think of it stretching passed Central City but he had to try for her sake…

Nightfall seemed a little more intimidating without the shelter of their car; the sun threatening to dip behind the tall buildings, fade away, and leave them to fend for themselves in the dark. Harrison had lost everything… He all but waved a bright red flag like a matador in front of the bull that had been those two meta-humans and lost every fucking thing he had; the car, his pack, his weapons, and… Caitlin’s badge. It might ave seemed insignificant at the time but Willis and Leith had it now - had a name and face that could be associated with him, and if they brought that to Zoom - if they were even working for Zoom - Wells wouldn’t be the only one getting hunted down like a wounded stag. If Zoom extended his search… If he found Caitlin; the thought had Harrison’s stomach twisting in knots.

“Are you okay?”

Harrison blinked and looked up to find Caitlin hovering above him on her knees with a frown… She’d clearly noticed the sudden change in his attitude.

Her hands skimmed across his temples as she tilted his head back and directed his gaze upward in order to meet her deep brown stare. They’d taken advantage of a busted up Greyhound bus that had been knocked onto it’s side and ended up burrowing in for the night.

“If you’re uncomfortable, maybe I can-”

“No, it’s…” He started, shaking his head and bracing his palms on the ground to awkwardly push his back into the corner of the bus where the roof and back-wall met and shift against the broken windows beneath him; the glass dragging between the pavement and his legs as he moved through the pain that seemed to be flaring through his neck and head. Grimacing, his brow formed into a hard line before he grunted out, “I’m fine.”

No, he wasn’t… He probably would have been more comfortable sleeping on a concrete slab but there weren’t very many options and neither of them had much room to complain. They were lucky as it was and thanks to Caitlin, they escaped that convenience store with their lives and found provisional boarding for the night even if it felt like an unfortunate turn of events to be sleeping in an overturned bus with a bruised head and stiff muscles.

Finally finishing her examination, Caitlin pulled her hands away from his face before sitting back on her heels and pushing her hair over her shoulder. She was chewing her bottom lip too; something Barry had brought to his attention a few weeks previous... It usually meant she was thinking a little too hard or something was bothering her.

His brows buckled together. “All done?”

“It looks like you’ve only got a minor concussion.” She answered, still chewing her lip. “But you might want to try to stay awake for a little while though, for my benefit.”

He puffed out a dry laugh... Harrison had been awake since yesterday morning and he was just about ready to drop. The throbbing pain biting into the back of his skull wasn’t doing his stamina any favors either. 

“I’ll try.” Harrison said, looking directly at her. 

He wasn’t good at expressing gratitude even when it was due but with her - with Caitlin - it seemed to come a little easier. He been in this situation with her once before - the day Patty Spivot walked into the lab and dropped him before asking questions or solving the mystery of the new Harrison Wells - and he had thanked her after she convinced Jay to shoot up with Velocity 6 and pull the bullet from his body. He probably didn’t need to say it now because Caitlin was nothing if not observant when it came to him and his reluctance to form bonds with her and the rest of the team. Odds were, she already knew how grateful he was but even so... He wanted to be sure.

“Thank you.” Came his rough whisper.

With a smile, Caitlin nodded once and shifted her weight to lean against the back-wall of the bus before pushing her legs out from underneath her; her feet partially visible in the sunset as she crossed her ankles and stared toward the doors (that had been ripped off the hinges after the vehicle flipped.) She was wearing those lime-green ladybug socks... How she managed snatch those before running out of that damn store was just beyond him.

Letting his head fall back against the roof, Harrison gave a quick, playful grunt and smirked.

“What?” Caitlin asked, turning her gaze on him.

“Nothing. Just...” He shook his head and looked to her before gesturing to her feet. “You didn’t grab any food but you somehow made it out with those socks.”

She chuckled - light and airy in a way that was uniquely her and it was probably the best fucking noise he’d heard since yesterday after the coffee pot indicated it had finished brewing with a ding.

“Well....” She lifted an eyebrow. “I was a little busy.”

Yes. Yes, she was... It turned out that Caitlin Snow, being a predominant member of Team Flash, had picked up on a few methods of self-defense and could adapt in dangerous situations; redirect them to play in her favor. There was apparently pepper-spray hanging on the one of hook displays near the back of the shop... Somewhere buried beneath the wreckage, she’d found a broken water pipe that was dense enough to substitute for an actual mace and after dusting Willis’ face with a substantial amount of spray, she cracked it over his shins and made her way toward the front before slamming it down against Leith’s head.

Good girl...

Harrison dipped his chin to his chest and smiled. She was stronger than what he’d originally thought and he was pleasantly surprised to learn that he didn’t need a speedster zipping circles around him when he had Caitlin Snow, her vial of pepper-spray and her water pipe.

It worked out... It did but it could have gone so differently and that made him sick. So fucking sick... Leith and Willis didn’t want him. They didn’t even seem to know who he was; their only interest for walking into that store was none other than Snow. 

“Did you hear any of that?” Harrison’s gaze lifted. “Back at the shop?”

Judging by her now pursed lips and hardened expression, she had or she’d heard enough to know what their aim had been. Her eyes dulled and she began staring down the length of the bus as if to distract herself...

“Yes.” She finally answered.

“Are you okay?”

She blinked away her disdain and swept her stare back to Harrison. “Are you?”

“I’m…” He started, slightly caught off guard by her suddenly turning the question back on him. 

No... No, he wasn’t okay and wasn’t sure if he ever would be again. Those weren’t good people and if things had gone differently, if Caitlin hadn’t been so competent, he wouldn’t be here and she... He wasn’t sure where she would be now, but he knew the outcome would have him rolling in his grave. Crawling away from a near-death experience was hard but it wasn’t just that... They were stuck here in this simulated hell and it was entirely his fault... He closed that first breach, came clean about stealing Barry’s speed, and Zoom found out a little sooner than what he had hoped. The ramifications for defying Zoom were so much more severe than what Harrison had anticipated... He anticipated death but he thought it would come to him and his daughter. Not an entire city.

“Don’t worry about me, Snow.” He said. “I’m fine.”

He lied and she sure as shit didn’t believe him but she wasn’t going to push... Caitlin knew better than that and he was grateful for it. She knew if she pressed or pried, he’d shut down and bottle up.

Snow frowned and pulled her knees to her chest before wrapping her arms around her legs and letting her head fall forward. A subtle tremor ran from her shoulders to the ends of her toes... And then another. Harrison frowned, noting the way her hands dug into her into her jeans as if to pull the material closer.

“Are you cold?”

Caitlin looked up; her large eyes locking onto his stare as if he’d asked her a question that was far too personal. She shook her head rather hurriedly just before shivering again.

Harrison scoffed... Of course she was cold. It was February, they were sitting in a busted up bus with broken windows, and Snow was wearing a thin chiffon blouse; something classy that she would have worn to work. She didn’t have a coat. Not anymore... Leith and Willis took care of that when they dug through the car and drained the battery. There was no way either of them would have had time to look for it when they darted out of the shop, especially since they were too busy running for their lives to even think about it. She’d lost her shoes too... Probably even made that choice herself and kicked them off after those meta-human came through the front door, what with them being pumps.

She shuddered again, this time more intense; the vibration running down her spine and through her limbs.

“Snow...” He growled.

“Really, I’m fine. I’m just-”

“You’re cold.”

Leaning forward, Harrison began shrugging out of his jacket; his entire body screaming in protest as he bent and pulled his limbs free of the sleeves. Once it was off, he tried to hand it over but Caitlin quickly pushed it into his chest before glaring and worrying that bottom lip between her teeth.

“I don’t need that.” She said, her tone full of stubbornness and backbone. “Your body needs to concentrate on on healing rather than generating heat. Keep it.”

“Snow.” He growled again. “That’s not fair.”

“Doctor’s orders.”

Still not satisfied, he folded the jacket into a ball and placed it on the ground between them... Caitlin’s eyes narrowed - somehow rendering them less ardent as she fixed her stare over his face. She was headstrong but it was nothing in comparison to his relentless determination. If she didn’t want it, that was fine but it didn’t mean he had to use it.

“Are you serious?” She asked, lifting a brow.

“Deadly.” Harrison answered tightly, placing his hand back on the jacket. “You can either wear this leave it here.”

Caitlin huffed. “Are you this surly with all your doctors?”

“I’m usually worse…”

“Alright, then.” She smirked and scooted toward Harrison until their shoulders met in the corner and then quickly unfurled the material and draped it over their legs before shifting against him for a few seconds; tucking herself into his side and pulling his jacket up to their chins.

Harrison tensed, partially from the way she bumped against his sore muscles and partially from... He didn’t know. All he knew was that this was unnecessary - it was nice of course, but unnecessary - and cliché as fuck. Lifting an eyebrow, he glanced down to see her huddled against him; burying her sharp nose into the sleeve of his jacket.

“Fair compromise.” She offered after sensing his gaze, her voice muffled beneath the fabric.

He grunted in response and let his head fall back against the roof before looking up through the broken windows... 

If the situation wasn’t so real, Harrison would have laughed... Every romance novel or romantic comedy Jesse had ever told him about had one of these scenes. He seemed to recall an inane romantic craze that swept over his earth after the Twilight series was made into a string of films. He only saw bits in pieces when he had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time when Jesse was killing time viewing the latest installment with her friends. That scene with the tent and the dark-skinned kid with no shirt came to mind... The hero and heroine cuddling up to fend off the cold, only in this case, he was no hero and Snow wasn’t his love interest. They just so happened to be stuck together.

Caitlin’s warmth contrasted nicely to the cold air hanging around them and he found himself unintentionally pressing in until the length of her arm was flush against his side. It felt as if her heat was extracting from his already low energy levels as if she was drawing from a well that was nearly bone-dry. Harrison’s eyes drifted shut and if it had been anywhere near acceptable in their strange relationship, he would have wrapped himself around her and allowed himself to sink into the depths of that heat as it rocked him closer to dormancy.

“Snow...” Came his gruff whisper. “If you really want me to stay awake, you might want to come up with a plan because I’m not sure how much longer I’m going to last.”

“Would you rather have no arms or no legs?”

She spoke so quickly that Harrison’s mind was all but running to catch up... He snorted and opened his eyes to see that the sun had finally descended beyond the skyscrapers.

“Arms.” He answered.

“Really?” Caitlin peeked upward from beneath his jacket and regarded him through a skeptical gaze. “I could have sworn you’d pick legs.”

“Why?”

“Well, your doppelgänger was in a wheelchair.” She shrugged.

“That wasn’t me.” He said with a frown. 

“I know but... I guess I figured you to be the type of guy who likes to work with his hands.”

“Oh...” Harrison swallowed the lump in his throat. Suddenly, sitting with her in the cold night air felt a little too hot for his liking so, he crossed his arms over his chest and shifted himself just enough so that they were no longer pressed into each other like corresponding metals that had been cold-welded in outer space. He wasn’t sure if she intended the double meaning in that phrase or not but he was heterosexual and Snow had an enrapturing charm that could have knocked him flat on the floor if he'd let it. He cleared his throat and sucked in a dry breath. “Earth-2 technology would be an appropriate substitute for the loss of my arms.”

“Kinky.” She teased.

Harrison rolled his eyes. “What about you?”

“I don’t know.” She shrugged and despite him wiggling away from her, Caitlin closed the small gap between them and settled herself back against his side. “I guess I wouldn’t mind a wheelchair, but now that you mention it, I don’t think I’d be able to sit still without going insane.”

“You’re sitting still now.”

“Only because I’m tired and you’re warm.” She chuckled, not that he could hear it but he felt her body buzzing against his as if she too found the situation funny but perceived it as too inappropriate to let out an actual laugh.

“What?”

“Nothing.” She shrugged before gesturing from beneath the jacket. “Just... This.”

Harrison humphed and closed his eyes again, once more allowing her warmth to insulate the space between them. It wasn’t exactly comfortable, what with his back pressed against the roof of an overturned bus and his body screaming at him every time he moved but Caitlin’s proximity seemed to distract him enough to make think about other things like sleep and and silly ladybug socks; things that were somewhat pleasant.

“So, what happens next?”

Harrison didn’t bother opening his eyes... Just clenched his jaw and furrowed his brow. “I don’t know.”

“Barry and Cisco...” She went on. “Do you think they’re still alive?”

If Barry was alive, surely they would have seen him by now - would have seen signs of The Flash running through the city and picking up the pieces. Cisco was hit or miss. Harrison was fairly certain Ramon hadn’t been in the lab last night so, he wouldn’t have been anywhere near the explosions... Then again, he didn’t think Caitlin was there either. It was possible both of them were alive and even together, moving through the cracks in the city and making plans to save whatever - whoever - was left. It was possible but unlikely.

“I don’t...” He finally said, lifting his head and looking down at her. Her big bright eyes were all but riveted to him... She was biting her bottom lip again, clearly bothered by his honesty. That wasn’t what she wanted to hear.

Harrison was tired. Harrison was so fucking tired and not just physically. He and Caitlin had only been together for entirety of one day and he had already failed her in so many different ways... He should be carrying her through, letting her know everything was going to be okay - that they were going to be okay - or making definite plans for survival or escape and not just coming up with some slapdash idea about suburbs on the other end of the city... He should have been supporting her because right now, she needed a friend but he didn’t know where to start. He didn’t know the first thing about being there for someone who seemed to have a hidden, unyielding strength buried in the shadows of her fragility. He was at a loss... 

Honesty, no matter how harsh it seemed, was the only real thing he could give her and he wasn’t going to make any apologies for that.

Chapter Text

Harrison flinched after feeling the cold sensation of a wet splat dotting a sparse line of droplets across his face. Despite feeling like they had lead weights attached to them, he slowly forced his lids open and found himself staring at a stormy sky as a light drizzle fell through the broken windows above him. He blearily blinked away the residue of sleep before lifting his head and shouldering the rain off his face; cringing around the pain in his head and neck.

Even with the sticky mist of the rain and the cold tingle running up his legs, Harrison was oddly warm… Caitlin Snow had wrapped herself around him like a sheet. They had started out close but somewhere between him falling asleep and waking up, she had moved in and glued herself to him. Her hands were folded beneath the jacket and tucked between their bodies; her cold fingers rucking up his shirt and poking at the skin just above his hip, causing him shudder and shift away but with her legs lazily curled around his, he wasn’t able to get very far…

Harrison’s head thumped back against the roof of the bus before pushing a thick grunt from his throat as he looked up through those shattered windows; long brown curls tickling the end of his nose every time he inhaled… Her temple was balancing on the space between his shoulder and collarbone and if her warmth wasn’t already infectious, her scent had him swimming. Snow didn’t exactly smell good… She couldn’t. It wasn’t possible after everything they’d been through but it was bitter-sweet somehow - that smell - sweat that had been smothered beneath the rain and the musk of old fabric from the bus seats. There was a hint of cinder still smeared across her temple from that fire and inevitably leaving behind the scent of burnt coals, and then, laying beneath the evidence of every thing else they’d been forced to endure in this twisted new world was her. Just her… It was as pleasantly suffocating as it was familiar and whether he liked it or not, he wanted nothing more than to lean up against that wall and breath her in.

But that scent, even if he wasn’t as perceptive as Leith, was strong and it had gotten them into trouble… And the more he sat there inhaling everything that was Caitlin Snow, the closer he was pushed to the very precipice of a ferocious dread and self destruction that promised to rip him a new one if he thought too hard about wolf-metas picking up her trail and cornering them inside a battered Greyhound.

“Hey.” He gruffed rather nervously, clearing his throat and lifting his head before lightly jarring his shoulder, causing Caitlin’s head to tumble from its perch and slide just an inch down his chest. “Snow.”

Grumbling, she pulled her icy hands out from beneath his shirt and drew her legs inward, which was awkward considering their position, and instead of accomplishing whatever she had meant to do, she merely forced her knees into the back of his thighs, causing him to bend his lower half at a strange angle in order to accommodate her.

“Wake up.” He tried again, this time with a bit more success…

Caitlin’s eyes fluttered briefly before lifting her head and tucking that jacket beneath her chin… There was a moment of silence that seemed to surround them as they locked eyes - a moment of realization as they looked to one another… This nightmare was still their reality and they were stuck in it for the long haul.

There was still no plan, just a basic instinct running through their individual systems like a river that gave rise to their drives to find food and shelter - gave rise to that primitive urge to survive. It was the one thing that seemed to finally drive them apart; forcing her to drop her stare and shift away from him as he pulled his jacket into his lap and debated on whether or not to wear it or sacrifice the warmth so Caitlin could have it. If last night was any indication, he knew she wouldn’t take it… She was just that stubborn.

With a fixed jaw, Harry leaned forward and shoved his arms through the sleeves before pushing away from the wall and  moving his weight to his knees; setting a sidelong stare on Caitlin as she ran her fingers through a frizzed-out mess of hair to try to smooth it down. There was something oddly intimate about waking up with her, silently watching as she tried to regain some semblance of order - strive for a morning routine of using rain water to wash makeup residue from beneath her eyes and keep her very obviously naturally curly hair from wiring out… Save for using the dirty run-off to clean her face as a steady stream of water poured into the bus, Harrison wasn’t sure if washing and preening was an everyday habit she’d formed in the mornings right after waking up or if she was just tired of the grime. Either way, it didn’t seem necessary at this point… With the exception of the blackened corpses lining the streets beyond the walls of their shelter, there was no one in this city for her to impress and she certainly wasn’t going to be able to keep clean by the end of the day…

It wasn’t until she had weaved her hair into a long side-braid that wouldn’t stay that Harrison finally cleared his throat, causing her large eyes to shift and settle on him. Without a word he stood up, keeping his gaze trained on the broken glass beneath his feet before starting for the front of the bus. There was a soft crunch sounding off behind him as Snow mounted a stance and started charting a course around the sharp shards lining the inside of their shelter to stand at his side.

Furrowing his brows, he stared through the widow above him before bracing his foot against a seat and pushing up to grab the rim and pull himself out. With a grunt and a great amount of pain as it flared through his neck, Harrison managed to drag himself over the leaden wall of the bus; his knees pushing into the metal that began dipping and straining under his weight as he shifted and pushed a hand back through the opening to reach for Caitlin.

Her eyes tracked a path from his arm, to his fingertips before finally deciding to be the first the break the silence of the morning. “Where are we going?”

“We haven’t eaten in a while.” Harry answered, barely wiggling his fingers to encourage her to grab hold so he could pull her up… A flash of green caused his eyes to cut toward her feet as she stepped toward him; those little red ladybugs winking up at him from underneath the hem of her pant-legs as she continued moving. “And you’re going to need shoes…”

Running a hand through his wet hair, Harrison pitched over his knee and started tossing boxes of shoes over his shoulder, searching for a practical style in Caitlin’s size… It had only been a few minutes since they’d walked through the doors but if they learned anything yesterday, it was never to linger in one spot for too long, what with those metas probably on the hunt for vengeance after Snow cracked them with that water pipe… Leith, if he had to guess, was especially interested in seeking them out again and if that thought didn’t send a cold chill running up Harrison’s spine, nothing would.

“Snow.” He started, his fingers hovering above a pink shoebox before tossing a glance over his shoulder to find her pushing her feet into a pair of blue tennis shoes to gauge their comfortability and size. “What do you know about wolves?”

Bracing her hands against the footstool beneath her, she stretched her legs and rolled her ankles before saying, “I know they have dens… They live in packs of about eight or ten. Sometimes more.”

“What about hunting patterns?”

Furrowing her brows, she let her feet fall back to the ground before looking to Harrison with an unreadable expression. “Why?”

“Leith mentioned something about morphing with wolves.” Harrison answered, turning back around to sift through more boxes. “I think it’s safe to assume animal instincts with be in play.”

“You think he’ll come after us?”

At that Harrison blinked; his fingers curling hesitantly around another box before flicking at the lid with his thumb…

He had a dog once - a shepherd mix - back when he was about nine years old and every so often that dumb mutt would get something stuck his nose, break loose, and hoof it as far as the next town over at the very slim possibly of knotting a female in heat… His mother used to get phone calls from multiple different families, letting her know that their family dog was howling outside someone else’s door to get to a potential mate on the other side.

Leith was discouragingly more intelligent than Harrison’s childhood dog but the drive to fulfill those basic animal needs; to hunt, to mate - it was all there and he had picked up Caitlin’s scent - had nearly gotten drunk off it and they’d be naive to think he’d forgive and forget.

“Yes.” Came Harrison’s gruff answer…

“Great.” She snarked before shooting him a glare. “You’re just a big ball of optimism, aren’t you?”

“What is that supposed to mean?” He growled, setting his box down and twisting his body around to look at her.

“You just…” She bit her lip and frowned, being sure to pin him beneath a hard expression. “You said so last night; you don’t think Cisco’s alive… Or even Barry.”

“If the Flash was living and well, don’t you think we’d have seen some zip of gold lighting by now - a sign - something to let us know our only hoping for getting out of this hell alive is still breathing and running to our rescue?”

“Do you have any faith in him at all?” Caitlin bit. “Or Cisco?”

“They’re dead, Snow.” He snarled, getting to his feet to reach for another box on the top shelf above him, trying to find a way to distract himself from this mortifying conversation. “Nothing you say or do is going to change that…”

“What about Jesse?” Caitlin began ruthlessly, causing Wells to snap his stare on her. “Did you give up on her too, or was that just the people you don’t care about?”

“Don’t.” Harrison growled darkly before jerking himself around and flinging a heavy box of boots in her direction, causing her to flinch back as it smackedagainst the leg of her perch. “Don’t you fucking dare.”

“Look around you.” She whispered, causing him to take a step forward and lean in so he could actually listen. “You can’t keep walking through this with your eyes shut.”

“You want to talk about someone walking through this with their eyes shut; you took one look out your window and you didn’t even shed a tear!” He barked, jerking his arms out as he moved in to loom over her. Pitching forward, he gave a low growl, “There are bodies out there - right now - burnt bodies on the ground outside this shop and you somehow have the ability to look right at them and not feel anything.”

“At least I don’t pretend they aren’t there!” She screeched, getting to her feet and reaching forward to press her palms against his chest and shove back. With his hand slapping into the shelves behind him, he held fast, keeping himself from dropping into a pile of pink shoeboxes before Caitlin stepped closer and shoved a finger in his face. “You want me to cry? Is that it? When you’re already so broken and cracked - when you’re shattering from the inside.”

“I’m not broken!” He defended.

“Maybe not entirely but you’re definitely fragile…”

“And you’re just some frigid bitch!” Harrison bit back, pushing forward and towering close enough to breath in that suffocating scent of hers.

Exhaling a puff of air against his chin, she pursed her lips; her fingers curling until she was white-knuckling against her palms and dropping her head. “I’m frigid because if I let myself feel any of this…” She began again, clearly trying the quell the tremor in her voice as she pushed away; her feet backtracking before forcing her now glassy eyes to meet stare once more. “You’d have to carry me all the way through this and right now… Neither of us can afford to do something like that. We can’t push each other too hard or else one of us might break.”

“Snow…” Harrison breathed, his gaze falling over her mouth to see her gnawing on her bottom lip and with that, she was sweeping away… Fuck. “Wait…” He tried again, making one last attempt to keep her from pulling entirely away.

Shoving her hands into her back pockets, she turned and stalked for the front door; stacked boxes tumbling around her feet in the wake of her escape as she kicked through them.

“Where are you going?” He gruffed before taking a step toward her; starting to feel that wreck-worthy chill permeate his stomach at the very real potential of Leith and Willis waiting outside.

Caitlin didn’t answer, only flicked a quick wave back at him before rushing out of the shop… With a rattling effect, the door smacked against the frame after she finally made her exit and if that was any indication of how much he’d ruffled her feathers, he was thoroughly fucked.

Placing a firm grip on his hips, Harrison tucked his chin to his chest and furrowed his brows; staring directly down into a pile of shoeboxes that had been left in disarray after the whirlwind of metas had ripped through Central City; apparently not even shoe stores had managed to make it out unscathed…

With a rough sigh pushing through his lungs, he glanced toward to door before ripping himself around to quickly swipe his arm across the shelf behind him; pink shoeboxes falling from it’s height and hitting the floor with a series of audible thumps as they tumbled over the edge.

He had to go after her… Whether or not she merited an apology, Harrison actually had to chase Caitlin Snow in the rain, through the streets of a city left in ruins to keep her scent from wafting through the air, blowing in the wrong direction and sliding straight into Leith’s prowling snout, giving rise to his prey-drive - giving him a beat on their location.

“Fuck…” He muttered, running his hands over his face before grumbling and all but jerking himself toward the door. “Fuck.”

And then, before he had the chance to start for her, an ear piercing shriek cut through the silence of that small shoe store and sent a paralyzing chill up his spine…  Without thinking, he ripped himself toward the exit and slammed shoulder first into the door, not bothering to hesitate under the atrocious pain now seizing his neck because all that mattered at this point was Snow. Caitlin Snow her her horrific cries that seemed to physically claw through Harrison’s gut with each and every new pitch.

By the time he’d thrust himself into the rain and started tearing off in the direction she’d gone, there was that familiar spark of blue highlighting the edges of his peripheral vision before he boxed right into a body with bruising force. It was only seconds later he began to comprehend that he’d collided into none other than Caitlin and quickly lifted a firm grip on either side face before wrenching her back; his eyes starting on a desperate journey - searching for any signs of harm - any visible reason that would cause her to make those hair-raising sounds.

Harrison blinked; his stare landing on her pursed lips before lifting his gaze to her terror-stricken eyes before comprehending the odd fact that she wasn’t the one who was screaming out in the middle of this horrible dream. It wasn’t her. She wasn’t hurt. She wasn’t screaming… She just was.

All at once the echo of those shrill cries began to fade as the sound carried and bounced off the empty skyscrapers around them, causing Harrison’s jaw to clench as he continued sinking into Caitlin’s eyes; his heart thumping anxiously against his chest and fingers curling possessively around the back of her head, still puffing through fits exertion before trying to slow his heart rate.

That’s when the sound of static caught their attention - crackling over the steady thrum of rain as it hit the pavement. With his grip still firmly fastened against Caitlin’s head, his stare jerked toward the weakened telephone pole overhead - cracked at the center and tipping over as it balanced against the very store he’d just bolted from - before his eyes landed on the crudely wired megaphone speaker system attached at the top. With his eyes sweeping down the street, he quickly found more and more speakers attached to other poles or buildings… They were everywhere…

“Good morning Central City…” Came the demonic drawl of none other than Zoom himself, the sound causing Harrison’s worried gaze to flicker back to Caitlin, who was now grasping at his wrists. “As some of you know, I’ve taken advantage of your scattered numbers for… Leverage.”

“Please… Let me go. Please.” The desperate sobs of a woman - a voice they didn’t recognize - filtered around the rough static. “I’ll do whatever you want just… Please.”

“To those of you who are missing friends and members of your family… Your loved ones will be returned to you unharmed as long as I get what I want.” Zoom announced darkly, raising his voice over the now frantic whimpers of whoever was with him. “Bring me Harrison Wells. If any of you fail to comply - if you harbor this fugitive - I will eradicate whatever is left of your once great city. If any of you try to leave, the result will be immediate death… And until Wells is in my grasp, I will rip out the hearts of your loved ones one by one. And I’ll make you bear witness… Starting with her.”

With that, there was a familiar zip of speed whooshing through the speakers before the woman began to panic.“N-No-Don’t…Stop!”

This time, the screams were so loud, Harrison could feel the pressure of the sound physically pushing against his eardrums and instinctively he slid his hands over Caitlin’s ears to shield her from that horrifying shriek. His eyes bored into her’s, glassy and tired as they were before the cries grew impossibly louder.

Don’t cry…

With his teeth grinding around the sound, he clenched his eyes and drew in a hard breath before pushing it back out, the air of it practically burning his lungs, what with the heavy layer of debris still hanging around them, the smell of seared flash, and wet pavement all but assaulting his nostrils. But that sound was daunting and even though it wasn’t Jesse, it could have been… It probably was just moments before the onslaught of metas poured through the breaches and wrecked Central City with every malicious intent he could imagine. Zoom very well could have taken Harry’s stupid display of heroism out on his daughter, crushed her bones, phased through her body to rearrange her organs, or if he was lucky, just made it quick and snapped her in half. Regardless, of the how, he didn’t have a prayer. Jesse was dead.

It wasn’t until Caitlin’s hands were ripping his face forward that he realized he was hyperventilating. Quickly opening his eyes, he furrowed his brows and watched as she screamed at the top of her lungs, the sound muffled by the terrifying cries that were still echoing through the city. His gaze dropped to her mouth, her lips forming around the same phrase over and over again; it’s not her.

It’s not her.

It wasn’t jesse but it didn’t matter because it was so real… So fucking real and all he could do was picture her with her own blood smeared across that familiar fair skin; bruised and broken down in a dark and scary place, wondering why her father never came for her - why he didn’t care enough to look or why he wasn’t strong enough to save her.

Fuck…

Harrison dropped, his knees slamming down against the puddle-ridden sidewalk with a hard splat, not caring that his jeans were now soaked through or that the sounds and smells around him suddenly gave him the violent urge to throw up. His palms pressed flat against the pavement beneath him, barely registering that Snow was still there and was now the one gripping his face and forcing his gaze on her as she continued to holler over those fucking screams.

It’s not her…

With Caitlin’s fingers curling around his jaw, she wrenched his face forward again to snap him out of whatever apprehension had just aggressively ripped through him, causing him to lift his shoulders and pin her beneath a disconsolate gaze. Save for the static crackling, the speakers were completely silent; the rain and the strange sound of his own voice sifting through his ears as he continuously panted out, “I’m fading.”

Harrison didn’t exactly know how long he’d been saying it, or even what it was supposed to mean but Snow seemed to… And that was enough.

“It wasn’t her.” Caitlin responded gently, shushing him and lowering herself down in front of him before dropping her hands to his shoulders. “It’s okay… It wasn’t Jesse.”

Forcing himself to nod, Harrison dropped his gaze to the wet sidewalk and sucked in an erratic breath… Being wrong when it came to determining the ins and outs of Caitlin Snow’s character was clearly a pattern for him. She wasn’t frigid or shut down… She was strong. So fucking strong and absolutely perfect and if Harrison had any hopes of surviving this hell, he was going to need to feed off that strength.

Good girl…

Chapter Text

With clenched eyes, Harrison took a deep breath through his nostrils; the smell of decay and the underlying hint of garlic burning through his lungs as he tipped back his first swig of some generic brand of meat flavored spaghetti sauce - the taste and texture as it mixed with the death surrounding both he and Caitlin causing him to gag before he had the chance to actually swallow it down. It didn’t matter if he was hungry, the physicality of it actually contracting through his aching stomach and all but screaming at him to eat because he hadn’t had an appetite for roughly three days and if it hadn’t been for Snow jamming food down his throat like she would do for a stubborn dog refusing to take pills, he probably wouldn’t have bothered with it in the first place.

Fighting back the urge to gag, he finally swallowed around that first bite and forced himself to ignore the way his stomach flipped through crippling fits of nausea before opening his eyes and passing the jar toward Snow… Her cool hands instantly wrapped around his wrist to push it back.

“One more.” She urged quietly as her fingers tightened against his arm.

A sour taste spread throughout his mouth at the thought of drinking down another bite of spaghetti sauce, especially since he barely got through the last one without vomiting. “I’m not hungry.”

“I wasn’t asking.” Came her response - that habitual den-mother tone - the one that had a way of making Harrison do just about anything she asked. “One more.”

He gave a brief nod and tipped his chin to his chest, his eyes boring into the red sauce; chunks of tomato and meat sliding about inside the jar which of course, didn’t set well with him, what with the way the it resembled hunks from the bodies around them. A tightening sensation ripped through his abdomen and this time, he pitched forward, one hand flying to the wall of their shelter - a playground loft in the middle of one of Central City’s designated kid’s areas - the other gripping at the rim of the connecting, royal blue slide before dry heaving in it’s opening with the intent of having whatever came up run down the slope in order to keep their temporary safeguard somewhat clean… Which didn’t matter much in the end since he dropped the jar and allowed the contents to stain the wooden boards beneath their knees.

A firm grip coiled over his shoulder and he blinked, staring straight down the slide to see a hint of red spit up making its descent against the blue slope. It wasn’t much and he couldn’t really categorize it as throwing up but it was enough to boil his blood... Still breathing heavily through his nausea, he jerked his shoulder free of Caitlin’s overly comforting touch and angled himself around to growl out, “I’m not hungry.”

“You haven't eaten since-”

“I said, I’m not hungry.” He tried again, slower this time and sounding more like fuck-off than anything else.

Biting her lip and doing nothing to hide the frown creasing her brow, she forced a nod and said, “Okay…”

Practically rattling the loft after slamming his back to the wall, he kicked at the now empty jar of sauce and braced his arms over his knees before setting his gaze on Caitlin, who seemed busy staring up at the rainbow-colored, tented roof above their heads as if she wanted to find a distraction and spirit herself away from this shit show - away from him… Closing her eyes for the briefest moment, her lashes fluttered a bit before gripping the lapels of Harrison’s jacket - the one he finally convinced her to wear - and tucking herself within it; her knees pulling to her chest.

“It’s going to start soon.” She said, not bothering to look at him.

Harrison set his jaw and he quickly dropped his gaze to the sauce now seeping into the wood at his feet… “I know.”

“How many have there been so far?”

Lowering his head to his hands and trying think of a way to give her an answer without remembering how many days - how many different voices they’d been subjected to listen to as Zoom’s victims screamed through the crude speaker system that had been wired throughout the city, he breathed, “Too many.”

“I don’t want to be here.” She whispered, her tone almost breaking which automatically caused Harrison’s gaze to jerk back on her.

Don’t cry…

“You shouldn’t have to be.” He answered.

“Neither should you.”

Her large eyes were on him then, pinning him in a stand still as her familiar gaze chased his hardened expression away; his face melting into something softer - something easier. With something akin to a smile, Caitlin sat across from him and scuffed her foot across the floorboards until the tip of her now dingy blue sneakers touched the toe of his boot… Fighting every instinct telling him to pull away, Harrison stayed completely still and sucked in a breath; the air still foul but somehow less assaulting when he was looking at her. With every intention of saying something encouraging, something she might like or want to hear, he opened his mouth but his voice fell short when Zoom’s demonic drawl drifted through the city and fell over them like a dark cloud.

“Good morning, Central City…” He greeted, same as he had for the past week or so.

At that, Harrison pulled his foot back, breaking the contact between he and Caitlin before pitching over his knees and fisting a firm grip into his hair to anchor himself and wait for the onslaught of pain and terror getting ready rip through the silence of the morning.

“We need to be smarter.” Caitlin said quietly, her voice sinking into his ears and lingering there like raindrops saturating a patch of thirsty ground.

It didn’t matter if Harrison had just knocked his elbow against the cracked glass of a decrepit looking mechanic’s garage door entrance to find suitable shelter for once, the crash of the now broken window eliciting a high pitched echo that would have caught the attention of anyone within earshot, because she was absolutely right… They’d been running around this city for the better part of two weeks and even if they weren’t exactly freezing to death or starving, this was no life… They were barely alive. It wasn’t only the struggles they faced day after day as they bashed through the terrifying obstacles Zoom had laid out for them, the problem was with Harrison Wells and his inability to cope with the nightmare of his surroundings…

Almost as if he’d been caught with his hand stuck in the cookie jar, he continued staring at the broken glass now laying in shattered remnants inside the shop before swallowing down his adam's apple and slowly lifting his arm to reach through the window and finger at the door-lock, all while avoiding her large gaze.

“When are you going start talking?” She asked just as the lock clicked, allowing Harry to shove his boot into the door and pop it open…

“What do you want to hear?” He finally asked, his tone low and scraping through his parched throat before stepping into the dark office that looked disturbingly clean compared to what they’d seen over the past few nights - compared to where they’d slept.

“Whatever you want to say.” She countered, filing in behind him; her presence almost heavy against his back even though she wasn’t touching him.

In truth, he wanted to say a lot of different things… Starting with how sorry he was that he was dragging her through this, how much he hated the fact that she had to be here, and most of all how sorry he was that he wasn’t anything like Barry Allen because Barry - her Barry - would have all the right things to say. He’d comfort her, tell her she was going to be alright, tell her they were going to make it out of this alive and find a way to fix this city…

But he wasn’t good at that shit and didn’t have Allen’s hidden ability to give breathtaking pep talks when things seemed hopeless… Especially when he didn’t have the slightest idea of how to get them out - assuming there was an actual out - of this hellhole alive.

“I’m not Barry.” Was probably one of the worst things he could have said in that moment, moving through the darkened hallway of an old mechanic shop, the smell of gasoline growing stronger the closer they drifted toward the garage, but it felt natural and she’d indirectly asked him to say something knowing full well he could be a blunt asshole when he wanted to be.

“No…” She growled, crossing her arms and catching his tired stare as she stepped around him to move ahead. “You’re not.”

Snow’s clipped tone somehow managed to catch him off guard and stop him dead in his tracks… With a clenched jaw and a slanted brow, his narrowing gaze followed her until she reached the door at the end of the shaded hallway and disappeared into the garage.

With blood drying underneath his fingernails, Harrison continued scratching rough patterns against his scalp; the echo of those garish screams tearing through the city as Zoom drained the life from another victim - a kid from the sound of the pitch in his tone. He wasn’t sure if this one had lasted longer by some petrifying twist of fate or if Zoom had been the one to draw it out and make his prey endure for the sake of sending a message… Whatever the case, there was a little boy somewhere out there, wailing beneath Zoom’s merciless assault as he continued crushing bones and phasing through him…

Sinking down into the torn, red leather seat of the off-white 66 Lincoln Convertible that had been serving as his bed for the past few nights, Harry tensed his legs, pressed his bare feet firmly into the passenger’s side door and took a deep breath; anchoring his spine against the door handle poking into his lower back as he listened to that little boy’s weakening sobs. It wasn’t until he took his last, feeble breath that Wells was able to open his eyes and glance toward the rear of the car to see Snow sitting opposite to him; her body seeming so small in the large bench seat as she curled in on herself and folded her body over her knees. With her arms hooking around her shins, she squared her shoulders and lifted her ever widening stare until it fastened itself on Harrison; bending her neck back and allowing her skull to bounce against the headrest.

“Is he dead?” She asked, nearly breathless as she lifted her head away from the seat once more.

Harrison wanted to flinch at how hopeful she sounded - how truly cruel that seemed for her to desire the end of a child's life but death was merciful in regards to whatever torture Zoom had put him through and in this new-world-nightmare, wishing death on someone, even a kid probably no older than twelve, was considerate.

Setting his jaw and drawing in a hard breath, Harry opened his mouth to answer but before he could say anything, Zoom’s voice was echoing through the garage. “Wells…” He started in that dark way of his; that low scrape that had a way of embedding in Harrison’s mind and fucking him up even when he couldn’t hear it. “His death was on you.”

And with that, Harrison had rapidly slid himself across the seat until he was on the door; shakily fumbling with the handle to escape the car but despite his efforts, he couldn’t seem to quell his tremors long enough to get a grip on the damn thing.

“Hey…” Snow began, shifting herself to lean over the seat and bracing one of her palms against the passenger’s side door in front of him. “Harry…”

It wasn’t until her free hand dropped to his shoulder that he decided to start kicking frantically against the handle to get the door open but the only thing he’d accomplished was boxing the lever straight off and causing it to drop to the floor. Fuck...

“Harrison.” Her voice was heavier now, as if she wanted to relay her serious want of getting his attention through her hardened tone and get him to stop taking his anger out on the inside of that door. It had worked, but only for a minute - only because she had fully draped herself over the backrest of his bench seat to wrap an alarmingly strong grip around his trembling wrists. “Look at me.” She demanded before squeezing her fingers around his arms and jerking them toward her. “Look at me…”

His blue stare lifted until he was eye to eye with her… Eye to eye with the only person in this world who was going to get him on the other side of this hell, the only person in the world who had the ability calm his storm and at the same time give rise to his anger, the one person alive who he couldn’t bare to lose and couldn’t justify keeping.

“It’s alright…” She forced an unconvincing smile; her hands sliding over his skin and inadvertently giving him warmth, something real… Something to hold onto. “It’s over.”

Overwrought and still emotionally annihilated, Harrison shook his head chaotically before trying to reach for the door again but he couldn’t move… Caitlin was there, holding fast to him and continuing to slid her hands up his limbs until she was gripping his biceps and pushing his arms into his sides as if she meant to hold him together. With her nails barely biting into his ribs as she held him in place, he took a deep breath and let himself, for the first time since she landed in his car, sink into her soothing dark eyes… Against his better judgment, he let her consume him; let that enthralling stare swallow him up and carry him into a strange realm of ease that made his eyes close and muscles go slack beneath her reassuring hold. Once he’d pushed his limp body against the backrest between them and dropped his forehead to the top of the seat, she let go, slid back into the rear of the car and tucked her feet underneath her own trembling body before bracing an elbow against her door and staring off; her gaze distant as she focused on something at the other end of the dark garage.

“I’m sorry.” He finally gruffed out while refusing to look at her, not entirely sure why he’d felt the need to apologize as he continued rolling his throbbing head against the seat.

“I know…”

Pressing his back to the pile of rubble that once serviced as a shop wall and clutching a tool bag that he and Snow had found in the mechanic’s office to his chest, he peered around the corner to make sure the way was clear before pitching forward and bolting across the street to head straight for the 7-Eleven down the block, dipping and ducking between overturned vehicles and debris along the way to avoid the steady flow of metas that patrolled the streets every half hour… He’d seen at least a couple dozen - units of six - not including the random stragglers that had purposely fallen behind in order to bring up the rear and collect anyone who’d been brave enough to try and slip through the cracks of their squadron.

Still crouched and tucking himself neatly beside a totaled minivan that had somehow managed to remain upright after the avalanche of metas swarmed the city, his fingers wrapped around the handle of the side door before slowly sliding it open just enough for him to fit through the gap and slip inside. He probably wouldn’t have bothered with it in the first place if he hadn’t happened to glance through the back window on his way passed and notice a half empty case of bottled waters rolling around the trunk but he did… And water was an unfortunate necessity in their situation.

Scooting his knees across the sticky carpet and squeezing in between the captain seats, Harrison awkwardly angled himself toward the rear of the van before pitching forward, twisting his shoulders and reaching for the trunk… He could barely see the glistening of that first bottle as the water reflected the moonlight back at him but he made the grab, stretching himself at an impossible angle as he did. He no more had his fingers around the bottle, the crackling of the plastic protesting as he gripped and shoved the first one into his tool bag before he heard a hard collision sound from somewhere toward the front of the vehicle, causing Harrison to flinch sideways, drop his shoulder the floor and curl around to see a meta standing in front of the van.

Harrison froze because fuck… Whoever it was, looking through the windshield with his head cocked, his eyes narrowed and a crowbar in hand as he stared directly into Wells’ cautious gaze, wasn’t somebody he wanted to mess with, especially since he didn’t know this meta’s abilities. Drawing in a deep breath, Harry waited for it and felt that unpleasant weight seep into his stomach at the thought of getting ripped out of the van by his ankles and thrown at Zoom’s unforgiving feet… He waited for this new opponent to all but break open his cover and yank him out by the scruff but there was something off in the way this particular meta-human peered inside the vehicle. With nightfall obscuring his vision and with Harrison wearing his usual blacks and having tucked himself ever so nicely between the captains chairs, he couldn’t see a damn thing inside that van, what with the way he squinted and stared directly at Harrison, trying and failing to make out the shapes and contours of his shaded face.

Even though that meta couldn’t seem to see inside and get a beat on him, he’d sensed movement and it made Harrison’s breath settle in his chest and cling against his lungs like something physical that had been nailed in place. Still holding his breath and almost as if he was staring through a two way mirror, he kept his stare trained on his newest potential opponent and bid his time by tensing his limbs and making himself lie there, stiff as stone, despite his severe want to scramble out of that van and bolt for the nearest alleyway to make his way back to the garage - make his way back to Snow… It wasn’t until a flashing light randomly began flickering through the windows above him that Harry turned his face into his arm in order to hide his pale skin and keep it from catching the beam and reflecting it back at the man still staring through the windshield.

A muffled voice filled his ears as the meta beckoned another, the one with the flashlight, toward the van before Harrison chanced a glance back at the front of the vehicle to see not one, but two men standing there, looking through the window…

Fuck… He was so boned.

At least, he thought he was until a sudden crash elicited from somewhere down the street, causing both metas to jerk themselves around and dart in that very direction like a pair of mindless hunters, hollering as they went chasing after the sound in hopes of securing a potential refugee.

Finally releasing his breath and letting his muscles go slack, Harrison’s head thumped against the floor before catching sight of the other bottles beneath the back seat and forcing himself to continue collecting water so he could get back to Snow.

“You look tired.”

With a little more effort than what Harrison was willing to give, his gaze lifted away from the cement floor of the garage to find Snow sitting across from him, leaning against the flattened tire of that half busted up Lincoln with her hands resting over the zipper of his tool bag full of freshly poached goods and staring at him like it was the first time she’d seen him in days… Or rather, the first time he’d actually seen her.

It didn’t matter if he was out for the better part of the night looking for food after their random canned supply had gotten low, and it didn’t matter if he’d nearly gotten caught in that van and exerted whatever was left of his energy by pushing down the panic of that close encounter, because whether or not he wanted to admit it, he was fucking exhausted and it clearly didn’t go unnoticed… He hadn’t looked in a mirror in over two weeks but if the build up beneath his fingernails was any indication of how royally mucked up he was, he could only imagine how the dark circles under his eyes would make her worry about his sleep pattern or therefore lack of… He could imagine how his habitually chaotic hair was no longer sticking out in every direction as if he’d just rolled out of bed, what with dried blood weighing it down at the roots and making it stick to his head after listening to Zoom every morning and all but scratching through his scalp. It probably didn’t help matters much after he’d tripped on their first outing for food and hit a section of cracked pavement, the ramifications of which tearing holes clean through his jeans at the knees… He probably looked about as appealing as a stray with mange and damn it if Snow wasn’t the type to notice the hurt and try to drag his sorry ass home with her - give him a place to run - give him a place to feel welcome and loved… And that was absolute bullshit… Perfectly refreshing bullshit.

“I’m not.” He finally lied, dropping his gaze back toward the ground and crossing his arms over his chest.

Raising an eyebrow, Snow humphed and quickly turned her attention back on the tool bag to continue sifting through the bottled waters, snack bars and other consumable goods Harrison had snatched from that half-raided 7-Eleven a few blocks over before pulling out a can of cherry flavored soda and rolling it across the concrete… It stopped after colliding into the toe of Harrison’s boot and just like that, he was pulled out of his thoughtless daze and began blinking down at the cherry logo on the side of the can before giving Snow another apethetic glance. She was smiling again, fuck her… Somehow in this shit storm, with her hair tangled up in a messy bun and her skin smeared with a fine layer of grime, she was gracing him with another one of those tremendous smiles that had a way of melting him straight into liquid…

“There’s a lot of food here, you know...” She remarked, still grinning up at him as she pulled multiple snack boxes from the mouth of the tool bag.

“Are you suggesting we have a picnic?” Came his dry response as he stared down at her, her eyes willing him to step forward as if an invisible force was drawing him closer.

“I’m suggesting you eat…” She jested. With her fingers wrapping around a fun-sized bag of Lay's, she leaned forward and dangled it between them as a silent offer for him to take it from her.

Harry furrowed his brows and subtly shook his head… “That’s yours.”

“Great… I’m giving it to you.”

Still frowning, Wells hesitantly stepped forward again, the crunch of the chip bag crinkling in his hard grasp as he took it from Snow…

“Maybe next time we need food, I can run out…” She started easily, like everything was fine - like they were playing house and she was talking about doing something as simple as running to the store for groceries. “Soda and chocolate bars are nice but maybe I can find something healthy like vegetables or-”

“You’re not going out there…” Harrison growled with a righteous solemnity that rendered Caitlin speechless.

She blinked and pursed her lips as if she was mentally rearing back and readying herself to take a verbal swing at him but instead of picking a fight, she took a deep breath through her nostrils and asked, “Is it getting worse?”

“No…” He replied quickly, barely masking his lie by briefly averting his gaze and swallowing down the lump in his throat.

“Why won’t you let me help you?”

“You know why…” He bit, his eyes snapping onto her stare before allowing himself once more to sink into her dark brown gaze.

She glared then, her now spiteful expression masking her usual altruism and all but making the hair on the back of his neck prickle. Despite the merit in her angry stare, she did know the reason Harrison kept her locked up in that gloomy old mechanics shop. She had to… The smell in that garage was overpowering, what with the scent of gasoline and old motor oil practically pouring from the walls and wrapping around her like a sheet, giving them just the cover they needed when it came to Leith and his ability to sniff Caitlin out over the smell of death and debris...She was hidden here; safe beneath an assaulting blanket of lingering exhaust fumes and burnt oil.

“Here…” Harry huffed, finally breaking his stare and giving in before tossing his bag of chips near her legs and turning himself halfway toward the door. “You should eat that.”

And with that, he was tucking his hands into his pockets and heading for the door that lead to the office, completely ignoring the sound of his name as Caitlin tried calling him back along the way.

Chapter Text

With Harrison’s chin resting against his palm and his arms pinned between his torso and the steering wheel of that 66 Lincoln, he blearily registered his excessively silent surroundings before his brain thrust him into a liminal state of mind, the dreadful feeling of vulnerability setting in and causing his body to jolt forward; knocking against the car horn and all but jerking him to life as the honk briefly punched through the garage… And fuck, just like that he was pressing his spine against his back rest, breathing heavily and blinking the residue of sleep from his eyes as he white-knuckled around the steering wheel with his arms locked in order to hold his tired body from falling forward once more…

Save for that damn horn blaring and echoing off the walls of the garage like a banshee howling through the night, he wasn’t sure what had pushed him from the realm of sleep but he was vaguely aware that something was very different from what it was before he’d crashed… And he quite literally crashed. Snow had been nagging at him for days to make an attempt to get some shut eye - make an attempt to get more than roughly three hours of sleep at a time but between Zoom’s morning announcements and that inconsolable weight in his chest that was constantly driving him to keep a wary eye out for Leith, Willis, and any other meta who stumbled on their unprotected garage, he couldn’t seem doze off unless his body forced a temporary shutdown. Which, to his horror, was how he’d ended up conking out this time around and inadvertently leaving both he and Snow defenseless against whatever was lurking outside the mechanic shop they currently called home.

He quickly swiped his hands down his face, the silence of that garage almost thundering and heightening his awareness as if he was still listening the car horn scream its protest throughout the building because fuck, something was off and he was starting to think it didn’t have anything to do with the fact that he’d all but knocked off and woken with a start which ended up making him drowsy and about ten times pissier than usual. Shoving a rough sigh through his lungs and leaning back against the cracked leather of the convertible, Harrison glanced to the passenger’s seat to see, courtesy of Snow, a bottled water, a bag of peanuts and a neatly arranged pile of multi-colored Skittles resting next to him and without a second thought he took up the candy pieces and quickly popped them into his mouth... It wasn’t until he was grabbing the neck of his water and twisting the cap that he suddenly froze mid-chew.

Sucking those fruity Skittles against the roof of his mouth and swallowing them down before they’d been fully mashed, his head jerked toward the backseat of the car, where Caitlin habitually napped, to find it empty. Call it a sixth sense or the lack of Snow’s pheromones permeating throughout the garage and mingling tastefully with the scent of old gasoline but the weight of her presence wasn’t there and that little fact had Harrison swimming laps around the anxiety pool… Maybe he was overreacting and maybe he was unnecessarily controlling when it came to Caitlin Snow and her safety but she wasn’t there - she wasn’t there greeting him with a smile, asking him how he slept, teasing him over bumping into the car horn, or moving aimlessly through the garage looking for a broom to sweep up crumbs like she’d done over the past few days in order to keep their little rat hole clean.

He wasn’t exactly the type of person to believe in auras or bad feelings but Harry had been living with Caitlin for over a month now and he’d grown uncomfortably familiar with the overwhelming light that bounced off her character and no matter where she was in that shop, he could always sense that presence... Until now. He couldn’t feel it. He couldn’t feel her… And that had him hopping over the driver’s side door and rounding the car to head for the shop office in order to look for her.

After discovering Caitlin was in fact, no longer holding up in that damn mechanic shop, Harrison had thrown his boots on and set out to hunt her down and drag her back to safety… She could label him as an overprotective dick-bag if she wanted but he sure as shit wasn’t about to sit around on his ass and wait for her to come home, especially when she was out there alone in a cruel environment that had every terrifying possibility known to man to eat her up and spit her out like chewing tobacco. But fuck, if she was hurt… The thought had him sick with worry and the very possibility of something going wrong while she was out there doing whatever the fuck she was doing, made him have to stop himself from running through the city screaming Snow’s name at the top of his lungs…

Clenching his fists and practically jogging down the street with a tattered rag that he’d found back in the garage tied around his head and hanging just below his eyes in order to keep the debris from swimming through his lungs, Harry shot around the corner and headed straight for that same 7-Eleven he’d looted a couple weeks prior, hopping over mangled, decomposing bodies in the process before lifting his arm and pressing a fist over his rag to keep the sour scent of death from assaulting his nostrils. The smell of motor oil sucked ass, what with his grease stained mask covering his nose but at this point, anything was better than the brutality of decay and the urge to vomit that usually followed… He hadn’t been eating enough for him actually be able to upchuck but the nauseating sensation of hunger, along with the fatigue that came with forgoing meals had him fighting queasiness at every turn and the moldering flesh didn’t help… Let alone the fact that Caitlin being out there on her own made him want to rip his stomach up through his throat.

But the dark, unwelcome thought of her needing help, lying in the street with burns or lacerations - the thought of Leith or Willis or any other meta roaming these forgotten streets and getting an unwavering grip on her kept him going, regardless of his his savage desire to slam knees first against the broken concrete beneath his feet and holler her name until his throat went raw.

“Shit...” He snarled, hardly managing to push himself forward after running full speed and nearly tripping over a car door that had been ripped straight away from the body of whatever vehicle it previously belonged to. “Shit!”

It wasn’t until he was on the very same block as that 7-Eleven that the swaying shadow of something large and dangling from a streetlamp above made him stop dead in his tracks… With his heart thumping wildly against his ribs and his mouth gaping from behind the rag, Harrison’s eyes glued themselves to the source of that shadow with a mind of their own as the object rocked back and forth with a high pitched grate that was near deafening as the chain keeping it suspended groaned each and every time it swayed in a new direction.

“Shit…” He said again, his voice barely above a scrape as he pulled his rag below his chin and rounded it, not caring that the smell of motor oil was quickly replaced by the overwhelming scent of rotting offal.

Breathing heavily and now standing directly beneath that streetlamp, Harry was staring up at a relatively fresh carcass… A human carcass. And to make matter’s worse, it was that of a young girl with long brunette locks that had been matted where they’d been tangled around the chain surrounding her neck. Her slight frame and pale skin, her brown hair and large eyes that seemed unnaturally bright considering she was no longer breathing… All of it reminded him of Snow and the very real horror she was facing right now.

Maybe he’d stared at her too long or maybe he wasn’t crazy and what he was seeing was very real but for the briefest of moments - almost in a flash - her face changed. He could pass it off as hallucinations from a chemical imbalance, lack of nutrition or maybe lack of sleep but he was suddenly staring directly at Caitlin Snow’s lifeless form as it lightly rocked back and forth and it was enough to make him jerk rearward; the heel of his foot catching a crack in the road and causing him to stumble back with his ass bumping against some shitty Honda that was somehow still decently intact and unintentionally making his fall short lived.

It’s not her...

“Shit.”  He breathed shakily, sliding down the door of that Honda and running a hand over his mouth as he forced his stare back on her body.

It’s not her… But fuck, if it didn’t look like her…

Placing his head in his hands, he took a deep breath, allowing the smell of her rotting flesh to consume him before pinching his eyes shut and letting out a shattered, “Fuck…”

It’s not her...

By the time Harrison stepped through the door and into the hallway of his makeshift home, still frantic and het up, he all but forced himself to take a deep breath as a way to push the foreboding thought of Caitlin swinging from that light post into the darkest, untouched corners of his mind… He wasn’t exactly hyperventilating but he was definitely struggling to keep his lungs beating up and down at a steady pace, what with the stammer in his chest every time his conscious bounced the unwelcome imagery of young girls being lynched in the streets for no apparent reason around his already-been-fucked-with head.

Ripping that oil stained rag away from his face and roughly shoving it in his back pocket, Harrison stalked down the hall and reached for the door knob leading into the garage before drawing in another rough inhale through his debris-filled nostrils, allowing the familiar smell of gasoline and something else - something more organic and comforting to burn through his lungs… Stilling his hand around the knob and frowning down at his bloodied knuckles, Harry sucked in another breath, catching more of that scent and rolling it through his chaotic mind before finally pushing through the door and stepping into the garage; his eyes immediately slicing a path toward the car to find Snow sitting on the trunk, her legs dangling into the backseat of the convertible as she hummed an off-tune version of a song he didn’t recognize.

Harry couldn’t be sure if what he was seeing was real but there she was, figment of his imagination or not, she was there, sitting on that damn car and humming like their world hadn’t gone to shit... Like they hadn’t been playing survivalist for the past month and a half. Pressing his fists to his forehead and doing everything in his power not to drop to his hands and knees and fucking crawl to her like a loyal dog that had gotten lost for a short period of time, Harry sputtered out a sigh of relief, the air of it almost foul as it left his lungs in order to make room for the fresh inhale that could only be achieved in the presence of none other than Caitlin Snow.

It took all of two seconds for him to realize that he must have made some sort of noise after stepping into their garage because suddenly, with her eyes large and bright, he was standing beneath her questing gaze as it roved over his tired face. With the skin of his muscles stretching tight over his braced shoulders, Harrison slowly lowered his arms to his sides and forced himself to walk, not run, directly for the car, trying as hard as he could to stop himself from screaming himself hoarse at the strange mixture of anger and reassurance bubbling through his heaving chest.

“Hi.” She began easily enough, smiling as if the world was one big party and everything was peachier than a field of fucking daisies. “I was hoping you’d sleep a little longer… I wanted to be back before you woke up.”

With a blank stare, Harry’s mouth fell open as if he intended to say something - anything - but short of the rapid burst of air pushing through his lungs, he couldn’t seem to get the words out.

“I got you something.” Caitlin started again, sliding down into the back seat of the car and reaching for something that had been placed on the floor before tossing an arm over the door and flinging the object near Harrison’s feet.

It wasn’t tactical like the one he’d brought from Earth-2 but resting just inches away from the toe of his boot was a bright red, children’s backpack with the gold insignia of The Flash stitched right on the largest pocket. Pitching forward, his hands instinctively made a grab for bag before directing his hardened gaze back on Snow… She wasn’t looking at him and it was just about enough to give rise to his already agitated state of mind and make him charge the vehicle like a frenzied bull elephant trying to scare the shit out of tourists on an African safari.

“I couldn’t find any vegetables.” She said, completely oblivious to way he’d crushed the empty pack in his strenuous grasp and moved close enough that he was pressing his knees into the door of the car. “But it’s only March so, I don’t think anyone would have tried planting gardens in their window boxes… Oh, but I found some seeds. Maybe with some soil we could start growing-”

“You weren’t supposed to just…” He started in a rasp, still holding that deformed backpack and furrowing his brows. “You could’ve...” His voice faltered a bit, the thought of that girl swinging above the streets flooding his mind and causing him to drop the pack, lean over the door and clench his eyes. “You shouldn’t have gone out there.”

“I know but-”

“But you did.” He growled, his gaze cutting to the back seat to see her pursing her lips, her brow set into a hard line as she narrowed her eyes and stared.

“Harrison, you’re…” With that habitual den-mother look of hers, she tensed her shoulders giving Harrison a brief warning that she was probably about to fire back and give him a good mind fucking… “You’re not eating, you’ve been having dizzy spells, you haven’t been sleeping-”

“And you run out there the second I do?” Harry snapped, bringing his hands to his head once more as if he needed to hold it together. Near frantic, he quickly ran a palm over his mouth before bending forward, gripping at the door of the Lincoln and grinding out, “I didn’t even know… I had no fucking clue.”

“If I woke you…” She paused, causing him to hold his breath and wait for whatever she was going to say next. “You would have stopped me.”

“Stopped you?” And with that, Harrison was violently groping at the car handle and ripping at the door, shoving himself inside the vehicle so quickly that Snow barely had enough time to bump up against the other side as he surged across the seat, one of his knees crushing up against her thigh as he pressed closer. “I’d have locked you in the trunk.”

Harrison’s voice had gone so low that it was practically scraping through his throat and based on Caitlin’s wide-eyed expression as she looked up at him, worried her bottom lip between her teeth and pushed her spine into the door, she had noticed the subtle change as his anger had started making an ascent to a new level… Regardless, instead of proceeding with caution, she gradually lowered her shoulders as if they were both having a casual discussion instead of sitting in some forgotten car that’d been abandoned in a stuffy garage after the rest of the world came crumbling down around them.

“You don’t scare me.”

He blinked then, suddenly realizing how close he was - how he’d caged her against the door after all but diving into the car and grappling at the backrests on either side of her head… With a tight jaw, Harrison’s grip slowly slacked away from the seat cushions before forcing himself to scoot just a few inches back, never taking his eyes off Caitlin as she leaned forward and placed her hand in the small space between them, her nails lightly scratching against the worn fabric of his jeans.

“You’re running on fumes…” She finally said, just as the silence had begun coiling around him and swallowing him whole like he was sinking into the belly of a python. “You can’t keep doing this by yourself.”

“You don’t get it…” He gnashed, barely breathing as he continued looking straight into those dangerously large eyes of hers. “You’re it, Snow… You’re the only other person in this world that I...” His words fell short because fuck, he didn’t know what he was going to say but whatever was there on the tip of his tongue suddenly felt too damning and he was sure as shit not going to thrust himself further in the realm of vulnerability if he could help it. “You’re it.” He said again, trying his hardest not to break her stare as if he could lay all his thoughts on her without actually having to say a word as long as she kept looking at him.

Caitlin seemed to understand because suddenly, she was nodding and sliding her hand across the seat until her knuckles curled against his leg, the pressure of that small touch yanking at his soul and causing a rough burst of air he didn’t realize he was holding to rush from his lungs.

“You should sleep.”

He snorted once, shaking his head and flashing a dry smile before looking toward the front of the car and rasping out a stubborn, “Not a fucking chance.”

“I won’t go anywhere.” She reasoned, pushing her knuckles harder against his leg and causing him to look at her again only to see one of those rapturous smiles spreading across her face. “Sleep.”

Harrison was the one who was beginning to feel caged because all of a sudden, Caitlin slipped just a bit closer, her hands no longer skimming his leg but now resting flat on his shoulders as she pulled herself to her knees to hover over him. It wasn’t until he felt her pushing down against him that he pitched sideways, his elbow dipping against the seat and now acting as the only thing keeping him upright. With another light nudge, Harry sunk further down, allowing her to take the lead and gently shove at him until he was finally lying flat on his back and staring up at her as she sat between his now open legs... Quickly weaving her hair into a long braid, Caitlin bent over him, her hands catching the leather on either side of his hips before wiggling herself into the small space between him and the backrest.

Swallowing down any nervousness at the very real promise of snuggling Caitlin Snow, Harrison lifted his arm and scooted just an inch to make room for her, successfully giving her a place to tuck her chin as she settled against his side and timidly curled her knee over the top of his thigh… It didn’t matter if half his body was hanging off the seat or if his legs were crunching at a weird angle in order to keep him from crushing Snow against the backrest, he was surprising more comfortable than he’d been since the start of this mismanaged shit show…

“I’m not going anywhere.” Was her quiet assurance as she planted her hand flat against his side and lifted her stare; her doe-eyed gaze capturing his and locking him down like a tractor beam pulling him in.

Harrison gave a low grunt and nodded once before directing his stare to the ceiling of the garage and focusing on Caitlin’s quiet breathing, the way the air expanded her lungs and set a soothing pressure against his ribs after every inhale.

Good girl...

Closing his eyes and finally giving into sleep as it came for him like death itself, Harrison tucked an arm under his head and vaguely pressed that much closer to Snow in order to feel the physicality of her presence as she nuzzled into his chest. And just as he was drifting off, he heard her say, “I’m sorry.”

“So am I.” He whispered, wishing he had been the first to say it.

Chapter Text

Finally tearing his eyes away from the Flash insignia on Snow’s backpack as it continuously winked at him from beneath of mess of dark curls, Harrison stopped in the middle of the aisle and began roving over the sparsely lined shelves with deft fingers. It didn’t matter if there was nothing left in that 7-Eleven to loot besides a few dusty cans of evaporated milk and whatever the hell else the other survivors in this city didn’t deem worthy enough to make off with because the stakes were higher now and it was getting harder to make runs or collect supplies, what with the patrols getting thicker… And the fact that there were more bodies hanging from practically every lamppost in the city didn’t help, almost as if Zoom and his army of metas were decorating the already wrecked streets of Central City by stringing up any survivors they’d found in order to make an example or send a message.

Hunching himself over and bracing his hands against the rack, Harry continued staring down at those cans with a pinched brow before grinding out a quick, “We should hurry.”

It wasn’t until Caitlin shot a quick glance over her shoulder, the weight of that oh so physical gaze causing Harrison to pull his eyes away from the shelves and meet her stare, only to find her forcing a smile for his benefit. He returned the gesture, barely lifting the corner of his mouth out of sheer obligation in order to keep her spirits up - keep her from spinning around and glomping him in the middle of the gas station just to have a heart to heart and rip him back from whatever dark apprehension that might have been dragging him under… He might have been uncharacteristically quiet ever since they stepped outside the safety of their garage but he was okay… He wasn’t great but he wasn’t sure if that was possible considering the situation both he and Snow had found themselves in.

This - this unsteady state of mind he was currently navigating through was about as close to emotional security as he was going to get… It wasn’t much but wherever he stood in regards to his fucked-up psyche, he was putting himself back together and he had her to thank for that. After she knocked out with him in the back of that Lincoln, he’d started trying again and that was all she really wanted because even if their world did seem hopeless, she wasn’t going to give him any excuses to quit.

Good girl…

Angling herself back around and stepping over glass shards from the shattered dairy freezer near the back of the store, Catlin dragged a hand over the debris-layered shelves as if she was casually looking for the latest can of strangely flavored Pringles...

“Are you hungry?” She asked, craning her neck back once more.

“Getting there…” He lied with a voice heavier than a sack of bricks before pushing himself away from the racks and setting a hard glare over the remaining cans of carnation.

Crossing her arms under her breasts and shooting him a calculated glance; her brows arching as she smirked and cocked her pretty little head, Caitlin came back with a very unconvinced, “Really?”

Harrison set his jaw and crouched down to search the lowermost shelf with a few bottles of leftover chocolate syrup lining the surface before quickly breathing out, “I’ll eat.”

And with that, she was twisting around and stepping over piles of debris and empty chip bags to make her way to the soda and dairy coolers at the backend of the station; her now dingy blue sneakers scuffing across fragments of broken glass as she went. It wasn’t until she was out of reach and finally rifling through the already sacked coolers that Harrison heard her say, “It’s too bad there’s nothing left… I’d kill for some ice cream.”

Harrison blinked, his fingers stilling over the bottled syrup as if he had to quit rustling around in order to snatch her mollifying voice and roll it though his mind - as if doing something as simple as talking about melted ice cream had a way of catching him off guard and keeping him pacified - as if whatever she said was about the be the best damn thing he’d had the pleasure of hearing in years.

“The grid’s been knocked out.” He finally managed as he gathered the syrup in a messy pile; a slow gulp making its way around his adam's apple. “And even if there was anything in those coolers, it’d be soup by now.”

“Don’t knock it.” She teased, huffing a small laugh. “Melted ice cream happens to be a luxury in our situation.”

Smirking a bit, Harry shook his head and quickly scooped the leftover bottles in his arms before mounting his stance and bringing them to the top shelf with the other remaining goods that managed to make it through what looked like multiple raids without getting snatched. “What flavor?”

“Chocolate.” She answered, and even though he wasn’t looking at her, he could practically hear the smile in her voice. “What about you?”

“Vanilla.”

“Figures…” She huffed, a small amount of playfulness breaking through her tone despite trying to sound annoyed. “I bet you take your coffee black too, don’t you?”

He snorted, barely registering that it was the first time since shit hit the fan that he’d let out a genuine expression that resembled happiness. “I don’t mind it.”

“I take lots of sugar in mine.”

Huffing again and shaking his head, Harrison sleeved over his mouth, efforting to scrub away at the ludicrous grin splitting his face in half before bending down and stacking the carnation cans into a disregarded shopping basket that’d been left on the floor… It wasn’t until he had the milk and syrup gathered in the mouth of that basket that something familiar about the awkward mixture started smoothing through his thoughts…

Quickly lifting his stare to find Caitlin digging around inside the belly of one of the freezers that had been long since stripped of its contents, Harry asked, “You like chocolate then?”

“Well, we’ve been living off candy bars for about two weeks and I haven’t complained.” She fired back with a happy little huff that somehow managed to make the hairs on his neck prickle and stand on end...

And with that, he was peeling at the top to one of the carnation containers and twisting the cap straight off a syrup bottle before pouring what looked like far too much chocolate into the can. Harrison held down the lid with a split thumb, that had yet to heal after smashing it in the back door of the Lincoln, and gave it a few firm shakes before muttering out, “Snow…”

Caitlin’s large eyes landed on him just in time to see him securing the cover and jerking his arm at her, gesturing for her to be ready catch…

“Think fast.” He warned before finally underhanding the can in her direction.

And seconds later, she was clapping her hands awkwardly around the tin, bits of evaporated milk splashing through the now bent lid and seeping into the jacket she still hadn’t given back…

“What is it?”

“It’s not ice cream but...” He started, tucking his grimy hands into his pockets and shrugging a shoulder; his voice getting caught in the back of his throat as if words suddenly didn’t work now that she was clutching that can and staring at him with a puckered brow. “But there.”

Digging a couple nails that had been broken and sparsely covered by the chipped remains of her red polish underneath the lid, she bent it away from the can and actually grinned before flicking those eyes back in his direction for the briefest moment, which caused him to drop his stare a bit, the feeling of her gaze as it roved over him making him feel susceptible to… Well, just susceptible.

But once he heard a subtle moan vibrate through her throat, he decided it was safe to shift his eyes back toward her… Much to his gratification, he found her exactly how he’d hoped; eyes fluttered to a close, tipping back and sucking down his strange concoction like it was the sweetest thing she’d ever tasted in her life.

Feeling a little braver now that she wasn’t watching him, his gaze fixated on her; landing against the scuff that had blemished her cheek last week after slipping on a greasy puddle that caused her to trip back, her face catching on the corner of a wooden work bench back at the garage, before allowing his eyes to float to the swell of her bottom lip as it puckered around the edge of the can…

Caitlin swallowed down a bit more before pulling away and tossing a very quick glance toward Harrison, which managed to set a strange chill over his skin that somehow made him feel too warm… Her large eyes seemed brighter than before and suddenly, he realized she was grinning about at wide as the cheshire cat; a subtle crinkling of laughter lines creasing around her mouth and eyes.

“It’s good.” She finally said, taking a step forward and holding the tin is his direction. “Do you want some?”

Harrison forced an indistinct smile because maybe, for once in this damn fallout, he’d done something right - something good. He’d done something that made her happy and that was enough to convince him that peeling himself out of the backseat of that Lincoln was the right choice this morning.

“Okay.” He gruffed, his voice a little thicker than before as he stepped closer and made to reach for the can.

Harrison pulled the strap of Caitlin’s backpack over his shoulder and stalked barefoot through the carpeted hallway before pushing into the garage… He wasn’t sure how she managed to find clean clothing, razors, soap and toothpaste on her last solo run - the one that had him doing back flips through the city - but he couldn’t be bothered to care after getting a shot at a fresh shirt and a clean shave. And after batting his way through a plethora of hanging, wet clothes that they’d taken turns scrubbing down, he found her leaning against the tire of the Lincoln, ankles crossed and clad in a loose tank and a pair of leggings, penciling at a Sudoku book she’d picked up at some forgotten shop.

“Hey.” She began easily after he dropped the package of razors and Flash bag at her feet. “Good to see your face again.”

Harrison huffed, mindlessly running the pads of his fingers over his now smooth jaw before easing himself down to her level and hunching over his legs. “That was overdue.”

“It wasn’t as bad as you think.” She commented, flipping up her knees and jotting a couple more numbers down into her book.

A low humph buzzed through his throat before he dropped his stare to his lap and fixated on an oil stained patch over the worn denim covering his thigh… He frowned then, his fingers flicking at the dried smear that kept flaking off in the form of crusty red layers before stilling his nail in mid-scrap and realizing it was actually a brittled splotch of blood. With that, Harrison pulled away and set his hands at his side, unsure as to whether the blood was his or-

“You know, I don’t mind washing your jeans.”

With his head jerking toward her, he had to stop himself from making an involuntary move for his belt because of course he wanted his jeans washed… Burned even, what with the sheets of filth soaking through the once thick fabric and sticking to his legs like dried slime but it happened to be his only pair and he wasn’t sure if he was comfortable with prowling around the garage in nothing but his underwear. “What?”

“Your jeans…” She repeated, her large dark eyes pulling away from the page as she folded her book and leaned over her legs; her eyes charting a course over his face. Quickly flicking her pen toward his lower half, she gestured to his pants and chuckled out, “They’re pretty gross.”

He scoffed… “Yours weren’t too great either.”

“Which is why I washed them.” Came her quick response as she smirked and snapped her pen toward the makeshift clothesline over Harrison’s shoulder.

There was a beat of silence that ticked between them as he continued staring at her; her pen now lowed to his pants once more as her arm curled lazily over her knees, waiting for him to make a move for his fly. So, with a set jaw and a brow that had started to furrow, Harrison finally shifted forward to press his palm flat against the garage floor while the fingers of his other hand made to tug at his belt.

On any other day in his life, he probably would have been able to smoothly unfasten the buckle, work at the button and zipper with ease, and slide his pants down his legs but this wasn’t a typical situation where he was shucking himself out of his jeans to do something as easy as jump in the shower because instead of Caitlin immersing herself back in her game book and giving him the privacy he needed to undress, she was watching him, elbows braced on her knees and chin resting in her hands. So, naturally he’d felt the need to avert his eyes as if he was the one disturbing her. It didn’t help that she gave a low snort after he’d had entirely too much trouble ridding his belt and ended up getting stuck on his own zipper before awkwardly climbing to his knees to make a shit attempt at pulling jeans below his hips.

By the time he was finally free, resting back on his hind and kicking his pants off his ankles, he lifted his gaze away from the pile of denim between them only to find her stare surrounding him - warm and fresh like a dusting of spring rain covering a winter-beaten patch of earth. It was nothing out of the ordinary considering how much she been watching him over the course of this hellish venture but when his eyes fell to her mouth, he caught a glimpse of teeth and quickly realized she was chewing at her bottom lip. And that wouldn’t have bothered him if it was anyone but her… If that didn’t mean she had something scratching through her mind like a cat sharpening its claws.

“Are you alright?”

She blinked and quickly straightened her spine against the tire before forcing a slow nod. “Fine. Just… It’s nothing.”

Snow shook her head and shifted in order to bend forward to make a grab for his discarded pants but the instant her fingers curled into the grimy denim, Harrison’s arm shot forward; his hand gripping tight against the back pocket of his jeans and holding her from pulling back. Her eyes snapped over him with enough speed to pull him into a hard reality - enough weight to make his shoulders hunch and his grip ease off the fabric of his pants because yes, there was something wrong but he was sure it had nothing to do with the fact that he was sitting across from her in his underwear and if he had thought before acting on instinct, he wouldn’t have done this. He wouldn’t have made that grab and forced her attention like a dog prematurely snapping at stick it’s owner had intended to throw for sport.

Blinking and dropping his eyes to the hand holding fast to his pants, he relaxed his grip and watched the color flow back into the digits that had been desperately white-knuckling against his jeans… But it wasn’t until she moved that Harrison realized her thumb was brushing the tops of his fingers, her nail digging against the dirty fabric between them and scraping off a layer of grime with each pass. She’d probably intended for that soft graze to be soothing but instead of calming him down, it had a way of setting him on edge and highlighting a strange sense of impotence that made him want to drop face first against the garage floor and beg for her to do her worst.

Harrison bit down on his bottom lip and frowned, taking note to exactly how old and large his hand looked in comparison to hers and strangely enough, it startled him for reasons he couldn’t place.

“Harrison?” She finally said, tipping her head to catch his carefully averted gaze and waiting with baited breath for him to actually respond.

At that, his hand slid away from the pocket of his jeans and away from her gliding touch as she continuously tried brushing his knuckles with the pad of her thumb before pushing himself back upright and bolting his eyes to the floor. This was supposed to be about her but somehow, in the midst of this nightmare, she’d turned the tables on him again and made his comfort her main priority…

“Something’s wrong.” He finally forced out, lifting his stare until at length, her eyes were once again sucking him down in a way that made him feel like he was caught in a riptide. “I just don’t want you to think you can’t…”

He wasn’t sure what he wanted to say but he knew he was tired of being the weakest link in their chain of two. Sure, he’d gotten food, found shelter, and even made a pisspoor attempted at getting her out of the city but it was all temporary… At the end of the day he didn’t have much in regards to contribution for survival despite his past experiences on Earth-2 - despite fighting in a war… Central City had been reduced to a combat zone and Harry was no stranger to being on the frontline but the skills he’d learned from war didn’t mean shit if the circumstances were different - didn’t mean shit if he was powerless, defenseless, and running through piles of bodies and debris with a pretty little thing that had a way of making him vulnerable and stripping him bare with a single glance.

“I don’t want you to think you can’t talk to me…” He tried again, sucking in air like he hadn’t had the luxury of breathing in years. “I know I haven’t been-”

“No, Harrison… No.” She cut, shaking her head and pulling back before crumpling his soiled jeans into her lap. “It’s not you.”

“Okay…” With a now scrunched brow and a very forced smile that only lasted for a moment, he nodded and asked, “What is it?”

At that she began biting at her lip again, which managed to make Harrison’s jaw tighten through awkward fits of anticipation… “A few weeks ago, back at that store when Leith had you on the ground… He could’ve killed you.”

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, giving her words the right of way to smooth through his mind. “I remember.”

There was an uncomfortable silence settling though the garage, the kind that had a way of curling around him and clinging to his skin like a set of teeth sinking into prey that had been recently maimed and toyed with for the benefit of the predator. By the time his eyes were open, he was met with the unwelcome sight of Caitlin’s heartbroken stare narrowing… “You would've died for me that day.”

It wasn't a question…

Harrison’s lids, suddenly heavy as if lead weights had been attached to them, shuttered a bit before he flexed his jaw and frowned, his stare all but fastening to her. “Yes.”

“You made that decision when you saw them across the street, didn’t you?”

Furrowing his brow and sucking his tongue against the roof of his mouth, he nodded and said, “I made that decision when you ran in front of my car.”

Pursing her lips, he watched her brows draw into a hard line and whether or not he was ready to hear it, she said, “I’d die for you too.”

And with that damning bit of information, Harrison clenched his eyes because fuck, that could have been the worst thing she’d ever said to him… Like time had suddenly frozen - something that was only meant to last a moment went on forever as he worked himself through that horrifying statement. It was one thing for him to make that choice the night he nearly pancaked her with that damn car - make that choice without knowing how he would go down or why he was willing to die for a girl he barely knew but for her to make the same decision was enough to have his heart slamming against his ribs at a velocity that was almost painful.

With a low rustling that echoed through the garage, Harrison opened his eyes to find Caitlin clutching his pants to her chest and pulling to her feet with the aim of making for her bucket of murky water to wash the blood and dirt away from his jeans. She didn’t get very far of course, not with him scuffing around on the floor in nothing but a tee and a pair of dark boxer-briefs that suddenly felt too revealing and grinding out a rough, “Snow…”

She stopped then, still clinging to his pants and turning just enough for her doe-eyed stare to cover him once more. And there was that smile again, a little less than happy this time but still shining brighter than a cluster of stars even without the flash of her teeth.

If there was a moment he could determine more unnerving than having the barrel of a gun shoved down his throat and being slammed to a ground by a wolf-meta, this was it because whatever he was going to say next, had the power to damn him further than Zoom ever could and that was enough to make his head throb. So, swallowing down the dry patch that had suddenly begun to spread through his throat, he pinned her with a stare that was nothing short of severe before finally forcing himself to say, “I want you to live for me.”

Her eyes grew impossibly larger - something he was beginning to realize she had the ability to do no matter how broad they already seemed before he allowed the dark of her pretty irises to snatch his stare, hold him in place and force his eyes to meet hers. And almost as if it was an impossible request, Caitlin’s mouth fell open like she had intended to rebuttal him but instead of actually making a point to argue, she settled for, “I know.”

At that, Harrison dropped his head and set his eyes back on the ground before nodding once and listening to her footsteps draw further and further away as she made her way across the garage.

It could have been the sound of the rain as it tapered off through the broken windows near the garage door or the way Caitlin’s bangs tickled his nose after sucking in a deep inhale; his mouth subconsciously drawing near her forehead while she slept quietly at his side and swept her fingers down his ribcage but whatever the reason, he couldn’t seem to catch any sleep and it didn’t bother him, not even with his arm cramping and folded beneath Snow’s head and his legs making a slow slide onto the floor of the Lincoln. There was something strangely paradoxical about finding peace in the middle of the night when meta-humans were prowling the streets of a city that had been torn to shreds but, as uncomfortable as it was, there was nothing more settling than having Caitlin Snow pressed at his side, feeding off his warmth and bending her legs around his thigh.

Good girl...

With a faint smile, Wells closed his eyes a breathed her in, allowing that smell to burn an unforgiving path through his nostrils - allowing that smell to root into his chest and build a home  inside his lungs before pushing in resting his cheek over her head, content to lie awake and continue taking in her scent with every pass of breath expanding through his torso. It didn’t matter if he’d be tired and useless by sunrise, because there was an irrepressible solace that came with being lost with her and it had a way of illuminating his senses… It had a way of keeping him from falling asleep just so he could let his thoughts slip away and continue focusing on the quiet rush of her breath as it fell over his neck like the warmth of a summer breeze.

And for the first time since he hopped through the breach and landed on this earth, he was finally giving himself the luxury of relaxation… That is, until he heard glass shattering from somewhere down the hallway after what he could only assume was someone swinging a dense object into the large window out front.

Fuck...

Chapter Text

If there was one thing Harrison hated more than feeling like this entire shit storm was his fault, it was the look on Snow’s face when she knew he was vulnerable or hurt or just plain scared shitless and with her big, bright eyes latching onto him as he pulled his cold, damp jeans over his hips and worked at the button with uncoordinated thumbs, he was uncomfortably aware that this was one of those times. He tried not to notice the way she tugged her bottom lip between her teeth and definitely tried not to notice how her bare feet timidly touched down against the cool floor of the garage as she slid out of the car and pushed her trembling limbs through the sleeves of her now clean blouse like she was getting ready for something - something he couldn’t shield her from no matter how much effort he was willing to put into whatever was coming next.

Biting the inside of his cheek and finally forcing himself to tear his eyes away from that stare of hers, he gripped the zipper of his jeans and quickly shoved a foot into one of his boots before tossing a glance over his shoulder and getting a good look at the still-closed door that lead into the business section of the mechanic shop. It was clear for now… And that was good enough for him to assess his next move before rushing out there like some insipid piece of shit who was on the verge of losing his mind and willing to crack the skull that had busted the front window of his carefully guarded burrow. And after finally maging to push his heel flat into the sole of his shoe, he quickly tipped his other kick upright with his toes and yanked at his zipper, almost tripping in the process of squeezing his un-socked foot into the mouth of his boot.

He was nearly righted after slamming his foot fully into his shoe and even crouched down to tie the laces off as quickly as possible but before he even made a grab for the strings, he heard, “Do you think it’s Leith?”

Harrison paused and let Caitlin's voice roll through his eardrums and fix itself there like an unwanted pest that immediately caused him to clinch his eyes… Leith had already entered his mind and it worried him in a way that sunk into his skin and settled bone deep, making the joints flare with pain each and every time that damn meta floated through his memory. There was even a groundless part of his fucked-up thought process that had him going on defense and making plans to run through the hallway with as much noise as possible and dart out into the rain in order to draw any potential threats away from this garage and away from her.

“No…” He finally rasped before opening his eyes and turning his stare back on Snow. “I don’t.”

She gave an unconvinced smile and nodded before letting her eyes fall to the ground… He wasn’t fooling anyone, including himself, and knew full well that whatever had busted into the shop was sure to be an enemy meta and was more than likely going to be Leith… It’d been weeks since that first encounter and if Harrison knew anything about wolves, he knew they were good hunters and they were territorial. And Leith being sharper than the average knife didn’t help matters much, what with Snow’s scent dying off somewhere outside the shop and suddenly getting masked by gasoline… If they were working with an actual animal, that might have been enough to keep it fooled but the fact of the matter was, there was human intelligence that had been put into play and thinking that they were safe to live in that garage for the rest of their miserable lives was just about the dumbest thing Harrison had ever done.

He knew better than that… But there was something about having Caitlin with him that took the edge off of this entire shit show and whether or not that made him feel like he had something holding him upright - anchoring his sanity and keeping his feet steady, it didn’t give him an excuse to get comfortable.

“What are we going to do?”

“I don't know…” He blurted, not failing to miss the way her brows buckled and her shoulders tensed as if that was the one answer she couldn't bear to hear. And with her eyes fluttering toward the floor, Harry tacked on a quick, “Yet…”

Caitlin’s stare found him once more, her eyes dragging slowly from one end of his face to the other as if she was looking for a tell-tale sign that he was lying, working through his own self-doubt and telling her exactly what she wanted to hear just to keep her optimism alive… Preserve the Caitlin Snow he once knew, the one he met after hopping through the breach, the one with so much light and understanding and just keep her as she was. Perfect… Fucking perfect.

Holding her gaze for what felt like an eternity, Harrison finally dropped his eyes back to his boots and began lacing the ties, still feeling the light from her overwhelming stare as it traveled over the tired lines of his face and down the slopes of his tensing shoulders… “I'll be right back.”

“Promise…” Her voice was lower than what he was used to hearing and without a pause, his eyes involuntarily flicked to her face once more.

It wasn't a question and no matter how gentle it may have seemed, she was giving him an order. No matter how juvenile or how futile it might have been, she was taking a jab at his safety and giving him a mission… Whether she realized it or not, she had sounded an alarm in his mucked up mind… He wasn't allowed to do anything stupid because no matter how much he wanted to keep her safe, she needed him just as much as he needed her.

Bending forward and extending one of her narrow arms in his direction, she repeated, “Promise.”

It was firmer this time, causing him to swallow down the lump in his throat and breathe around the painful swell bubbling through his chest… Shaking his head, his lips drew into a hard line, the action causing her fingers to flex further out as she continued reaching for him; her teeth pinching that pretty lip of hers once more as she watched him with desolate eyes.

“Harrison.” Her voice filled his ears in the form of a plea, raw and desperate and all too familiar to him, the sound causing his chest to curl in on itself as if someone had punched right through his rib cage.

His stare dropped to her hand and before he could stop himself, he was pushing forward to grab at her wrist and at the cost of his soul, Harrison held her in place and scooted closer; the scuff of his boot against the concrete below suddenly too loud as he tipped his upper body and lowered his forehead to her palm like a loyal dog that was seeking approval from its master.

“I promise.” And regardless of the outcome of this next trial, he meant it. “I swear, I…”

With her fingers curling over his forehead, the tips dragging soothing patterns along his brow line, he closed his eyes and relished in the feel of her touch, hoping that somehow, she could draw everything he couldn't say out of his mind and keep it for herself if God forbid he couldn't keep that promise… So, practically pulling her out of the car, he tugged at her arm, pressed closer and clenched his jaw hard enough to make his teeth throb.

“I'll do anything you want.”

“You better…” Came her hard response as she gave a playful yank at the wild mess of hair above his forehead and pulled out of his grip.

And with the image her of her burned into the back of his lids, Harrison was mounting a slow stance and moving toward the hallway, not daring to look back because somehow, he knew getting pulled into her gaze again would damn them both and make it harder for him to leave.

The patter of rain was suddenly much louder than before now that the front window had been busted into a million pieces; wet droplets splattering onto the now saturated carpet and creating puddles just beneath the large frame where the glass had once been… And with the roll of thunder and bright flares of luminosity glaring an unforgiving path through the office, what with all the lightning, Harrison took a deep breath and pressed his back flat against the wall of the hallway before slowly peering around the corner to get a look at whoever was lurking throughout the shop’s waiting area.

Save for a few shadows playing tricks on his mind, he didn't see anything and if it hadn't been for that loud crash that drew him out of the backseat of the Lincoln, he might have been able to pass the entire thing off as debris from the storm… But it wasn't. It didn't take a genius to see that, not with all the glass that had been shattered inward; almost deliberately as if someone had been desperate to seek refuge in his den without questioning if it was already inhabited.

With clenched eyes, Harrison listened, doing everything in his control to drown out the sound of rain and thunder and give his full attention to anything else that might have been hiding in that shop; somewhere between the rows of chairs or even behind the counter. And to his horror, he didn't hear anything…

He wasn't crazy… He might have been by now if it hadn't been for Caitlin but as far as he knew, even if he'd slipped a couple of times, he was entirely sane and it made it that much worse knowing that someone, either starving and desperate or working for Zoom, was about to change his already altered life… Again. And that would have been bearable if wasn't for Snow and her perfect stare - her and all the pretty that came with her in the blaring contrast of everything she was compared to the way things were now.

But then, with Harrison's breath catching in his lungs and his eyes popping open, he heard it… It was low, deep and barely audible with the storm whipping through the now exposed shop but it was there and it was definitely male.

Harry let his grip turn white around the cast iron monkey wrench in his hand before crouching himself down and bracing his weight on the balls of his feet, listening carefully as that fucktard groaned around a fit of pain and began lumbering clumsily through the lobby; bumping around and all but growling after he'd slammed his knees into the checkout counter.

“Fucking hell…” He muttered, his tone biting and deep like a frenzied grizzly.

Whoever he was, based on the way he moved and the sound of his voice, he was big and whether he was hostile or not, Harrison didn't wanna give him the benefit of the doubt and chance getting ripped in half and leaving Snow to fend for herself.

At the thought of Snow being left alone with this new threat, an oncoming swell nausea stabbed at Harry's gut and suddenly, with tremors running through his leading arm, he reared back and waited for whoever the fuck it was to stumble awkwardly around the corner; using the darkness and his low vantage in the hope of gaining enough edge to thrust upward, clock him in the jaw, and knock him out cold… And once that large silhouette finally made its way through the shop and started for the hallway, Harrison drew in a deliberate breath and let it sink into his lungs before taking note to exactly what he was up against now that this stranger was in full view. Even through the obscurity, it was horrifically clear that the man lumbering toward him was a about twice as broad as Harry, and to make things that much harder, he was practically a tower, what with his rough height of six-four. On the brighter side of things, he was limping and grappling at his side with a set of meaty hands and there it was… The Achilles heel.

Harrison finally let out that breath he was holding and locked onto the spot near the man's ribs, making a note to all the weak points he could use against this intruder if things started spiraling out of control. Then, with another step in Harrison’s direction, he tensed and began mentally counting down from five as he continued watching him hobble that much closer…

Five… Four… Three… Two…

“One!”  Came Harry's harsh snap as he shot up and threw as much weight as he could muster into his swing; the heavy end of his wrench clocking into the bone of his jaw and knocking him flat on his ass…

Stunned but still conscious, the stranger barely managed to lock his dazed stare on Harrison’s face before another blow made an almost sickening clap against his temple and sent him to the ground. It was only seconds after he quit moving all together that Harry loosened his grip on the wrench and felt the warmth of blood flow moving back through his calloused fingers.

“Fuck.” He grit, clenching his teeth as he glared down at the now unconscious man lying on the dirty carpet under his feet. “Fuck…”

“You wanna just…” Caitlin's started as she ripped her eyes away from their newly captured prisoner, who was still out cold, to turn her attention back on Harrison… “You wanna kill him?”

With his eyes drifting to a close, he tipped his head toward the ground and let an exhale drag through his nostrils before pinning snow beneath a very serious stare; his hands curling tighter around the neck of a pry bar he'd found after managing to zip tie their new friend to one of the lobby chairs he'd dragged into the garage.

“I didn't say that…” He rasped, his tone hardly above a whisper.

“You didn't have to.” Came her sharp retort as her eyes dipped to the pry bar. Another sigh ripped through Harrison’s throat and he made to formulate some sort of response but before he could get a word out, Snow growled, “Why? How does that help us?”

At that, Harry glared and bit back, “We don't know what he wants. He could-”

“He wants shelter… And a place to recover from whatever happened to him out there.” She snapped, her eyes narrowing into slits before turning back around to continue prodding at his busted head. “And on top of all his other injuries, he's probably got a concussion now too.”

Harry watched Caitlin turn a set of very cold eyes back to his face and without flinching, he ground out, “I'm not going to apologize for keeping you safe.”

With that, Snow’s mouth snapped to a close before buckling her brows together and tucking a wavy lock of hair behind her ear. The harshness in her eyes and the way she suddenly didn't have anything to say set another alarm off in Harrison’s head; her pretty gaze drifting from one end of his face to the other before he allowed a gulp to run down his drying throat… No, he wasn't exactly the moral compass in their team of two but she knew that… With all the other decisions he'd made long before this fucking fallout, she had to. Or if she didn't, she was now very aware that he was willing to be the one to sell pieces of his humanity in exchange for their safety. And if that prick hadn't been rendered into a lifeless piece of meat after that second hit, Harrison wouldn't have lost sleep over taking things up a notch and doing whatever needed to be done.

“I'm not sorry.” He said again, this time with enough conviction to melt the hard lines running through her brows and make her tilt her head to the side as if she was starting to put something together - put a few more pieces of his chaotic puzzle in place.

“So…?” She finally said, her voice a little softer now as if she was worried anything more than that would make him startle and bolt for the storm. “You'd die for me and you'd kill for me… Is that even worth it?”

And with that alarm sounding off again, louder now and all but robbing him of his ability to think straight, he somehow managed to breathe, “More than you’ll ever know.”

He could almost see his words find her ears, the way they drifted into her head and made her eyes screw shut as if they'd been something physical digging into the bed of her drums. And almost immediately after he'd said them out loud, Harrison felt a strange pressure pushing at his chest in a way that made it difficult for him the breathe.

“Why?”

Her whisper came so quickly that he wasn't sure if he'd heard it or not… So, instead of answering her, he stared and tethered his weight on the door of their car, not caring that he'd dented it after accidentally smacking his pry bar against the side of the vehicle with a sharp pop. But she had a way of catching him off guard and scaring him shitless when she wanted to and that would have been okay if it didn't make him feel like she'd just fucked him silly with her words, or her stare, or any other seemingly simple thing she'd been using against him ever since he picked her up in that God forsaken parking lot.

“Tell me why.” She said again.

Despite how gentle her voice seemed, he was staring at her with his mouth parted as if she somehow managed to kick him in the skull with those few syllables. Now holding his breath and remaining as still as his trembling limbs would allow, he waited until finally, she took a slow step toward him, causing his chin to dip to his chest in order to break away from that condemning stare of hers.

And just when he thought she couldn't break him any further, she was suddenly right there; the toes of her blue sneakers touching the end of his boots before feeling her fingers curl into the fabric covering his stomach and causing his abdomen to sink inward as he exhaled.

“I can't… I...” He started with his eyes pinching shut, unsure exactly how she'd gotten him to start talking in circles after he'd made the decision to keep his mouth shut.

“It's okay.” She soothed. “You can tell me.”

Fuck…

“I can't…” He said once more, now pressing his backend into the car as if he could somehow phase through the solidity of it and sink into the backseat.

“Can't what?”

Harry shook his head and forced his eyes away from their feet before finding her big gaze and letting it wrap him up in one disturbingly smooth motion. And as if looking into her eyes was some strange form of reverse astronomy; her gaze an unmapped constellation for him to explore but somehow managing to chart his course rather than the other way around, Harrison gripped at the side of the car and tilted toward her until his forehead touched down against her hairline.

“I can't lose anyone else.” Came his low assertion as he closed his eyes and breathed her in. “I can't… And if that means I have to make hard decisions… Nothing is going to stop me from defending your every breath.”

Caitlin’s knuckles pressed into the smooth expanse of his stomach through his shirt, causing every fracture in him shatter into a million pieces and without thinking, he sank forward; allowing her to step between his parted feet and wrap her limbs around his waist. It didn't take very long after that, not with him slumping into her embrace… His arms were twisting around her shoulders and gathering her against his chest before he realized how close she was and exactly how good and warm she felt as she pressed into him.

Good girl…

“Well, well…” Started a deep voice from somewhere over Caitlin's shoulder, smooth and heavy, causing Wells’ hands to wrap tighter against her before snapping his stare toward the chair where he'd tied their intruder. “Not that I  didn't find that absolutely adorable but, I've got a tight schedule to keep and these...” He growled, the contrast of his dark wrists wrenching against the bright-white of his zip ties drawing Harrison's gaze. “These are a bit of setback.”

Chapter Text

“I already told you, chief… I'm a member of the Imperial Senate on a diplomatic mission to Alderaan.” Came the growl of whoever the fuck he was as his dark eyes fastened to Harrison with lethal intent. “My name is Lucas Bauer and I'm looking for my daughter, you prick! Turn me loose!” 

Arms crossed and teeth grinding in a circular motion, Harrison glared and sucked in a breath through his nostrils before tilting his head to the side to regard his prisoner... With his large shoulders hunching forward and his angered stare locking onto Wells like he was about to become Bauer’s next meal, a sobering chill ran up Harrison’s spine at the very real possibility of this man breaking free and ripping his head right off his shoulders. And even with what looked to be a gaping wound near his ribs and the limp that did little to hinder him, Harry wasn’t sure that if the circumstances had been different, and if he wasn’t able to jump him in the dark with a monkey wrench punching into his jaw, the odds of winning a fight against one Lucas Bauer would have played in his favor.

Setting his jaw and shooting a look over his shoulder, Harry’s eyes landed on Caitlin who was leaning against the Lincoln and all but chewing her lip right off her face as she watched him interact with Lucas… Fuck… Now what? It wasn’t that Caitlin was helpless but if something were to go wrong, he knew Bauer would make quick work of her if it came to that and that little thought had him wanting to drop on all fours and start cracking his skull against the concrete. 

“If I were anything more than a common civilian, don't you think I would have broken free and snapped you in half by now?” Lucas bit, causing Wells to jerk his stare away from Snow and pin Bauer with a now dangerous glare. “Think on it, chief… If I were a meta, I'd have been through these ties and well on my merry way. I don't give a damn whether or not you two are on the run or hiding out, I just want my daughter back.” 

With his eyes clenching to a close, Harrison let that final statement roll through his ears and anchor somewhere in the repressed corners of his mind before snapping his lids open and staring at Bauer. He shook his head then, his lips pursuing into a hard line before furrowing his brows and withstanding the unwelcome sensation of his heart repeatedly smacking into his ribcage… Assuming this asshole was telling the truth, he knew what that was like; losing someone, a daughter, and if it hadn't been for that, Harry might have killed him by now because unlike Barry Allen and the rest of team Flash, he wasn't in the business of optimism and second chances. 

So, instead of asking anymore questions or pressing for a detailed history on where he was during the fall of Central City, Harrison cleared his throat and took a short step back before turning toward the Lincoln once more and grinding out a slow, “Snow…” 

At that, her large eyes swept away from Lucas to pin him… And with her shoulders squaring and her hands pressing into the side of the car as if she expected him to chuck his pry bar at her skull, she pursed her lips and waited until he finally managed to jerk his head in the direction of the hallway. A moment later she was hesitantly pushing herself away from the vehicle, her quick glance catching on Lucas as she made her way toward Harry with awkward steps that seemed far too heavy for her.

And once they'd reached the door, Harry tore his eyes away from Bauer and settled his stare on Caitlin to find that she was still chewing at that lip of hers, which made him want nothing more than to pinch it between his fingertips and pull it free of her teeth for reasons he didn't want to think about… All he knew was, he didn't like the idea of her being worried; the visual of her gnawing at her own mouth and causing a bubble of anxiety to fill his chest. 

Drawing in a deep breath and forcing his hand forward, Harry eased a light grip around Caitlin's arm in order to pull her attention away from Lucas so she could focus on him before managing to whisper, “He can't stay here.” 

“Oh…” She breathed, tilting her head and narrowing her gaze as she continued watching him with now confused eyes. “So, were you just going to cut him loose or...?” 

At that, Harry dropped his stare to the ground between them and sucked in a breath that managed to burn a path down his throat and into his lungs like the raging inferno of a forest fire that had been blown out of control. “No…” 

Puffing out that very same breath and flicking a set of heavy eyes back on Caitlin's face, he found her and that enthralling stare of hers; the weight of it almost maddening as she worked through the undertones of whatever he was trying to tell her before her expression landed on a scowl. 

“You can't…” She growled, pulling her arm out of his grasp. “You can't.”

“Snow…” He tried, his voice barely audible, causing her to lean forward just to catch whatever he was going to say next. “We can’t just let him go. He could be lying… We can’t chance this. He might know who I am and if-” 

“How do you know?” Came her all but desperate response, her eyes fluttering to a brief close before landing back on him and pulling him in like some magnetic force that somehow managed to rob him of any coherent thought each and every time she looked at him. 

He blinked then, his head tilting to the side before asking, “What?” 

“How do you know?” She tried again, her voice growing an octave louder now that she was starting on that fast-paced rise to panic.

Harry shook his head, his brows buckling before rasping, “ I don’t… I…” Snapping his mouth shut and letting the uncertainty of her stare consume him, he pinched the inside of his cheek with his teeth and tried for, “But I know what I’m doing.” 

“Do you?” Caitlin snipped, the seriousness in her tone all but grabbing him by the scruff and forcing his shoulders to bend forward as if to show signs of submission and keep her from socking him in the mouth. “You don’t think your perception’s been a little foggy?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

With her lips drawing into a hard line, Caitlin said, “You haven’t exactly been at one hundred percent lately.”

At that, Harrison glared and snarled out, “That’s not fair.”

“Fair to him or fair to you?” 

And as if she’d just tried knocking the ice right off his bones, an angry shudder ran up his spine before he swiped a hand over his mouth and growled, “This isn’t up for debate.”

Turning just a bit and directing his attention back on Bauer, Harrison made to stalk for him but before he could take a single step, Caitlin’s hands were wrapping around his wrist and pulling him back with a strength he never knew she possessed. She'd either gotten stronger or he'd gotten weaker, regardless, the resilience in her grip had him thrown off guard and jerking back around to face her with a set of wide eyes. 

It was then, with her pitching closer and curling her long fingers into the fabric near his collarbone to tug him lower, that he realized just how short she was compared to his height. And after her pert nose touched the tip of his chin, he swallowed around his adam’s apple and let his eyes drift to a close just so he could concentrate on anything other than her overwhelming proximity.

“You do what I say, remember?” She started, her warm breath ghosting over his throat and giving rise to an irrepressible urge to let himself fall forward just to feel her pushing up against him and holding him upright. “You promised, you’d do whatever I wanted.”

“This is different…” He gruffed, not daring to open his eyes as her fingers twisted further into his shirt. “Snow, this is so different.”

“He stays.” Came her firm response, tugging him a little closer as if she intended to yank him around just to prove a point. “Until I say otherwise, he stays.”

“We…” Harrison tried, now forcing his eyes open and getting a grasp on just how close Caitlin actually was; the way her lips curved, the line of her long lashes as they framed her lids and dusted her cheeks every time she blinked. “We can’t afford to make a mistake. We can’t...”

“And we can’t afford lose who we were before all of this.” She said, her hand now sliding down his chest and causing it to sink in on itself as if she’d popped his lungs and let a gush toxic of air burst through his now gaping mouth. “Please, Harry… How do you know he can't help us? How do you know he isn't good…? Please.”

Shutting his eyes again, Harrison drew in another breath and clenched his jaw before stepping forward just to feel the weight of her palm flattening against his chest… He supposed it was due to the difference in their ages; a young heart’s perception of the world, full of unimaginable light and hope in the future, in comparison to an old soul that was too tired and too broken to give a damn about anything other than self preservation. But with every heartbeat she had left, as long as she was with him, he was beginning to understand that she was trying to soften his edges and keep him human for whatever it was worth. And he wasn’t sure if being her project should have offended him or not but whatever the case, the thought of her putting that much effort into his fragmented soul had him wanting to rearrange the stars and pull them down to where she stood.

“Whatever you want…” He finally managed through a tone that damn near clawed it's way up his throat. “I'll give you whatever you want.”

And with that, Caitlin pulled back with a slow smile, her hand sliding down his torso before retracting contact all together and stepped around Harrison to start for Bauer, who by all appearances had been watching the pair of them with a set of hard eyes…

“Hi…” She started in that sweet way of hers, causing Harrison to grit his teeth as he turned and watched her step closer to Bauer’s chair.

“Hello, lovely.” Lucas answered, flashing his teeth and tilting his head back to get a better look at her as she neared.

“Do you mind if I take a look at your injuries?” Came her next question, slow and gentle as if she was testing his aggression levels.

“Why would a pretty bird like you want to do something like that?”

“Well, lucky for you, I happen to be a doctor.” She teased with a smile that made Harry's heart start punching into his chest.

“As long as it's okay with chief over there…” Lucas snarked with a voice deep and luring, shooting Harrison a not so innocent smirk. “I wouldn't mind one bit.” 

And to Harrison’s surprise, Caitlin tossed one of those wreck worthy smiles over her shoulder that made him feel like he'd just had pieces of his soul sucked through his lungs before asking, “Do you mind?”

As if he had a choice, what with that good as gold expression lifting an invisible weight off his shoulders and giving him more backbone than what he knew what to do with, Harry crossed his arms over his chest and gave a mirthless snort before saying, “Anything you want…”

“You’re him, right?” Lucas began, causing Harrison’s eyes to flick away from the cold can of beans in his lap before finding the smug grin that had been seemingly painted on Bauer face as if he were a one-man clown sideshow at circus that had been meant to entertain crowds waiting in line to purchase admission. “You’re Harrison Wells, aren't you…”

Taking a deep breath that flared his nostrils too far, Harry dropped his gaze back to the tin of beans and spooned out another heap to shove in Lucas’ face before gruffing a low, “No.”

With a hum, Lucas bent his head forward and took a bite from Harry's spoon, his dark eyes catching movement elsewhere in the garage and flicking somewhere over his captors shoulder as he pulled away with a mouthful, causing Harrison’s neck muscles to lockup at the realization of what, or rather who he'd suddenly found fascinating enough to draw his gaze.

“Stop looking at her.” Came Harrison's all but baleful snarl, his voice dipping a register lower than even he was able to recognize.

“Easy, mate…” Lucas tried, wary and testing as if he was suddenly aware of how close Harry had come to beating him unconscious with that pry bar if Snow hadn't have stepped in. “That lovely creature is the last thing on my mind… I can promise you that.”

With a hard snort, Harrison lifted a brow and clenched his jaw; his spoon dropping back into the beans to scrape roughly at the bottom of the can before saying, “She shouldn't be on your mind at all.”

“No… That's your job.”

At that, Harrison blinked, his lids dragging slowly against his tired eyes as if they'd suddenly dried out and before he could stop himself, he was looking at Bauer; that smirk of his twisting back through his dark mouth as if he'd caught Harry in the middle of some scandal that had the potential to make or break his future… There was a moment or two that ticked by; the awkward rush of silence that fell through the garage with the exception of whatever the hell Caitlin was doing, what with her clanking around like she'd suddenly forgotten they were in the middle of a meta-apocalypse and had to be quiet in order to avoid detection from anybody batting for team Zoom. And with another bang, Harry tore his stare off of Lucas and braved a quick glance over his shoulder to find her tossing tools into the trunk of the Lincoln for Lord only knew why...

With her dark hair pulled into another one of those messy buns, her hands braced on her hips, and her pinching a perfectly pink lip between her teeth as she fixated on the hoard of tools she'd suddenly decided to collect in the mouth of that trunk, Harry was uncomfortably aware of how thin she looked. It wasn't that she was unhealthy or that he was very broad to begin with but there was something about the way his dark sweatshirt hung loosely around her body that made his brows pull together and his already fragile self-worth deflate… He couldn't remember if she'd always been that narrow now that they'd been together for so long; the tapering of her diminishing curves being such a gradual process that maybe he just hadn't realized until now, that he'd done a shit job of keeping her fed, despite him forgoing meals in order to make sure she was eating enough.

He probably wasn't much better off in the weight department but he wasn't sure that mattered as long as she was getting everything she needed in order to stay healthy.

She wasn't skinny… Far from it, really. But there was a subtle change that he'd picked up on now that he was looking at her… Her narrow fingers curling around slightly too prominent hip bones and pushing her layers up enough to reveal an expanse of skin that lead to, what he was sure to be, a significantly thinned ribcage.

At that, he sucked his top lip against his teeth…

“Chief…”

Damn near startled at the sudden rush of Bauer’s voice, Harrison whipped back around fast enough for his neck to pop… 

“Did you hear me?”

With a frown, Harrison narrowed his eyes and blinked again because, yeah… Now that he was thinking about it and now that he wasn't busy staring at Caitlin Snow and studying the way her appearance was slowly deteriorating because he was too much of a worthless fuck to keep her weight up, he might of heard the low rumble of Bauer’s voice somewhere in the back of his distracted mind.

“I asked if you had military background.” Lucas tried again before awkwardly pulling against his restraints and making a futile effort to shoulder an itch off his chin.

“What?”

“Military background…” He repeated, that smirk making its way back on his face. “Ever had any training?”

“I…” Harrison gave a short huff. “What makes you say that?”

“You seem the type….” Came Lucas’ response. “Calm and careful. Level… Ready.”

Harry gave another brief snort and smiled in a way that was anything but happy. “Ready for what?”

“For anything that needs to be done.” Lucas paused, and after a strange moment of silence that seemed to surround them once more, he drew in another breath and said, “I'm retired SAS… What about you?”

With what he could only assume was a dumb expression crossing his face, Harrison ducked his head and rasped, “Sharpshooter.”

“A rifleman!” Bauer enthused with a smile that seemed too wide for someone who'd been zip tied to an uncomfortable chair. “I respect that.”

“Well…” Swallowing around his adam's apple, Harry nodded once and stared down into the can of beans in his lap before letting his eyes drift to a close, shuffling himself around on the metal stool beneath him, and grinding out, “Assuming you're telling the truth… That respect goes both ways.”

Another low hum vibrated through Lucas’ throat just seconds before that strange silence fell over them once more, causing Harrison to stir at whatever was left of the beans and clank his spoon against the sides of the tin… It was never part of the plan to partake in civil conversation when Snow asked Harrison to feed their prisoner, especially not after he'd busted his jaw with a monkey wrench, but somewhere between Bauer breaking into their garage and Harry popping the lid off a can of cold beans, he was entirely too aware that he and Lucas had too much in common. And it bothered him because suddenly, in this realm of nightmares and monsters, he had another liability, another mouth to feed… It was one thing to give Lucas minimal care during his temporary detainment with them but it was another obstacle all together to give him a backstory that humanized him.

Tucking his shoulders and staring down into the now nearly-empty can of beans, Harry pinched the tip of his tongue between his teeth and poured most of his concentration into steadying his breathing; the sounds throughout the garage as the rain continued to prattle against the aluminum panels of the roll-away door that was once used as an entrance for damaged cars, the scuff of Caitlin's feet as she moved somewhere behind him...

“You don't talk much, do you?” Came Lucas' low grate, the sound of his voice causing Harry's stare to lift away from the displeasing sight of a dirty can and land on Bauer, who was giving him a gentle smile that made Harrison want to tear his eyes out because maybe… Maybe Snow was right, maybe his perception and ability to judge character was hindered by the situation around him, maybe Bauer wasn't a bad guy and maybe… There was still an ounce of good left in this city.

Harry bit the inside of his cheek and tossed another glance over his shoulder in order to find Caitlin now perched on the hood of the car, staring out the rectangular windows near the top of the garage doors, and watching wet droplets of rain beat against the glass… Those pretty eyes suddenly changing direction and catching on him as if she sensed him staring before rewarding him with a subtle smile that somehow made him feel ten feet taller than he actually was, small as it might have seemed.

“Bet she does most of the talking for you, doesn't she? That's how it is with my daughter…” Lucas began again, his voice cracking around a few syllables, dry and heavy as if he was parched. “She could talk circles around me and I'd usually let her… But something tells me that girl… She isn't your daughter.”

At that, he snapped his sights back on Bauer to see him watching him; his eyes sharp and calculating before another smirk curled through his lip.

Shrugging a shoulder as best he could around his restraints, Lucas let out a low chuckle and said, “It's in the way you look at her… And sometimes, in those moments when you don't.”

“That's not…” He tried, his mouth snapping shut after letting a glare run through his expression. “You're not-”

“You don't trust me…” Lucas stated before letting his spine fall slack against the backrest of his chair. “That's fine… Truth be told I don't trust you either but this I swear, I'm not here to hurt you… Or her.” 

“Why should I believe that?”

“You shouldn't… After all I'm just the asshole that broke into your home, aren't I?”

“I don't know you...” Harrison growled, pushing away from his stool and getting to his feet before crossing his arms. “There's metas and there's civilians. If you're not fighting for the refugees in this city, you're fighting against them. And until we know-”

“I'm fighting for my daughter…” Came lucas’ rough bite, jerking forward hard enough to make the legs of his chair screech against the concrete floor and echo through the garage, causing Harry to take a quick step back. “Why can't you see that…?” He finalized through a whisper, his lips forming a flat line before narrowing his eyes and staring up at Harrison like the helpless soul that he was.

And before he could stop himself Harry took a deep breath and grated, “You're not the only one here who's lost a daughter…”

Pulling himself to the backrest of his chair once more, Lucas blinked and watched Harrison through hard scrutiny before at length, Harry took another step back, silently signaling that there wasn't anything left to say… Lucas nodded his concede and dipped his chin to his chest, giving Harrison the right of way to turn around and head for the Lincoln but before he got too far, he heard Bauer’s voice…

“Chief…”

With that, Harrison stopped and craned his neck to get another look at Lucas…

“Hold on to her…” He whispered, causing a flare of dread to spike through Harrison’s chest at the thought of doing anything other than just that. “Whatever she is to you, you be damn sure to root yourself to her and never let go… Speaking from experience, never let go of your lighthouse.”

Harry set his jaw and watched as a maelstrom of different emotions swirled through Bauer’s dark irises, now entirely unsure as to whether or not Lucas was referring to Jesse or Caitlin but regardless, with a quick shutter of his eyes, Harry nodded and said, “I won't.”

Chapter Text

For someone who'd been in close proximity with Caitlin Snow for as long as he had, Harrison couldn't seem to get used to the sensation of making contact with her, no matter how subtle the touch because somehow, with every slow gust of air that pushed through her lungs and with every pass of her fingertips against his ribs as she nuzzled herself further into his side, she always managed ignite a flare of agitation somewhere in the pit of his stomach that had a way of making his bones quiver. And it wasn't so much that he hated it, but in the midst of everything that had gone from bad to worse ever since he'd hit the ground running on her earth, it hurt… With a foreboding stir that flipped through his entire body, her touch hurt him in a painless sort of way that he'd never experienced.

Letting his heavy lids drift to a close and listening to the rain as it tapered off somewhere outside the garage, Harrison took in a deep breath, pulling the smell of the fallen masked by the fumes of gasoline and the oncoming sweetness of spring into his lungs, before fixing his crossed-arms tighter over his chest in order to keep himself from touching Snow as she slept with her body stretching across the backseat of Lincoln; her feet jamming against the door and her head resting on his thigh as the tip of her nose pushed lightly against his jeans and pressed into his hip bone… And as if he was suddenly too cold, even with Caitlin's warmth swallowing him up like flames, that strange quiver that recently seemed to follow her touch, shuddered through his body from his legs to his shoulders and somehow, it managed to make his teeth chatter.

Forcing his eyes open and dipping his chin to his chest, Harry found Caitlin through the dark obscurity that typically came just before dawn; his fingers flexing and anchoring against his biceps as he watched the gentle rush of breath deflate her lungs before giving himself the rare luxury of smiling because no matter where they were now, stuck in a garage with a man who'd been zip tied to an old chair, they were okay… She was okay. She might have landed on skinny side and he might have been temporarily thrust on the precipice of some emotionally detached collapse but at the end of the day and through the haze of hell, they made it this far and that was probably due to her and her unimaginable optimism and strength.

Good girl...

And if he had the power to somehow fix the world for her while she slept, he'd do it and give back the city she once knew… Without truly understanding why, at the cost of his very life, he'd paint the sky whatever color she wanted and give her a brand new world where monsters and metas didn't exist.

But in this shit show, nothing seemed to go as planned... Bauer and in some strange way, even getting lost in a fallout with Caitlin Snow rather than Barry Allen, was proof of that. She might have been impractical but fuck… Now that he was here, watching her sleep on his lap with her long hair draped over his leg, he dreaded the thought of not having her there to hold him upright. She was a glimpse of sunlight and whether he liked it or not, she was everything he needed to survive this mess.

With another quiver rocking through him, he let out a jittery breath and reflexively dropped a hand to her temple; his thumb pushing into her forehead and sliding along a brow before another bone shattering tremor vibrated up his spine… There was a moment or two, somewhere between the sound of the rain prattling against the aluminum door and the easy gush or air filtering through Caitlin's lungs, that he realized he was breathing too hard; the rapid burst of air pounding in and out of his chest and before he could stop himself, both hands had found purchase on Snow… The warmth of her skin sinking into his palms and repairing the cracks in his foundation as one hand drifted carefully across her cheek and the fingers of the other twisted through her tangled hair.

Touching her in the dark while she was unconscious might have been on the inappropriate side of the spectrum but with the satisfied little hum that followed after he'd run his calloused hand down her neck and over her shoulder, he didn't think she'd mind that much… Especially not after seeing how far he'd come since those first few weeks of scraping through the city and looking for reasons to do something as simple as to continue trying. Oh, but fuck… Her presence was downright addictive and if it hadn't been for her, he wouldn't have been able to get this far, not with Cisco, not with Barry, or Joe, and probably not even with Jesse.

“Oi…” Came Lucas’ sudden gruff, hushed and low as if he was afraid to be too loud.

Despite how quiet he'd been, Wells tensed with a start and jerked his head toward the other end of the garage with a furrowed brow to find his prisoner slouching forward and smirking in that smug way of his before subconsciously tightening his grip on Catlin because right… He was technically on watch, wasn't he?

“What?”

With a slow intake of breath and a lazy smile curling through his lip, Lucas asked, “Would it be bad timing if I told you I had to take a piss…?”

Rolling his eyes and shaking his head, Harrison dropped his stare back on Snow for the briefest moment before popping the car door open and slowly disentangling from her. One finger at a time, he pulled away as easily as he could; his hand cupping the underside of her head and lowering her against the seat after he'd finally managed to slip out from beneath her. He watched her roll and shift to find a new position after he was outside of the car until at length, she ended up on her back with one arm dangling over the seat and the other crossing over her belly.

After determining that she wasn't going to wake up, Harry tucked his hands into his pockets and turned to stalk for Bauer, who was still watching him like Wells was some new species that had recently been unearthed and demanded to be studied. It wasn't until he was standing near his chair that Lucas finally asked, “How do you want to do this?” Flexing his wrists beneath the ties, he huffed and said, “Unless you're comfortable with fishing me out, I can't exactly help myself.”

Narrowing his eyes, Harrison growled, “That's not going to happen…”

“Didn't think so.” Lucas chuckled, the corner of his mouth quirking a bit. “Joking aside, have you got any other suggestions?”

Wells gave a low grunt before cutting his eyes toward the door and with a shrug, he replied, “I'll find a bucket… We'll go from there.”

“Sounds fair.”

Holding his dark stare for a second longer, Harrison’s eyes dipped toward the plastic ties around his wrists, a nervous little tick he'd developed ever since he'd secured him to that chair, and made sure they were still holding him in place… Good and tight, he was satisfied enough to start for the door that lead into the hallway and leave one sleeping Caitlin Snow alone with a guy that may or may not have been the worst decision he'd ever made.

But fuck…

Snow was adamant and he wasn't sure if part of that determination was due her undying want to save Lucas or save him. Either way, she was right… It may not have been the smartest thing to do but keeping Lucas alive and giving him the benefit of the doubt was a step in the right direction. After all, didn't she do the same for him after he'd pissed off the rest of her team and tried to run back to his earth just to go on a suicide mission and track Zoom with nothing more than sticks, stones and a fancy meta-watch?

Pushing himself into the hallway to head for the busted window in the lobby, courtesy of Lucas Bauer, Harrison fumbled through the dark; his weary body bumping shoulder-first along the walls before finally stepping on the completely drenched carpet lining the floor of the waiting area. With the rain steadied to a gentle thrum and the storm rolling over the city and roaring somewhere in the distance, the lobby had gone from a half-flooded pit to a soggy indoor-marsh, what with the water squelching out around Harry's feet every time he stepped down and dealt enough pressure to temporarily ring out the carpet. If it hadn't been for the large shards of glass poking at the underside of his shoes, scraping along the ground and cracking beneath his weight after he'd accidentally caught pieces of the window beneath his soles, he might have actually believed that he could somehow salvage the damage by tossing up a few boards to cover the places that had shattered but from one end of the window to the next, the measurements of the fame were far too large for him to be able to fix it with mix-matched slabs of wood.

Letting a puff of air blow through his nostrils, Harrison stepped toward the opening and braced his weight against the windowsill before carefully slipping his hand through the break in the glass and reaching into the rain to grab for the line of empty cans he'd placed outside in order to collect water. They weren't very big but with the exception of the five gallon bucket he'd been using for drinking water back in the garage, it was the only thing he had to give Bauer in order to take his piss… His fingertips barely grazed the lip of the first can, drops of rain beating against the tin as he made a bullshit attempt at grabbing it through the broken window just so he wouldn't have to go outside and get drenched; the water sloshing and lapping against the sides just seconds before it tipped in his direction so he could pinch the top between his fingers and slide it his way.

“Good morning, Central City…”

Harrison froze; the skin of his arm instantly pickling beneath the splat of cold rain and his body seizing for a moment as Zoom’s sharp grate poured out of the crackling speaker system down the street. Fuck… The sun wasn't even up and already Zoom was ripping the determination out of the survivors by tearing through some guy and all for… For what?

For him?

Pinching his eyes shut and sucking in a breath, Harrison pressed his forehead to an unbroken section of the window and pulled the tin out of the rain, carefully avoiding crude, jagged edges and trying not to flinch under the uneven screams echoing into the shop as Zoom continued torturing this morning's victims until he was finally able to get his arm back inside. Carelessly dumping his can somewhere on the already waterlogged carpet, he shook off the rain with a quick flick of his arm and huffed after the screams stopped for a brief moment, long enough for Zoom’s victim to catch his breath and rapidly whimper around what Harrison could only imagine was excruciating pain. He quickly took a step back to retreat into the depths of the garage and once more settle in with Snow, who was undoubtedly awake now that Zoom’s speakers had blasted through the quiet, but there was glimmer of subtle activity through the glass that had Harry’s eyes snapping toward the movement.

He waited a second longer, his gaze narrowing a bit as he forced his eyes to adjust through the darkness until at length, through the rain and gloom, he saw it… A shadowy figure moving across the street. It could have been another survivor or maybe someone who needed help, food, shelter… Whoever it was, Harrison took another back-step and moved further away from the window until he was entirely shrouded beneath the shadows inside the shop.

But then, “Leith!”

Fuck…

“Hey, Leith…” Came the biting voice of someone he didn't recognize, causing Harrison to hold his breath and press back against the wall near the checkout counter…

In one smooth motion through the rain, the figure - Leith - turned; his lanky silhouette drifting closer to the garage until he was right outside, staring at the line of water cans and inspecting the broken glass of the front window. Lifting one of his long arms, his fingertips dragged down the wet glass and moved easily along the sharp edges where Harrison had just been reaching before halting and bending to get a closer look as if he could somehow sense that someone had been there seconds prior.

Running a hand through his dark, wet hair, Leith tossed a look somewhere over his shoulder and barked, “He's around… I think I smell him.”

“You sure?” That unfamiliar voice started… It wasn't exactly as rough as Leith’s but it was low and hard, causing Harry to squint toward the window until he found another blur of an outline standing in the middle of the street… It wasn't broad enough to be Willis’. “Last time you tried tracking Zoom’s-most-wanted in the rain, we ended up-”

“He's in there…” Leith said sharply. “I can smell him.”

And with that, Leith was pressing a palm against the window; his eyes narrowing before swiping the wet residue off the glass to peer inside. He looked directly at Harry, whether he realized it or not, his stare locked onto him and with Harrison’s heart now punching against his chest, he slotted against that wall and tucked a breath into his lungs before forcing himself not to move under this meta’s prowling gaze. Harry held his stare for what felt like an eternity before Leith's new compeer was standing at the entrance of the shop and yanking at the chained door with a forceful rattle, causing both he and Leith to cut their eyes in the direction of the sound.

“Somebody's in there…” He said, sliding his grip off the handle and shoving his knuckles into the piece of plywood that Harry had nailed over the break in the door where he'd previously busted through in order to finger at the lock and give both he and Snow a place to be. “It's locked from the inside.”

Pushing away from the glass, Leith gestured to the gap Lucas made in the window and asked, “You think we could get through here?”

“I'm not desperate enough to get sliced up over this prick…” The other guy gruffed, shouldering his weight against the door frame before tucking his arms over his chest and staring at Leith, who looked less than pleased. “It'd probably be better to head back to the car and grab the bolt cutters.”

“That's three blocks away.” Leith growled. “Just radio Elvia and have her drive them over if you're that worried about a few scrapes.”

“Yeah? Well, Elvia’s been a bitch ever since Zoom demoted her to day-patrol.” He huffed. “She's not going to do shit.”

“We ain't walking three blocks.”

“Fine.” He snapped back. “Radio Elvia and have her drive over… I'll go around back and cover the door in case whoever’s in there gets smart and tries to sneak out.”

“What about the garage… That exit’s gonna be wide open.”

“Only until Elvia gets here.” He said with a shrug. “Besides, the power’s out. That door is pretty much sealed shut unless it's got a release or gets pried open. Even then, it's not going to be easy.”

“Fuck that… I lose one more target - one - Zoom’ll tear my ass inside-out. That your aim?” Leith bit, his lip curling into a sneer before shoving at his partner’s shoulder. “It's like you want to give these dickbags an actual chance.”

With a low snarl, he stumbled back, barely managing to steady himself against the door handle before shooting forward and pushing back hard enough to make Leith take a few steps rearward and brace for whatever came next…

“Winn…” He grated in that biting way of his. “Get your shit checked.”

“Shut up…” Winn snapped back, hunching forward and locking onto Leith like he was about to maul him into his grave.

“Get that shit in check.” Leith said again, darker this time as he pointed toward Winn’s face… And if it hadn't been for the power-shift between them, the way Leith had suddenly gone on defense and readied for an attack, Harrison might have believed that Winn was the weaker meta but even through the rain, Harry could see it… Winn’s physical appearance taking on a different shape; his face stretching around a set teeth that suddenly seemed too long before shaking his head and drawing in a deep breath that rumbled in his chest. “Winn… Check your shit.”

“I'm fine…” Came Winn’s response, his voice low and biting as if his appearance wasn't the only thing that could be altered. “Just… Don't… Don't shove at me like that or else I'll-”

A quick zip pushed through the speakers and then, through a raw throat, whoever was on the other end of Zoom’s broadcast was once more hollering out, heavy and tight like he was desperate for a lungfull but couldn't stop screaming long enough to gulp for air. And with that small stroke of luck, at the cost of someone else's life, both Leith and whoever that other meta was had all but spun around after the sudden outburst filled the otherwise quiet street before Harrison was booking down the hallway, letting those horrid screams cover the splat of his footsteps as he sprinted back for the garage. By the time the hollering had dipped to a series of low sobs that eventually died off after another whoosh filled the speakers, signaling that Zoom had finally finished him off, Harrison crashed through the door with his chest heaving and legs shaking only to run directly into Snow’s grasp; her fingers curling firmly around his shoulders to keep him from slamming chest first into her torso.

With a mind of their own, Harry’s hands instantaneously found purchase against her hips; his grip fixing around her hard enough to make her shirk back and before he even really registered the situation, he'd realized too late that instead of stopping after running into her at the door, he'd ended up pushing forward and bumping her up against the car. Blinking once, his stare fastened on her face; her big eyes sucking him in and snapping him back to reality. There was a buzz in his ears that managed to drown out the rest of the world, including her voice and with his gaze dipping toward the movement of her lips, he realized that she was talking to him; her hands lifting away from his shoulders to cup either side of his face and let her thumbs run along his jaw, trying in vain to chase the worried lines out of his features with her touch.

The cool run of her fingers ghosted slowly against his face as he continued watching her lips and the way she tilted her head to make an effort to grab his full attention and pull him back to her… Wherever he was. It wasn't until he felt one of her hands slide into his hair and grip that he finally cut through the warning bell ringing in his ears and pinpointed her voice; soft and slow as she forced a worried smile that had his eyes clenching shut just to avoid the sight.

“It's okay...” She soothed, her thumb curbing against the bolt of jaw as she pushed away from the car in order to get closer and step into the space between his parted feet. “He’s done.”

Almost chaotically, Harrison shook his head before feeling her grip tighten in his hair to hold him still and with a brush of air gusting against the knob in his throat and warming him straight to the bone, he furrowed his brows and pressed the heel of his palms harder into her hips; his hands sliding into the bend in her sides and settling there long enough to confirm that she really did feel too thin.

At that, he felt his teeth grind against one another because fuck… He hated himself for that and for the way things had changed because he was too chicken-shit to just say yes and help Zoom steal the Flash’s speed. It was impossible to say where that would have lead them but at the very least, he wouldn't be here, his hands folding around a girl that was too young, too thin, too good and so much better than he could ever hope to be...

“Harry…” She tried again, quieter this time, causing his eyes, heavy-lidded as they were, to shutter open until they landed on her face. “You okay?”

With his breath catching in his lungs and without stopping himself, Harrison dipped forward until his forehead touched against hers with a slight knock that managed to push her back against the car and make his skull throb.

“Snow…” Now heaving through tired lungs, Harrison let his fingers glide upwards again, the tips of his calloused digits scraping at the skin beneath her shirt just to feel her and commit everything to memory because suddenly, in that moment, she was just a girl and he was nothing more than than a guy navigating a way to explore her scape without crossing any lines - looking for a way to remember her if God forbid, he couldn’t find a way out. His hands stopped just after it slid up and over the first few bumps of her ribs, causing her to breath the hitch and her grip land back over the tops of his shoulders before squeezing lightly. “Snow…” He said again, letting his tongue curl around that word before setting his jaw and drawing in a deep breath, letting the smell of her billow through his lungs with that familiar sweetness - letting that familiar sweetness settle in his mouth and coat his tongue with the taste of her.

“Hey…” She breathed, running her hands over the bend of his shoulders and down his arms. “What's wrong?”

Practically the start of his worst nightmare, there was a beating in his chest that suggested just how fucked he was, what with Caitlin Snow now flattening a hand along the center of his breastbone, causing him to slant forward enough to pin her limb between their torsos; his thumbs still ghosting along the skin covering her ribs… Now would've been a prime time to tell her, let her know that it was over, bring her up to speed and scream it from the top of his lungs but he couldn't seem to get it out. Leith was closing in and he couldn't seem to utter a single word, couldn't move, and probably wouldn't have been able to breath if it hadn't been for her and her tremendous light guiding him closer to home every time he was within proximity.

Forcing himself to pull back a bit, his forehead slid away from hers until he was able to catch her stare and hold it long enough to see the different shades and colors shooting through her irises. There was something sad and pretty about the way she watched him, the way her lids fluttered over glassy eyes, the way her lips curved, and the way she she gripped tighter against him as if she was suddenly aware that something beyond Zoom’s broadcast was wrong… As if she knew Harrison was on the verge of doing something stupid.

“It's Leith.” He finally grinded out, doing everything in his power not to tear himself away from her widening gaze. “He's here.”

Her lips fell into a hard line and with a slow flutter of her eyes, she dipped her chin and stared down at their feet for what felt like hours before Harrison heard her finally draw in a quiet breath and whisper, “Okay… That's okay…. We can just...”

Pinching his brows together and shaking his head again, Harry’s digits slid almost too easily around her ribcage before digging blunt nails into the expanse of skin near her spine and pulling her impossibly closer considering how she'd already been rendered to a halt after he'd fixed her between his body and the car. But it didn't matter… It didn't matter if he was scaring her, what with the way she tensed in his arms as he wrapped them around her slight frame and dropped his head until his lips brushed along the seam of her hairline, because he just wanted - needed - to feel.

Whether she realized it or not, she'd cut him open the day she darted through the darkness of that parking lot and made an incision so deep that it was nearly impossible to heal… And no matter how much he wanted to make it easier on himself and go his own way, cut all ties and brave this fallout on his own with zero liabilities, Caitlin Snow had different ambitions for him entirely and it had a way of filling his head with a light that couldn't seem to be shut off no matter how hard he tried to flip the switch… Not that he ever really could after she'd continuously ripped him through that unsteady realm of depression and gave him enough hope to keep fighting.

“What do you need?” She finally whispered, her voice pitching a bit too high which caused him to grip a little tighter, unsure if that small change was meant to comfort him or her.

All the same, with a puckered brow and clenched eyes, his lips rucked against her forehead as if he'd intended to peck at her skin but instead of actually kissing, he drew in one last breath and let everything that was uniquely her rip through his nostrils and bury itself somewhere in the depths of his chest. In a slow glide, his mouth moved from one end of her forehead to another before finally braving a path down the slope of her nose.

“Harrison.” Came her all but thick whisper, her voice tense and overwrought with worry.

“I don't… Snow…” He rasped, forcing himself to drag his lips away from the tip of her nose. “I don't know anymore.”

The thunder seemed to roll then, rumbling and angry as it growled somewhere on the outskirts of the city, causing her to flinch and her grip to fist itself against the fabric covering his chest. She scowled… “You said if anything happened we could use the back door or maybe use the windows to-”

“He's not alone.”

She blinked. “Is it Willis?”

He shook his head and willed his eyes not to pinch because if there was one thing he learned during the time he’d spent holed up in this garage with her, looking at her somehow made it easier.  “I don't know who they are but… One of them… He…”

With a frown, Harry lifted a hand and gestured at his mouth, trying in vain to mimic what he'd seen; the graying skin, the darkening eyes, and the teeth that protruded from a receding lip-line. He'd failed, and miserably if the crinkled expression crossing Snow’s face was anything to go by.

“They're blocking the exits.”

At that, Caitlin's face ran pale enough to resemble the dead girl he'd seen hanging from that street lamp just weeks prior and this time, he couldn't stop his lids from slamming down, followed by the sharp intake of breath that got twisted in a knot somewhere in his lungs.

“Harry…” She tried again, tugging at his shirt to keep him from slipping away entirely, sensing that slow pull as he shifted in her grasp.

He stepped back, his fingers flexing around her shape for one last feel before sliding them from beneath her shirt and rounding toward Lucas, who had apparently been watching them with an addled brow and an open mouth.

“What did you do?” He growled, causing Bauer’s brows to shoot toward the ceiling.

“Me?”

“Were they after you?” Harrison snarled, stepping closer and pulling completely away from Snow's sticky hold. “Is that what happened? You got caught, got hurt and decided to hide out until they gave up…?!”

At that, Lucas blinked and snapped his mouth shut before breathing a low, “Shite.”

“They followed you here!” Came Harrison’s agitated bark as he watched his prisoner scrunch his notable height against his chair to make himself look as small as possible.

“I thought I’d lost them…” He tried. “Chief, you've got to understand, I didn't know you were here. I wouldn't have-”

“Are you with them?” Harry snapped, watching for a short moment as Bauer’s jaw tensed. “Are you?”

Shaking his head almost frantically, Bauer's eyes snapped on the movement between them after Harrison pitched forward to swipe at his forgotten pry bar. And without another word, Harry was rearing back, ready to take a swat at his skull.

“Oi! Hold on-wait! Don't!” He stumbled, his voice a little louder than it should've been considering there were at least two metas outside the garage. “I'm looking for my daughter… I… Chief I swear it. I swear.”

“Hey!” Came Caitlin's scolding bark from somewhere over his shoulder, followed by the quick shuffle of her footsteps as she scrambled to his side and clutched at his leading arm. “We'll figure this out. Just calm down…”

“What's her name?” Harrison seethed.

“Put it down…” Caitlin whispered, now tugging at his bicep.

“What?!”

“Tell me her fucking name or get a mouthful of blood.” Harry snarled through a set of tightly clenched teeth, ignoring the way Snow's nails bit into his raised arm.

“Her name is Lisa…” Lucas started. “Lisa Ann Bauer. She was born in Scarsdale New York shortly after her mother and I moved to the states. She'll be fifteen in two weeks. When she smiles it's like… She makes you feel like you can be anything you want. No matter how difficult it is, she makes you feel it; a type of happiness that can only be achieved when she looks at you.” Still working through fragments of memory, Lucas rushed out, “She started an anti-bullying campaign at school… Even made tee shirts and started small groups for kids to get together once a week to share negative experiences, make friends and promote positivity. She wears magenta on Wednesdays… A senior asked her to prom last year and my head nearly fell off. And I…” Shaking his head again, Lucas looked at Harrison, his eyes now fat and welling with tears before he rasped, “And I miss her.”

Specifics weren't exactly what Harry was looking for but now that he'd startled Lucas into spouting off random bits of information about his daughter’s life before the city went down in flames, he was one hundred percent sure he wouldn't have believed him without some brand of substance - something to sink his teeth into. And prom dates and anti-bullying programs were definitely a good start… It was enough.

Lowering his weapon and fighting every instinct not to look at Snow for further instruction as her hands slid away from his arm, he asked, “Is cutting you loose going to be a mistake?”

“What?”

“Cutting you loose...” He repeated, his tone still dangerously low as he stepped forward with his grip white-knuckling around the neck of his bar. “Am I making a mistake?!”

With his eyes dipping from Harrison’s face to the rod in his hand, Lucas swallowed around his Adam's apple and replied, “No.”

Nodding once, Harrison shoved the sharp end of his pry bar into one of Bauer's zip ties and wriggled it against the metal part of the chair until it gave in and snapped around the crude cut that had been made before moving to the next. Once free, Lucas flexed his wrists and winced after raw skin stretched around sore bones.

“I need your help...”

Lucas’ eyes flicked to Harrison’s face before curling his lip into a brief snarl, causing Harry to jerk his pry bar forward as a quick reminder that he wasn't unarmed and wouldn't be taken down without breaking a few bones...

“With what?”

“The door.” Harrison replied, trying to keep his voice even after Lucas mounted his stance of six-four and stepped forward before jerking his chin toward the heavy-duty control box that had been attached overhead. “With the power out, we won't be able to make the chain run through the motor without an extra hand.”

“You need help lifting it…” He supplied, fixing his eyes on the track that ran above door motor. “I'll do it.”

With the newly broken chain dangling from the motor above them and the end of it wrapping around Caitlin’s narrow arms, Lucas and Harry worked the pry bar beneath the large door blocking their only escape before pushing down to pop it up and make the briefest gap. It groaned in protest for a moment before lifting just enough for Harrison to slide the bar further underneath and press his weight on the other end to hold it in place.

“Got it?” Lucas gruffed, holding his share of the bar to the floor.

With a grunt, Harrison breathed, “Go.”

At that, Bauer stopped putting pressure on the neck and quickly left it to Harrison in order to slip his fingers under the door. Straining, beads of sweat pricked at the back of Harry’s neck before he managed to fire off a quick order over his shoulder.

“Pull.” He heaved, causing Snow to throw her weight in the opposite direction and tug at the chain. And with the new fed slack, she was able to drag it through the lifeless gears, continuously yanking it through with each and every inch she gained.

“Mate…” Came Lucas’ tight voice as he strained to hold the door up and keep it from slamming back to the ground.

Quickly discarding the pry bar, Harrison pushed off his knees and gripped the bottom of the door before grinding out, “I got it.”

With knees bent and chests pumping, both Harrison and Lucas held tight to the bottom of the door and hefted upward until they'd finally gotten it level with their hips.

“Your turn, lovely.” Lucas grated through a labored rasp.

Caitlin released the chain and immediately shuffled toward them before dipping down to her hind and pressing her heels into the stack of cement blocks that they'd built up just before starting on the door and pushed until they'd fixed underneath the gap, serving as a makeshift jack… “Okay, I'm good.”

On cue, Bauer and Wells dropped the door with a rumbling thud against the cement and backed away before Harrison plunged knees-first to the ground to take a quick look through the gap.

“Anything out there?” Caitlin started, bending closer to hover against his overheated back, her hand barely brushing at the based of his spine.

“No… But someone would've heard that.” Harrison pulled back and grabbed at the red pack strap over Caitlin's shoulder to make sure he had a good grip on her in case they needed to run and with that, he pitched to the ground and scooted into the rain. “Come on.”

One by one, they slipped through the gap, the rain still drumming heavily against cracked pavement as they slid out of the small home they'd created for those few short weeks and with his fingers still fastened to Snow's pack strap, he pulled her through the crawlspace and helped her to her feet before all but yanking her to his chest because yeah, they'd gotten out but that didn't mean things were going to be a field fucking rainbows. Tossing a wary glance over his shoulder just in time to see Lucas hobbling to an awkward stance, Harry pushed lightly at Snow, making sure he was standing between them just in case Bauer committed a foul in the midst of their ceasefire and decided to have at them for keeping him tied to that damn chair.

There was something strange about willingly having his back turned to what felt like a threat, but with Bauer’s dark eyes crinkling and his teeth flashing through the beat of rain as he tipped his head back to feel the cold droplets hitting his face, he muttered a low, “Thank you.”

Harrison gave a quick nod and said, “I hope you find your daughter.”

“I hope you find yours...” Pulling his stare away from the sky and blinking the rain off his lashes, Lucas looked at Harry and said, “And for whatever it's worth, I'm glad you didn't let that asshole scare you.”

At that, Harrison frowned… “What?”

“Zoom, mate.” He clarified, that trademark smirk of his twisting at his mouth. “The world needs more men like Doctor Harrison Wells.”

Harrison's lids dragged over his eyes and with a slow shake of his head, he made an attempt to convince Bauer that he had the wrong guy… And not just in the sense that it was him - Harrison Wells - the man who opened the curtain to this shit show, because he'd been pegged wrong altogether… He wasn't brave for going against Zoom and if the world had more men like him, he wasn't sure there'd be anything left but smoke and ash and Central City was proof of that. This wasn't done out of selflessness or bravery… It was a shit attempt at self-preservation that backfired after Zoom pulled the plug and brought down this earth’s variant of Central City. And the worst of it was, he didn't have any warning… There was no time to plan his next move to save himself, let alone save Jesse.

Sucking in a breath, Harry tried to say something - anything - but before he had the chance to take a stab at it, Lucas was stepping off the curb and jogging away with that limp of his until he was fully shrouded by the cover of rain; his silhouette fading against the storm.

“He could've come with us…” Caitlin said, a pout poking through her tone.

“He's got his own problems.”

“Some angry guy looking for his daughter and trying to do it without help…” She gruffed. “You're right. Never heard that one before.”

With a snort that was far from amused, Harrison tore his eyes away from the direction Lucas had gone and quickly pinned Snow beneath a glare that caused her to furrow her brows in response. He wasn't kidding when he said he didn't want talk about Jesse and ever since that day in the shoe shop, Caitlin had been smart enough not to revisit the subject until now and for the life of him, he couldn't understand why… Then again he could. If he really thought about it, he could. They were stuck in this bullshit situation and there was still an elephant in the room - an unchained demon that was clawing at his insides and ripping through his lungs, gnawing at his bones, and punching against his skull.

But fuck… He'd failed her and it cost him. That cowardice cost him his baby girl and getting anywhere near that thought had him working through strange, repressed emotions that had every potential to throw him over the edge.

And that was why… He couldn't keep it smothered forever and Snow knew it. He had to make peace at some point, didn't he?

Baring his teeth and tensing his shoulders, he stared… Her eyes were harder than they'd been in a long time and since it wasn't a good idea to start a fight in the middle of a low-visibility rainstorm while hostiles were nearby, Harrison swallowed around the anger bubbling through his chest and grated, “Keep moving.”

Holding his stare for a minute longer, defiant and testing, Caitlin pursed her lips and took a step back in order to pull out of his grasp. And just like that, instead of letting her go, he held fast to her pack strap to highlight his own form of rebellion before tilting his head forward to encourage her to walk across the street. There was a short lived stalemate, quiet and downright scorching, but it quickly faded after the sound of a car engine hummed under the prat of rain and suddenly, whatever she'd done to get under his skin didn't seem too important anymore. It wasn't exactly close but with that growing purr drawing nearer, it was certainly on its way and with a puckering sensation crawling up Harrison's spine, he had a suspicion that whoever was in that car was going to be meta named Elvia.

Harrison fell to a crouch, pulling Snow down with him, her body immediately tucking against his side; possibly her subconscious forcing her into him, recognizing that whatever their dynamic was, she was safe when she was with him… Whatever the reason, it had him instinctively slinging an arm over her wet shoulders to pull her closer.

“We can't cross.” She breathed, too anxiously for his liking. “They'll see.”

“We have to.” He rasped, squinting at her through the rain and and giving her a reassuring squeeze. “We have to…”

“What if Leith can smell-”

“I'll be right behind you.”

“Harry…” Looking directly into his eyes and pouring her apprehension into his very soul, she shook her head and whispered, “He's not after you. He wants-”

“That's not going to happen.” Harrison growled, pitching in and pressing his weight into her for a grab at giving her some sort of contact that told her she wasn't alone, immediately causing her to iron herself against him; her arm flattening alongside his rib cage as she scooted closer and slapped a hand over his wet knee to grip lightly. “I promise… Snow… I promise.”

“I can't-”

“No-hey…” He started again, groping at her shoulder in a way that was damn near bruising but fuck, if she started panicking… “We can't do this right now. We have to go…”

Tensing and listening to the grate of that engine increase, Caitlin shook her head again before pinching her lip between her teeth and digging her chipped nails through Harrison’s jeans...

“Trust me…” Harry reasoned, his fingers now twisting against the soaked fabric of her shirt to give her a pull and watching for her to bend even a little. And finally, with a hurried nod, she turned her eyes toward the other side of the street and shifted her weight until she was able to balance on the balls of her feet.

Good girl...

Still keeping low, Harrison was on his feet and tugging Snow toward the curb but the very instant his boot slapped against the stream of water rushing through the gutter, he felt a hard pull that yanked him in the opposite direction, the force of it ripping her right out of his grasp, and quickly jerked himself around to glare at her… What now?

And somewhere between finding her kicking around along the ground and the unhealthy looking pair of grey hands grappling her ankles through the gap beneath the garage door, Harry quickly realized she hadn't stopped moving because she'd suddenly lost her spine again...

“Fuck!” He barked, shooting passed her; his knees slamming against the pavement hard enough to scrape his skin right off before wrapping his hands around her flailing legs to pull them free but with inhuman claws growing and hooking into her jeans, he couldn't do much other than punch at the hands trying to drag her back into the garage.

With Caitlin now kicking wildly and clutching at his torso, Harry bent over her and dug his fingers into her belt loops before giving her a hard yank that made her yelp after being dragged so roughly against the pavement but anything was better than getting pulled back into the garage by what appeared to be a monster-meta with phenomenal strength and durability.

“Get off!” Harry growled, now snatching at the pry bar he and Lucas had left behind after lifting the door and jerking back to jam it down over top Winn's wrists, eliciting a high pitched screech that sounded like something he'd typically hear in a horror movie. Loud and jarring, it startled Harrison enough to make him want to pull back and cover his ears but with Winn's grip still fastened to Snow's legs and his claws starting to draw blood at her ankles, Harry vigorously worked the sharp edge of the bar into his ever-greying skin until he saw red pooling around those arms.

And that's when he let go long enough to change course and latch onto Harrison's legs instead…

Fuck!

Jamming a his legs beneath the door, Harry landed a good kick into what he thought might have been Winn's face before rolling onto his stomach and hauling himself toward the street. He was a little stronger than Winn's last catch and now that he didn't have Caitlin working against him with uncontrolled kicks, Harry managed to pull Winn's upper body through the crawlspace, immediately causing Snow to scramble back in panicky movements.

Another nightmarish howl ripped through Winn's lungs as he reached further up and stabbed at Harry's calves; his claws pulling away flesh and bits of meat, causing Harrison’s teeth to grit through the pain before he jerked around to find a mouthful of jagged fangs gnashing and eyes black as coal fixing on him. It was only seconds later, after Winn began moving forward with that gurgling screech rolling through his chest that Harry realized Snow had a hold of his wrists and was pulling from the other end; her warm fingers curling tightly and rubbing his skin raw as she yanked.

Everything seemed to slow down after that… The sound of the car growing hauntingly closer, the bite of pain as Winn continued clawing his way up Harrison's body and landing at his thighs, and then there was Caitlin and if she couldn't let go and leave him just this once, he wouldn't be able to save either of them...

He shoved her then, his hand planting across her chest and pushing back hard enough to knock her flat on her ass… “Go!”

“I'm not leaving you!” She bit back, reaching for him again.

“Just run!” With another brutal shove, Harrison barked, “Please… Please!”

He wasn't sure how many times he’d said it, but that little word seemed to do the trick because Snow finally let go; her big eyes locking onto him and welling with tears before taking a step back and covering her mouth with her hands as she watched him thrash through puddles in an effort to break away from Winn.

“Please!” He roared again, still kicking at the monster ripping through his legs. “The car!”

He could see it… The car finally emerging through the rain and speeding toward them, causing Snow, with no small amount of effort, to forcibly tear her gaze away from him and sprint across the street until she was out of sight.

And with that, Harrison stopped kicking which automatically handed Winn full control; his claws drawing out of Harry’s legs as if he sensed the newfound compliance before reaching forward to grapple at the collar near the back of Harrison’s neck, which ended up pulling him to his knees...

“Bitch!” He growled in the beastly way of his, his voice cutting and dark.

Harrison's eyes were still locked onto the spot where Snow had melted into the storm… His breath beating through his lungs and his every instinct screaming at him to keep fighting but this was everything he had - his final play. This would buy her time… And that was enough.

“Bitch...” Winn snapped again, calmer this time just seconds before Harrison felt a blunt hit against the back of his skull from what he could only assume was that damn pry bar, eliciting an all but sickening clap.

Landing face first against cool, wet pavement, Harry blinked once, immediately recognizing the sinking feeling in his head that had his vision going dark.

“Stupid, fuck…” Was the last thing he heard Winn say before Harrison closed his eyes and let unconsciousness swallow him whole.

Chapter Text

Almost as if a woodpecker had built a home somewhere in his head, there was an erratic pounding driving through Harrison's skull and shooting down his spine, causing his nostrils to flare and his eyes to slide open with each pass of pain. And suddenly, as if he was taking his very first breath, he sucked in a mouthful of oxygen and allowed that air to swirl through his lungs and expand his ribs before pushing it back out through his nose; his blurry stare fixing against the silhouette of his bare feet as he adjusted to the rapid rise and fall of his chest. He swallowed, barely registering the metallic taste of blood clinging to his teeth before blinking and curling his toes against the cold and sticky floor of… The garage.

Harrison might have been struggling to catch up, what with that rhythmic punch beating through the inside of his head, but he definitely recognized the cool cement under his feet. He was still in the garage of the mechanic shop... And that should have been comforting but with a flash of graying claws and black eyes shooting through his mind, Harry jerked back as hard as he could, his body screaming in protest as he slammed into what felt like the backrest to a solid metal chair before twisting his torso awkwardly around to find that his wrists had been tied somewhere behind him.

Fuck…

By some twisted sense of humor in his fucked up universe, Harrison had been knocked out cold and tied to the very chair that he'd had Lucas hitched to after busting into his shop. And now…? Harrison was the one who'd lost his freedom. And that had his mind slamming down on the brakes hard enough to make him swing his head toward the garage door. Still held open by those cinder blocks, he could see the haze of rain beating down against the pavement beneath the gap and squinted as if that would help him see further beyond, passed the aluminum door and through the storm, across the street and down the alley where she'd gone.

She was gone… Snow was fucking gone.

Breathing impossibly heavier and finding no comfort in the fact that Caitlin was somewhere alone in a city full of rampaging metas, he subconsciously tilted toward that gap beneath the door as if his soul could somehow drift underneath, reach out and touch her; coil around her and lick at her skin with a slow and easy glide that let her know she wasn't entirely on her own… Wherever she was.

“Morning, princess…”

With his breath hitching in his lungs, Harrison's eyes snapped toward the Lincoln to see Winn sitting on the hood, his body slack as he leaned against the now smudged windshield. Harry watched as Winn slid near the edge of the car and threw his legs over the side before slouching over his knees and clasping his hands together. He was almost unrecognizable now that the pigment of his skin had gone from an unsettling deathly grey to a healthy olive glow, but Harrison recognized that voice, not as deep and menacing now that he wasn't snarling but still holding the same shape of a man who didn't quite have his shit together… Even from beneath the cover of the grungy dust-mask with the cat whiskers that had been drawn over the cotton covering the lower half of his face.

“Don't bother trying to get out of this.” Winn started, tilting his head toward the gap. “Leith and Elvia aren't too far off… Looking for that girl but they'll be back soon enough.”

At that, Harrison felt his stomach flip and immediately leaned forward, pulling a deep breath through his chest as if it would somehow quell the sudden sensation to hurl. But fuck, he was so sick and oxygen wasn't helping this time, what with every pass of breath causing his gut to churn and his blood to rush straight to his brain. They weren't stupid… They knew Caitlin was out there and if he had to take a wild shot in the dark, he could've confidently guessed that she was lurking somewhere too close for comfort because damn her, she wouldn't be able to just leave him behind… Not after everything they'd been through.

“Sucks, doesn't it?” He started again, a mirthless snort puffing through his lungs before tossing his glance in the direction of that gap. “Getting forced into some bullshit mess you didn't ask for… Getting thrown down an endless road that winds and bends. Getting fucked over for no reason…”

Winn gave another snort and shook his head before rolling his stare back toward Harrison…

“You know, I believed in you.”

At that Harry blinked, his throat too dry as he swallowed down his confusion… “Wh-What?”

Not bothering to expand, Winn hopped off the Lincoln and moved closer, his steps coming to a halt just seconds before his boots were bumping up against Harry’s bare toes. The severity of his eyes, although green and no longer stained black, was enough to make Harrison brace for impact and tense against his restraints, ignoring the way his legs screamed through the pain of previously having Winn's claws rake through the muscle tissue below his knees.

“Do you have any idea how much you fucked me up?” Winn's voice was on the cusp of dipping back down into that low rumble and it made Harrison's jaw set.

He wasn't going to respond, not with Winn's skin slowly paling back into the gray tones he'd adopted after Leith shoved him outside the shop. But by the time Winn asked again, this time seething through what sounded like clenched teeth from beneath his mask, Harrison found the wisdom in giving a slow shake of his head. And that might have been a bad idea…

Winn shoved forward, his hands clapping over the backrest of Harrison's chair and causing him to flinch backwards to reclaim the safety of the distance that had been gobbled up by this meta’s short burst of anger… But with his chair now teetering on its hind legs and his toes barely scratching against the floor as Winn tipped him further back, Harry was beginning to understand just how fucked he was and quickly clenched his eyes after hearing that beastly rumble fill Winn's chest.

“Look at me…” Winn grated impatiently as he dropped Harrison's chair back down on all fours and pitched overhead like a dark cloud just waiting to release its unforgiving storm. “ Look at me.” He said again, his tone now moving into something darker.

With his chest heaving, Harrison's eyes cracked open enough to find that Winn had ripped his mask down, revealing a set of jagged teeth that were poking through his upper lip and cheek where the sharpness of his fangs had torn right through the skin. There was a stench that came with this new revelation… the scent of decay had died down significantly after the start of this damn fallout but now that Winn had his grip white-knuckling along the backrest of Harrison's chair and now that he was pitched over and hovering just inches away from his face, he was hit with it full force, which caused his mouth to snap to a close and his nostrils to flare. It was thick as oil, heavy and clinging to the inside of Harrison's lungs in a way that made him want to bend over his knees and hurl until his throat burned.

“I want to eat you.”

At that, Harry's eyes snapped away from the strange teeth jutting through the left side of Winn's face before meeting his eyes and rediscovering the seriousness bleeding through his blackening  irises.

“I'm always hungry…” Winn started again, his eyes narrowing. “I want to dig my teeth into your skin and rip you apart chunk by chunk; swallow your flesh and feed … I can't eat anything else. Do you get that?”

“I… I never meant…” Harrison tried, shaking his head and struggling to find the right words. “I'm sor-”

“Don't you fucking do it.” Winn growled, jerking at Harry's chair and causing him to flinch again. “Don't you fucking apologize… You're not sorry. You're not sorry about that blast. You're not sorry for creating this mess - Leith, Elvia… Me .” shaking his head, Winn pulled back and crossed his arms over his chest; his lengthening claws drawing Harrison's gaze. “ You're not sorry…”

It fell quiet for just a beat too long, making the sound of the rain almost deafening as it relentlessly pounded against the aluminum door… Harrison opened his mouth at least twice to say something - anything - but on instinct, his teeth clamped against his tongue to keep him from saying anything he was going to regret. The last thing he needed was to set Winn on a feeding frenzy just because he wanted to… To what ? Apologize for the particle accelerator explosion that ruined hundreds of lives? Tell him he wasn't a bad person when clearly everything he'd ever done had lead to whatever the fuck was going on in this city? He had nothing to offer other than meaningless remorse and clearly, Winn wasn't impressed.

But then… “Do you want me to save you?”

Harrison blinked… “ What?”

“I can .” Winn said, his eyes hard as they tracked a path along the lines of Harrison's face as if he was searching for anything that made him worth the effort. “So… Do you want me to pull your ass out of dodge or not?”

Harrison's mouth gaped slightly before shaking his head… With all the bullshit he had under his belt from start to finish of this strange situation, beginning with nearly smacking his front bumper into Snow as she booked across the S.T.A.R Labs parking lot on that first night and ending with this , a meta-human who wanted nothing more out of life than to tear a hole right inside Harrison's torso and leave him alive with his guts spilling on the floor, asking him if he wanted to be saved… Asking him if he wanted an out.

With a brief snort, Harry's brows knit together before dropping his stare back to his feet; suddenly all too aware of the pain rippling through his shredded legs as he watched sticky lines of blood run from beneath his ripped jeans and onto the floor… He had already determined that he'd been off ever since Jesse had been plucked right out of the wreckage after Zoom leveled his earth’s version of Central City University but he was still grounded enough to be able to sniff out a lie… Or in this case, a cruel joke from a fucked up meta who wanted to toy with whatever sanity Harrison had been holding onto.

Clenching his eyes for a moment, he said, “I know what this is...”

“No. You know what it looks like…” Winn snarled, the scent of decay heavy again now that he was speaking. Fuck … “I'm going to give you one last shot to go willingly before I knock your sorry ass out and drag you out of here by the hair on your balls.”

At that, Harry's lids slid open before blinking down at the dried blood clinging between his toes and drawing in a ragged breath. It was quiet again; nothing but the sound of his breathing and the pad of rain against the pavement outside filled his ears for what felt like days, and if he didn't know any better, he would have guessed that he was the only being currently in the garage, what with the even beat of air passing through Winn's lungs being silent as a grave.

Do you want me to save you … For reasons he couldn't understand, it wasn't exactly what he wanted to hear. He wasn't sure if it was for the obvious bait placed before him like someone had dumped a chum bucket into shark infested waters just for the chance to drive a harpoon into his already damaged fins or if this … Whatever the fuck it was, had been an easier pill to swallow than getting his freedom back and pressing on without Snow.

He'd determined a long time ago that he couldn't do this on his own and through soul searching, very quickly came to the conclusion that he was helpless without her . She gave rise to the drive punching through his gut that made him want to survive and see it through to the end… See her through to the end. But he'd fucked up again and she was out there on her own, in a mess he'd made and that had him physically resisting the urge to holler until his lungs gave out.

When he finally met Winn's heated stare, his eyes were hard and narrowed which was enough to tell this meta to fuck off but instead of interpreting him in such a way, Winn cocked his head and said, “You don't think you deserve to be saved…”

Harry blinked...

He wasn't exactly wrong, but even with that guilty feeling gnawing at Harrison's insides like a dog chomping through a half-dried, brittle carcass, there was so much more to it. So many things he could never put into words… There was his daughter, the catastrophe that followed his resistance in the wake of Zoom’s storm, there was Barry Allen - The Flash - and all the speed that came with him, and then there was a set of large eyes he'd never be able to explain to anyone who hadn't had the honor of sinking into them for themselves. There were too many lives he'd broken into pieces, including his own, and even with the faint chance of freedom emerging from the shadows, he couldn't take it… Not on his own. Not without Snow.

So, no… He didn't deserve to be saved. Not in the aftermath of this cluster fuck.

“Maybe you're right.” Winn huffed. “You created this mess, didn't you? Maybe you deserve to stay right here… Stay here until you're rotting in your flesh and gnawing at your own bones like the worthless fuck you are.” His chest rumbled again and just like that, he was grappling the back of Harrison's chair once more before grinding out, “Did you hear me? You're worthless!”

With that rough jar of his chair, Harry's eyes clamped shut in order to brace just seconds before Winn ripped himself away, settling back into silence with the exception of his shoes scraping along the floor...

And then, finally , Winn grated, “But that's not up to me, is it?”

Harry chanced a short glance in Winn's direction after picking up on the subtle way his voice had lowered… It was calmer now, as if he was thinking of something other than tearing Harrison a new one. So, he took the opportunity to ask, “Why would you do that?”

“Do what…?” Winn shot back roughly, tucking his hands into his pockets and digging around until he found the remains of a half used cigarette and a nearly empty box of matches.

“If I'm that worthless, why offer me a shot at the door?”

He puffed a bit and shot Harrison a sidelong glance from the corner of his eye before pushing the butt of his cig between his teeth and lighting up, being sure to take one long drag before answering… “Ever heard the name Tina Mcgee?”

Blinking again, Harrison pursed his lips and stared for a length of time that was on the cusp of making Winn impatient, what with the frown buckling his brows together. It took Harrison a little too long to place that name even though it was well renowned on both this earth and his… And then, “Mercury Labs.”

“Yeah…” Came Winn's low grate. “Mercury fuckin’ labs.”

“What does that have to do with anything…?”

Taking another drag from his cigarette, Winn frowned around the smoke seeping back out through his nostrils and gave a slow shrug. “Turns out Zoom isn't the only one looking for you.”

It was then Harrison felt a switch being flipped in his head as if someone had turned on all the lights in an old house, bringing it back to life… “You don't work for him.”

Winn scoffed, causing more smoke to puff through his mouth before smirking at Harrison with that torn lip and set of jagged teeth that were telltale signs of his unlucky history with the particle accelerator blast, making him look that much more frightening… “I haven't decided yet. But yeah, right now I'm one of the good guys.”

“And that's what Mcgee is…?” Harrison asked slowly, forcing his stare back on the green of Winn's eyes. “A good guy?”

“She's been a little pissed since you broke into her lab to swipe that pulse rifle but… I guess you could say that. Better than Zoom anyway.” Finally taking one last suck against his cigarette, Winn pulled it from his mouth and flicked the butt toward the Lincoln, effectively aiming for the passengers seat before saying, “She's got a handful of meta's working for Zoom but really, we've been looking for you. Supposed to run you in the second your sorry ass surfaced.”

At that, Harry's expression twisted into another frown and with confusion, he asked, “What does she want?”

“She's got some sort of refugee base… It looks more like a bomb shelter, actually. But there's a shit-ton of generators, food, a few weapons and a lab. Got most of that shit on solar power to save gas just in case Zoom gets smart. Won't do much good though… She doesn't have any sort of vehicle I've seen that can outrun a speedster.” Rolling his eyes and tucking his hands into his pockets, he said, “She needs your expertise … Or whatever.”

“Expertise for what?”

“Killing Zoom.” Came Winn's dry response… “Convincing enough?”

Letting his brows furrow again, Harrison dipped his chin to his chest and stared at the blood covering his feet… Convincing wasn't exactly the problem. Tina Mcgee was nothing if not resourceful on his earth so, no , it wasn't exactly surprising to learn that her Earth-1 counterpart had tucked herself away in what sounded like a fallout shelter somewhere in the city. But even with the promise of food, technology, and a team of people who were working on something that might lift the burden off the refugees in this God forsaken city, he was tethered to the spot as if the blood beneath his toes had somehow cemented around his feet in order to prevent him from moving. His eyes clenched briefly, his chest swelling around the intake of air that was suddenly dragging almost painfully through his lungs and before he could stop himself or even be aware that words were forming on the tip of his tongue, he rasped, “I can't leave her.”

The garage was quiet again, the silence thicker than it had been since Harrison had woken up tied to that fucking chair and now that he had some grasp on just what Winn had been offering, he couldn't take it… His lids dragged heavily over his eyes as if someone had tied them to the ground and without trying to explain himself, he shook his head and lifted his gaze back on Winn to find him staring down at Harrison with a strange mixture of anger and confusion.

“I can't do this without…” The words seemed to get caught somewhere in his throat, causing his voice to crack and his chest to heave. “Please… Please … I can't… You've got to understand. I can't just leave her behind.”

With a growl, Winn finally seethed, “No one said you had to be conscious …”

Harry's eyes narrowed into a lethal glare then, his jaw fixing in place before snapping out, “I'll make your life a living hell.”

Save for the sound of metal slamming down against the cement floor beneath him, Harrison barely registered the fact that he was suddenly lying flat on his back with his bound hands crushing between his chair and the hard ground… And like a shot, the clawed hand grappling and cutting into Harry’s throat had a penetrating awareness seizing his insides like an inescapable wave coming up from the depths of dark waters, causing him to immediately snap his gaze on the meta hovering above him.

“You already did! ” Winn hollered, loud and guttural enough to make Harrison unsuccessfully jerk away from the heat of his rancid breath as it fell over him. “And if you think, even for one second, that you can call the shots, you're fucked . I don't give a shit about this city, this earth, and I don't give a flying fuck about you . I will beat your ass into the ground… Did you catch that? You cross me, you die.”

Harrison grit his teeth and allowed his eyes to clamp shut before sucking in a heavy breath that he kept caged in the depths of his lungs before releasing it and losing his grip altogether, his chest now rapidly beating up and down with every pass of air… There was a moment or two of sounds he didn't recognize, sounds that were his , slipping out of his mouth as he tried to control the barely audible sob bubbling through his throat.

Fuck … He couldn't panic. Not here…

And then, finally, after heaving around another exhale, he tried, “Have you ever had someone you can't…”

He opened his eyes and found Winn… Winn and that Glasgow mouth of his as he glared down at Harrison.

Taking another shaky breath, Harry forced himself to say, “Have you ever had someone you can't explain…? Someone who…” Swallowing beneath Winn's now slackening grip, Harrison shook his head and waited for the claws around his neck to slide away before trying, “Someone who makes it easier. Makes you feel like you're not alone… Makes you think. Really think… And see things In a way that you've never been able to before…”

Now crouching over Harrison and no longer pinning him to the ground like some rowdy pup, Winn cocked his head.

“I'll run…” Harrison started again, this time with more force now that he was gaining his bearings. “I'll never stop trying to get away from you. Not until I find her.”

“And what am I supposed to do about that shit?” Winn snarled. “You asking me to run out in the middle of a storm to look for some bitch just so you can get your dick wet? Must be some pretty spectacular piece of tail.”

“Please… Winn, I can't…” Harry rasped, now flexing his wrists against his restraints in order to unsuccessfully loosen the hold but instead of actually breaking free, the only thing he managed to do was scrape the skin away from his joints. He winced after the bite of pain cut against his wrists and froze before giving another tired, “ I can't…”

There was nothing but dead air after that… And with a slow frown dragging against Winn's mutilated features, Harrison was beginning to understand that aside from being nothing short of the creature hiding beneath his bed, there was nothing he did better than keeping him in suspense, what with the way Winn could command the silence around them like being able to turn into a monster wasn't the only thing on his extensive list of meta-human abilities.

“We'll look…” Winn began, slow and steady before turning his gaze back toward the gap beneath the garage door as if to distract himself with the sound of the relentless rain as it thundered against the pavement outside. “I can't make any promises but we'll try to find her.”

Harry gave a rapid nod and let his head fall back to the ground before breathing a heavy, “Thank you.”

With a scoff, Winn shot back, “Don't thank me just yet… I still want to rip your guts out.”

Chapter Text

There was a sharp, pulsating sensation beating through the wounds in Harrison’s legs and it was damn near crippling, causing him to grind his teeth under the weight of each and every step as he continued grappling at Winn’s shoulders for purchase. Considering the seemingly endless stream of blood trickling down his shins, they were moving too fast for Harrison’s comfort; Winn practically ripping him along at a pace that was breaching the realm of impossibility, what with the gaping claw marks on the lower half of his body screaming in protest with every wet slap of their feet against the pavement… But with the rain finally dying off to a slow pour, the track of his blood would be woefully prominent in Leith’s sharp muzzle, not to mention Snow and her engrossing scent as it wafted through the streets.

Even if Harry couldn't define it the same way Leith could, he knew it was there; could feel that presence like something physical pressing against his heaving chest, spurring him forward and forcing him to match Winn's long strides. It would be unmistakable in Leith’s snout and fuck … If he changed course and started scouring for Caitlin instead…

“I can smell her too.” Winn started, causing Harrison to snap his gaze on the meta currently gripping at his ripped tee and pulling him into the street.

Whether or not he had voiced his thoughts or if Winn could somehow use his abilities to read minds, Harry frowned and gave a quick nod, unsure if that comment was meant to be a warning or meant to reassure him. Whatever the intent, Harry gruffed out a low huff and limped along at Winn's side before asking, “Is she close?”

“Cant worry about that yet…” He said. “Gotta get you out first.” At that, Harry's feet planted firmly into the pavement below before yanking against the collar of Winn's jacket, causing him to teeter back and round on Harrison before baring his jagged teeth and growling out, “The fuck?!”

“She comes first.” Came Harrison’s low grate, narrowing his eyes as the color of Winn's skin began falling into a pale grey.

Winn's blackening stare locked on Harrison, causing him to force a swallow through his parched throat… “Didn't peg you for a gentleman.”

Still glaring, Harrison growled out, “Leith knows …”

“Knows what?”

At that, Harry's jaw set as he began grinding his teeth against one another; his stare dumbly locking onto Winn as if he'd begun archaically chanting in the form of some dead language… Knows what? Knows how safe Caitlin makes him feel? Knows that she makes him stronger? Knows how comforting it is just to be in her presence? Knows that Harrison would be completely fucked if he got there first and tore her apart piece by piece?

Shuttering his lids for a short moment before letting his eyes settle back over Winn, Harrison said, “You said it yourself; you can smell her too… Leith knows what that is. He knows what that means to me.”

“Do you know what that means to you?”

Sucking in a ragged breath, Harry shook his head and gave a low, “Please …”

A short puff shoved through Winn's lungs before tossing a look toward the direction where they'd come from and without another ounce of hesitation, Winn bit, “You're going to get me killed… And she's going to get you killed.”

“Please.” He said again, his voice a little rougher now that he was masking the desperation in his tone. “Please …”

“Look, princess…” Winn grated, now tugging at Harrison again as he started stomping through puddle after puddle and heading for the cover of a busted up car on the other side of the street. “I have to get you out of this city no matter what. I can't go after your girl until then…”

“I can help!” Harry seethed through clenched teeth as he threw his weight on his heels once more, causing Winn to quickly spin around just to shoot another glare.

“You can't even help yourself.” He snapped, his head jerking toward the stream of blood trickling over Harry's boots. “You're one big target and fuck if you don't smell like dinner to every bloodsucking meta within a hundred mile radius.”

“Whose fault is that?”

“Yours.” Came Winn's guttural quip. “You're not thinking straight. If I take you with me, you're going to slow us down and get us caught. You got nothing to offer that girl if you're six feet under.”

“I don't exactly trust you…”

“Don't really give a shit…” Winn said with a shrug as he shoved his fists into the pockets lining the front of his coat only to withdrawal a small silver flask moments later and quickly pop the cap...

Harrison's already glaring features hardened a bit further; his eyes drawing to the glint of the flask before dipping his stare to his feet to see that telltale stream of blood that would inevitably damn them both in the long run… With a puckered brow, Harry twisted and tossed his stare somewhere over his shoulder to look for any bit of red trail he'd left behind - any bit of red trail that would lead Leith right to them…

And just as he began to problem solve, figure out a way to mask his scent and press on to look for Caitlin, a sudden pressure coiled around Harrison's throat, causing his hands to shoot up and his fingers to dig against what he immediately recognized to be Winn's arm as it tightened around his windpipe.

“Sorry, princess…” Was Winn's callous response to the shift in his demeanor before bringing his free arm around and covering Harry's airways with a sopping rag.

His instinct was to fight for what he'd lost - pull air back into his lungs even though his slow moving thought process protested just moments too late; his brain flashing pictures of that flask through his mind and screaming chloroform as he sucked in panicked pass after pass of the sweet substance coating the rag. If Harrison was stronger, well rested and well fed instead of running on fumes and working through the pain of freshly ripped skin below his knees, and if Winn hadn't been a meta with a structure that had been rearranged to make him tougher than the average Joe, he might have had a fighting chance… But even with him making shit attempts a throwing kicks into Winn's shins, and his nails biting against the thick fabric of his coat as he clawed at the arm holding fast around his neck, which only managed to force Winn to chaotically spin and pin him into the hood of the nearest vehicle to get a better angle on his thrashing form, Harry was pretty well fucked.

And finally, after a few minutes ticked by, Harrison’s weakened limbs fell at his sides and smacked into the car with a dull, metallic thud that sounded distant in his ears just seconds before his vision faded into darkness.

Fuck …

Somewhere between the faint mumbling that sounded vaguely familiar to Winn’s biting whir and the shadows pulling at his vision as a pair of calloused hands clapped roughly against his cheeks, Harry barely managed to mount the final waves of unconsciousness before hearing, “You with me, princess?”

With his brows drawing together, he tried anything above a rasp but fell short and let his eyes clasp back to a close, which only caused Winn to tap the flat of his fingers against Harry’s forehead in order to demand his unreliable attention once more, eliciting an annoying little slap with every pass of his digits. Harrison flinched rearward with less coordination than he’d anticipated needing, and quickly thunked the back of his head against a series steel rails somewhere behind him, forcing his arms to jerk upwards to cover and soothe the bump in response, but instead of actually being able to cup the oncoming bruise, he felt a catch against his wrists and quickly found that his hands had been somehow fastened to the floor between his legs. He stared at that spot… Blinking and dragging his heavy eyes over the hay at his feet as if he couldn’t really understand what had been holding him down but then, poking up through the fodder was a large eye-bolt where Winn had secured him with a pair of cuffs right where he’d been slouched along the wall.

“Sun’s going down…” Winn finally said, which automatically forced Harrison's eyes to pop away from the bolt and land back on his captor, only to find him crouched down in the hay just a few feet off, his dark eyes looking toward the gloom outside - outside of this small box Harrison had found himself in. “I’m gonna go look for her...” Winn started again, turning back toward Harrison, “If you make any noise, you could draw attention to this car. Do you understand?”

Shuttering his lids, Harrison pursed his lips and watched as Winn’s eyes fastened against him with an urgency that was hard to miss, even for being just minutes outside of the foggy haze of unconsciousness. His face pulled into a frown and his eyes flicked toward the stormy sky, then to the puddle-covered ground outside where train tracks seemed to melt against the mud and reemerge like iron serpents surfacing from the depths of dark waters.

“The railyard…” Was the first thing Harry finally managed to say, still fighting to stay clear headed as he continued following the length of the tracks until they ran into even more lanes and were eventually covered with train cars.

“Hey…” Came Winn’s rough tone just seconds before reaching forward to tug at Harrison’s restraints, causing Harry, in all his lethargic glory, to find him once more. “ Do you understand?”

He probably should have been angry, been trying to fight back or break loose, but for whatever reason, he couldn’t seem to bring himself to even speak… It could have been the aftermath of his experience with Winn and his chloroform or something else, something stronger that had a way of yanking him underneath the wave of this flood and twisting him around until he couldn’t remember which way was up. Furrowing his brows once more, and pinching his eyes shut, Harry gave a slow nod that seemed so subtle, he wasn’t even sure if his head was moving but with a short rush of air and sudden thump as Winn tore across the stock car and hopped out the door, he must have caught enough of a gesture to determine Harrison’s meaning…

“I’ll be back at dawn… With or without the girl. No matter what, we move on.” Winn finalized, his hand latching onto the grip and holding Harrison’s stare a beat longer before yanking at the door, the hinges grinding as he pulled the covering over the exit; his footsteps slapping to the pace of what sounded like a jog as he turned and started down the tracks that lead toward the station.

And once he was out of earshot, Harrison let his head fall back against the bars behind him and closed his eyes before drawing in deep breath that almost instantly cooked his lungs; the smell of old manure and less than fresh hay drifting through his nostrils like an unpleasant stream of toxins. Letting his eyes slide open so he could stare across what he could only assume was a retired stock car, he watched dumbly as the rain came and went in inconsistent waves through the bars on the other side of this iron prison.

It was an odd feeling… Being alone.

Because for the first time since he narrowly dodged that explosion at the lab, Harrison was, in fact, completely alone. There were no metas, no survivors that he'd fastened to some chair to make a bullshit attempt at scaring them shitless, and with that sinking feeling plaguing his gut, there was certainly no Caitlin Snow smiling at him from the back of a white Lincoln. Fuck it all... With his head falling forward and his breath pulling through his lungs in the form of heavy wafts, Harry clenched his eyes and was instantly met with the image of that large dark stare that had apparently been burned into the back of his lids, causing his chest to crumble under some sudden and very strange weight he couldn't explain.

It was exhausting to continuously knock his thoughts back into the dark corners of his mind; throw them in a box and slam the lid down before they had a chance to run wild and send him on an inescapable rampage through his own conscious. What if Winn was lying? What if this was some cruel game and he was on his way to get Leith…? Or even worse… What if he truly did intend to bring Snow back but in five or six different pieces?

And at that, the air was ripped right out of his lungs; his eyes snapping open before wrenching his stare back on the rails on the other side of the car. It didn't matter if Winn told him not to draw attention to himself because he was starting to feel that rise in his chest as he sucked in one panicked lungfull after another - the kind that had a way of burning the inside of his ribs without actually supplying him with the oxygen he so desperately began needing; his veins chilling like they'd been frozen just seconds before a hot sweat drenched the length of his spine.

The echo of his breathing kept bouncing back at him, traveling through the series of metal walls that held him captive; a place where shadows shifted and took a new shape as fast as the sun continuously fell beneath Central City's skyline… And with his heartbeat thrumming loudly in his ears as he gulped for air, he was beginning think he wasn't sitting in some abandoned car that was lying idle in the middle of an untouched set of tracks that hadn't seen use in months… Somewhere between the wind whistling through the cracks in a way that resembled deep inhales and the rain lightly drumming against the walls like a distant heartbeat rhythmically pounding away, Harry was beginning to wonder if Winn hadn't killed him and tossed him into the belly of a beast.

His heels dug into the fodder below his feet as a way to anchor himself and brace for the storm that had been swelling in his mind long before he ever hot wired that car and nearly pancaked Snow outside the lab… It was like being stripped bare and left with nothing but broken skin covering a set weak bones. And now that he truly had nothing left to lose, Harrison's head dipped forward, his body curling until his shoulders were settled between his knees and his hands could start clawing at his scalp. His digits twisted against his sweat caked hair and with a hard yank, he let a whimper bubble up his throat.

He was toxic …

It was the only explanation he had for this situation and everything else that had lead him to this point. He created this… He let science spur him on and inadvertently ended up curving his future by releasing a plague of meta humans into a city that once thrived. Because damn him and his ambition… Damn him and his disregard for boundaries.

He was the one who gave rise to Zoom’s influence and helped him build a dynasty of fear all because he couldn't stop himself from pursuing a future of endless possibilities. No matter how much he wanted to deny it and hide from the truth, Zoom was the monster lurking in every shadow of his mind and was the monster he created - the monster who took his little girl… And now he was caught between worlds where the lions were running free from a coliseum of nightmares; a place where his daughter was dragged and shredded - her flesh hanging from the sharpened teeth of her captors for the sole purpose of making sure Harrison would never surface from the depths of his despair.

With that, Harry gripped harder against his scalp, blunt nails digging into his skin with enough force to make angry cuts along the length of his head before gulping a strangled lung full of air. Jesse's death, along with the countless lives that had been taken after Zoom fell through the breach, was entirely his fault and with that thought sinking into every crevice of his mind, Harrison slammed back along the metal rails behind him, eliciting an echoing clunk that ricocheted through the railyard. And with total disregard for Winn's advice to not draw attention to his car, he did it again and again and again until finally allowing his head to cannon back into the wall, this time letting out a holler that swallowed him whole inside the confinement of his rectangular prison. He wasn't sure how long he spent in that box screaming through the chaos of his isolation but somewhere between his suppressed thoughts of Jesse rising to the surface and the memory of rushing to the hospital after getting that call over ten years ago when he learned his wife had been t-boned by some drunk asshole, his lungs were raw.

He slumped forward again, ready to drop before furrowing his brows and feeling either tears or beads of sweat running down the slope of his nose and dripping off the tip. His eyes shuttered back to a close, allowing him to determine that, with the warm gush that followed, he was, without a doubt, feeling tears roll down his face. Teeth chattering and hands shaking, Harry open his eyes and stared down at the eye-bolt holding him in place before blinking away the watery haze coating his irises...

He wasn't sitting in the belly of a beast because somehow, that fate would be too merciful for someone who was a worthless piece of shit that had a bad habit of ruining the lives of everyone who cared about him… He was fastened to the floor of an old stock car, waiting on a meta who hated every fiber of his being to bring back the one and only thing Harrison had left in this world… And based on his track record with people he held in high regard, he wasn't hopeful. Snow was long gone…

“Fuck…” Came his tired grate, slow and broken as he let his fingers curl back into his now bloody tresses.

He couldn't imagine continuing on in a world where she was gone… He didn't want to and even if Winn ripped his knee caps right off his legs, nothing was going to stop him from looking for her, even if she was reduced to nothing more than a ghost. For reasons he couldn't explain, he wasn't whole without her.

“I still need you…” He rasped, his weakened voice bouncing back at him before clenching his eyes and letting the sound settle inside his ears; his mind flashing pictures of light blue hues and pretty, large eyes that had a way of kicking him on his ass every time they fluttered in his direction. “I need you.”

Finding purchase against the eye-bolt and letting his fingers wrap around the cool steel, Harrison gripped tight and took a deep breath… Through all the chaos that came with Zoom and his fucked up fallout, there was a small peppering of joy that Harrison had been latching into, no matter how impossibly perfect it may have seemed. Caitlin was the only thing holding him together, what with her pretty smiles and her slow glances, and the easy glide of her fingers ghosting along the bumps in his ribs as she coaxed him to sleep… Needing her was almost an understatement. Without understanding how or why, it went much deeper than just companionship on a broken road that seemingly lead in circles and if there was one thing he could be sure of, he was completely lost without her.

At that, Harry grit his teeth and gruffed out a low, “Come back… Come back to me.” And almost as if it had become a prayer, Harry held fast to those words and continued anchoring himself against the eye-bolt as he rocked forward. “Come back…”

It could have been minutes or hours but eventually, after the sun was long gone and darkness had covered the inside stock car like a heavy blanket falling over the ground, Harrison's voice had dropped to a low whirr that he could barely hear, what with him drifting in and out of the realm of sleep like a ghost floating through different dimensions.

Come back…

With his eyes cracking open for a short moment, he barely registered the fact that he'd fallen on his side, the hay below him poking through his shirt and scratching at the wounds covering his legs where the denim had been sliced.

Come back to me...

But then, there was a faint noise in the distance; voices and something that sounded wet as if mud had been splashing around a series of determined stomps.

Come back…

The tell tale grinding of rusted hinges screamed through the confinement of Harrison's car, causing his eyes to snap open before quickly jerking himself to brace on an elbow. He squinted through the dark and stared at the now open door, still groggy from sleep before he finally saw it. A figure had been all but thrown through the opening and landed on all fours in the hay before flipping around and snarling out, “Son of a bitch!”

And with that, he blinked and he pushed through the hay, reaching for the silhouette before rasping out a tired, “ Snow …”

He wasn't crazy… At least not yet. He recognized that voice, that figure...

There was a pause; that perfect silhouette twisting herself in Harry’s direction as if she wasn't sure she'd actually heard him… But then, without bothering to lift herself up, she was rapidly shuffling toward him until throwing herself forward and crashing into his frame without giving him a chance to pull himself upright, and if it wasn't for the fact that he was cuffed to the floor, he would have fallen back.

Cool fingers slicked against the blood covering his scalp and quickly threaded behind his head before pulling him into her chest. And in response, his hands clasped around her lower back and slid up her narrow ribcage before pulling her in and pressing closer just to listen to her heart beat thrum through her breastplate.

“Fuck…” He finally said, broken and hoarse before rolling his head against her chest and pressing his brow to her collarbone. “Fuck, Snow…”

“I thought you were dead.” She sobbed back before dropping her mouth to his crown, the sound of her tired voice tugging at his gut in a way that made him want to throw up. “I went back for you… There was so much blood-”

“It's okay…” He whispered, now gripping against her jacket and tugging her impossibly closer just to pull her familiar scent through his nostrils and let it grind against every bend in his lungs. “You're okay…”

“Are you okay?” She asked, pulling his head back and running her thumb over the half dried blood trail sticking to his forehead. Her worried eyes widened as she stared at the dark lines of his blood through the obscurity of nightfall and with her brows furrowing, she muttered a quick, “Damn it…” And with that, she jerked herself back toward the door and seethed, “What did you do to him?!”

“Fuck me!” Winn barked, jumping up into the car and slamming a fist against the doorframe, eliciting a hard rattle that made the entire thing shake. “All you do is bitch ! Listen, when I left, that fucker was intact … Whatever bullshit that is, princess did it to himself.”

Now practically growling, Caitlin warned, “If you think I'm done with you-”

“Jesus wept!” Winn gnashed, stepping forward and snatching the collar of her jacket before ripping her rearward and out of Harrison's grasp. “This bitch…” He muttered, crouching down and digging in his pockets before withdrawing the keys to his cuffs and jamming it into the lock. “She fucking clocked my balls the second I caught up with her and threw bitch fits the whole way here.”

With a smirk, Harry pulled his hands free and rubbed at his wrists before looking at Winn and giving a low, “Thank you…”

“I didn't do this for you .” He bit back with a glare that narrowed on Harrison before mounting a stance. “Thanks for telling me your tail was Killer Frost’s doppel, by the way… I went in full beast mode thinkin’ the bitch was gonna get icy on me.”

Harry blinked, his mouth hanging open a bit before glancing toward Caitlin who was waiting patiently where she sat nestled in the hay, and glaring daggers into the back of Winn's head as she watched him stuff his cuffs back into his pocket. “Did you tell her?”

Winn's eyes flicked back down to Harry, his body tensing and shoulders locking in place before furrowing his brows. “Does it matter?”

“I didn’t think she needed to know.”

“Neither did I…”

Harrison gave a curt nod and said, “Good.”

The Glasgow part of Winn's mouth twitched, his eyes hardening as he stared down at Harrison before flicking the point of his tongue over the jagged half of his teeth… He blinked hard, his jaw flexing as if he was debating on making some life altering choice, causing Harrison to glare and quickly plant a hand against the fodder to push himself on his feet.

“What?” Harrison gruffed…

“Don't act like we're going to start doing each other any favors…” He snarled. “This shit doesn't make us tight.”

Harry frowned and opened his mouth to growl out a response but before he could, Winn was taking a step back, his voice echoing through the car as if everything was one big fucking tea party...

“Alright, ladies…” Winn started, rounding toward Snow and moving back for the door. “We got a long way to go and you're not exactly working with a set of good legs. And I'm sure as shit not carrying you.”

“Where are we going?” Caitlin cut, her tone hard as she watched him poke his head outside the car to make sure the way was clear.

“There's a halfway point Mcgee set up for refugees.” Winn supplied before fixing his dust mask back over his face… “I bring them in and every few days Mcgee sends someone out to get them and drag them back to her bunker…”

“What's with the whiskers…?” Caitlin asked, pointing toward the drawing covering his mask.

With a short sniff, Winn glanced to the he ground and gave a slow shrug, “I find kids sometimes…” He shook his head and gestured to the marred side of his face where his teeth poked through his flesh from beneath the mask. “Figured it was better than my face. So…” His eyes flicked back toward Caitlin before drawing in a sharp breath and setting his jaw. “Let's just go…”

It took roughly two minutes after Winn had hopped down from the car before Harrison was on his feet and grappling at the wall, his fingers curving over one of the rails to keep pressure off his torn legs. And only seconds after that, Caitlin was back in his proximity, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying herself into his chest as if she was building a home, gripping tight and holding on like she wouldn't be able to let go even if she wanted to. And now that Winn was no longer standing in the car and watching their every move, Harry’s free hand burrowed into a mess of mangled curls at the nape of her neck before tilting her head back and dropping his forehead to hers with a knock that was sure to leave a mark...

With a furrowed brow and clenched eyes, Harrison pushed a good amount of weight down onto her, causing her to stumble back and press a hand into his chest to hold him up. Having little to no belongings now that they were uprooted and back on the move didn't seem important anymore now that she was there, pushing into him and sliding a hand over his shoulder and up his neck because fuck if she wasn't the only thing left in this world that he needed to survive.

“You were worried, weren't you?” She whispered.

Worried seemed to woefully underplay what he actually felt during those rough few hours he spent wondering if she was safe - praying she'd be okay… He didn't bother opening his eyes but he could hear the smile in her tone and quickly let out a rough exhale before swallowing down the words he couldn't seem to say and nodding against her head.

“Me too.”

“I hated it.” He finally growled through tightly clenched teeth, his eyes opening and his gaze settling on the blur of her cheekbones. “I hated every minute - every second of it.”

Pulling her hand away from his neck and shoving her fist firmly into his shoulder, she stepped back, causing his head to jerk upward and his stare to find her through the dark… “Never do that again. Okay?”

“Never.”

“Promise?”

Letting his mouth quirk at the corner, Harry gave an overly eager nod and and swore, “Never again.”

Temporarily satisfied, she stepped back into him and slid herself around his side before pulling  his elevated arm away from the rails and bringing it down around her shoulders. “You look like you could use some help.”

“I'm okay.”

“I wasn't asking.”

Puffing an amused snort, Harrison shook his head and gave himself the luxury of letting her carry a small amount of his weight; hobbling at her side and wincing after every step but relishing in the feeling of her fingers as one hand held fast at his side and the other wrapped gently around his chafed wrist.

Good fucking girl…

Chapter Text

Even without the tell tale glow bouncing off the skyscrapers and illuminating the night sky above the city, the stars still seemed brighter now that they were surrounded by forest and huddled around the dying beam of Winn's flashlight as it flickered and faded between them; the tail of it cutting through the fog and casting a series of unnatural shadows through the trees. It should have been one of the most familiar sights in the world, especially after Harrison had spent a handful of summer nights in a sleeping bag in his backyard when he was a kid; paying the price of waking up with dew ridden bedding and stiff muscles just so he could make it his personal mission in life to study the stars.

But it seemed oddly foreign now, what with him being tucked against the hard stalk of a tree and shifting his sore ass along its muddy roots to look for a comfortable position while keeping a close eye on the meta staring at him from the other side of the fading light between them. He was beginning to wonder if he should have kept his head out of the clouds like his father warned…

After all, being a construction and making an honest living while having a freak-genius kid living in his home and swiping batteries and other random parts from the local junkyard to build equipment he didn't understand was probably more than intimidating for him, especially when other fathers went on about how their boys were destined for a future of swinging bats through the air and cracking leather balls into a stand of cheering crowds. Solving Einstein’s riddle when Harry was ten years old was one thing, but pushing science passed the limit and ignoring every warning sign along the way just to see how close he could actually get to those stars before creating an army of metas, was a different thing altogether.

If it hadn't been for those summer nights watching the stars and those early mornings working in the lab until Harrison's eyes felt like they were going to liquify and pour from their sockets like a carton of melted ice cream, there would be no metas, no Zoom, and no fallout … Jesse would be home and Harrison wouldn't be here, grinding his tailbone against a forest floor full of upturned roots with Caitlin Snow folded along the length of his leg and using his forearm as a bullshit excuse for a pillow. He wouldn't be fighting sleep just to make sure a man who could easily overpower him wasn't going to go darkside and start feasting on him or on the girl curling into him for warmth.

And with a rough grunt that made Harrison flinch, Winn leaned forward and grasped at the flashlight between them before clicking at its rubber button and allowing a cloud of darkness to shroud them once more… Everything was surrounded with shades of gray, save for the darkening shadows of the trees swallowing at them from above, what with the stars casting a luminescent glow from somewhere over the canopy and falling through the fog like a waterfall of light moving through to capture the hazy territory for its own.

With the exception of the frogs happily chirping by a small stream that was nestled somewhere between the trees, their ragtag camp was quiet enough for Harrison to be able to latch onto every sound Winn made; be it the rustle of dead leaves beneath a heavy pair of boots as he stretched his legs, or that rough exhale he seemed to release every time the boredom became too big a burden to silently bare… And now that the flashlight was off and the moon was moving behind the clouds and giving rise to a darkening forest that was thick with fog, Harrison felt waves of anticipation shooting through his body in the form of shivers, inadvertently causing Snow’s cold fingers to curl around his wrist throughout the tremors.

Harry’s head tipped sideways before letting his hand flex under her grip, his fingers spreading against the cold ground and immediately getting swallowed by the sodden earth below. His brows pinched a bit, his eyes falling over her to find how truly uncomfortable she looked lying along the wet ground and subconsciously burrowing into his equally saturated pant leg to find even the slightest bit of warmth… It didn't seem fair to see a well-groomed girl with habitually smooth curls and bright eyes shivering in the mud with a damp mess of hair that had been pulled into a ratty bun at the top of her head, but there she was. Even if it seemed cruel for her, or either of them for that matter, she was right there… Navigating through the death and destruction around them and somehow keeping strong without losing her shit after every grueling hurtle. It was like she'd meant to defy the unpredictability of the world around her as it lunged from every direction with the intent of snapping her up in its sharp teeth… But Caitlin Snow’s adaptability made her an invaluable asset to their survival.

Maybe he was selfish but he couldn't imagine being on his own without anyone holding him up; drifting without an ever-burning fire shining bright through a freezing rain and lighting his way. Harrison had already determined he'd have a much better chance of survival if fate had slapped him in a fallen world with the Flash, but he had a feeling he would have been ripped beneath the surface without Caitlin Snow. Somehow, with no powers and no means of support, she'd proven herself again and again and provided an escape in this hell hole and had pulled him from the precipice of his own destruction every day since she bolted across the beam of his headlights outside the lab. And if it killed him, he was determined to pay it forward and fix this mess; lasso the moon and pull it down to earth just for her...

“She's got your shit all messed up, doesn't she…” Came Winn's biting tone, causing Harrison to jerk his head back on the meta now sitting cross-legged across from him with that Glasgow smirk of his cutting through the haze.

With a glare now covering his features, Harrison grit his teeth and fired back a low, “What?!”

“Nothin’, just… You know…” Winn supplied, flicking a finger back and forth between she and Harrison. “You two fuckin’?”

At that, Harry's mouth snapped to a close before swallowing down a mouthful of fog that had gathered along the length of his tongue. He snorted then, giving a quick shake if his head before dropping his eyes to his knees.

They weren't exactly fucking but he certainly felt fucked out on most days and couldn't be sure if it was because of the way she could burn through his veins with a quick flutter of her eyes or if he was just tired and desperate for the world around him to change… Either way, he was spent and was constantly fighting against the sensation of a dull ache hidden away somewhere in the depths of his body; a sensation that settled in his bones and only seemed to rear its ugly head and snap him into a crippling stupor whenever Caitlin Snow was near.

“No…” He finally rasped after letting his eyes drift back over Caitlin's sleeping form just in time to see the steam of her hot breath drift from her nostrils and mingle with the chilled air around her before fading into the fog. “We're not.”

Giving him a small hum, Winn scratched at his chin and leaned back against the tree behind him before grunting out, “You should get some sleep. Got a long walk tomorrow. Ain't pretty but Mcgee has that shit stocked with a good amount of those nasty dehydrated meals, a few cans of food, a kerosene heater.” He finished with a shrug. “Not a whole lot but it's clean and she has a couple guys restock it as needed.”

“Sounds a little too good to be true…” Harrison snarled, shifting his shoulders against the bark holding him upright and letting his fingers curl into the cold mud below.

With a speed that made Harry's lungs still inside his chest, Winn's eyes flicked over him; the irises catching the moonlight and taking the shape of something familiar and animalistic, what with the sudden neon glow lighting through the lenses as he pinned him beneath nothing short of a predatory glare. Setting his jaw and swallowing slowly, Harrison latched onto that glint, not entirely comfortable with the knowledge that Winn could see him through the darkness and through this bullshit fog far better than he could.

“ Careful, princess …” Came Winn's wicked grate, his tone seeping through clenched teeth before blinking away the glow in his eyes. “If I wanted to hurt you… I'd have done it by now.”

Save for Harrison's sharp intake of breath as he continued staring at Winn's silhouette through the darkness, a crippling silence fell over the camp… As much as he hated to admit it, Harrison was probably more vulnerable than he'd been since Leith had him pinned to the dirty ground of that mom and pop store with his own gun shoving into the back of his throat. It wasn't so much that Winn was undoubtedly one of the bad guys , but the threat of him turning on either of them after luring both he and Snow into a false sense of security seemed imminent . He had a way of switching characters too quickly for Harrison's liking and it made it difficult to pinpoint this meta’s true intentions.

But there was no foreseeable gain in luring them to their deaths. And certainly no foreseeable gain in helping them either… And with his anxiety prickling in his chest at the thought of Winn fabricating such an elaborate lie when they were already so beaten down to begin with, Harry had to wrestle the urge to close the gap between he and Winn just to rip his throat out with a quick bite.

“You're not gonna sleep?” Winn asked, the glint of his eyes catching the light once more as he found Harrison through the haze.

With a scoff, Harry flexed his jaw and shook his head… “The environment isn't exactly friendly . Sleep seems detrimental to my survival, don't you think?”

“Suit yourself…”

Adjusting from one uncomfortable position to another, Harrison let his head fall back against the knob in the tree and forced his tired eyes to remained glued to the meta in front of him until at length, when too much silence had passed between them and almost as if he too was fighting the urge not to tackle Harrison, Winn restlessly shifted himself forward by damn-near lunging over top his folded legs… With his body locking in place like a cat about to pounce, Harry tensed and lifted his head once more before gritting his teeth and shooting an all but lethal glare toward the man sitting across from him.

Stifling one of those low growls that had a way of vibrating through Harrison's chest, Winn bit out a quick, “You ever been hungry?”

Harrison didn't respond, only narrowed his eyes and pitched himself ever so slightly in Snow’s direction before slowly pulling his hand from her cold grasp and out from underneath the weight of her head before lowering his now freed limb against her shoulders… He was in no condition to fight, but at the least, if it came down to it, Harry would be able to throw himself in between Winn and Caitlin if he decided to change course and make a ravenous path for her ...

“I mean, really hungry.” He said again, his voice deepening as he continued watching Harrison through the dark. “The kind of hungry where you haven't eaten in days …”

Harrison had been in this situation before… The one where Winn was calling the shots and snarling out irrelevant bits of conversation pieces like an angry loon who was looking to hurt something or someone just for sport. And just the same as it had been when Harrison was tethered to that damn metal chair back at the garage, he wasn't sure if he was supposed to answer… But his instinctual response to remain silent last time had only provoked him and given rise to the beast trapped in Winn's unpredictable mind.

So, this time, he gave a curt, “ Yeah …”

And he had … After weeks and weeks of barely scraping through a now razed city and scrambling for food, shelter, water, and whatever else came with the price of surviving in a fallen world, Harrison knew what hunger felt like. Knew the pull of it in the pit of his abdomen as his stomach began eating itself and lapping at the base of his spine…

“Yeah…?”   Winn echoed, his voice growing even darker as the pitch of it continuously sunk into the depths of his chest. “That's how I felt after your fucked up experiment went nuclear. I just kept eating and eating… And do you know what?”

“What...” Harry chanced.

With a sneer pulling at his marred face and revealing too many rows of teeth, Winn supplied, “I never got full . I went to doctor after doctor but the diagnosis never felt quite right. They all said I had Prader-Willi syndrome or some shit where I couldn't curb cravings but that wasn't it… I kept getting weaker.

“I wasn't satisfied until one day, my little sister started getting worried and invited me over for dinner… She said she'd be able to fix this. She'd cook enough food to get my strength back up… Enough to send me home with leftovers that'd fill me up for days .

“And she did … When I got there, she had a kitchen full of roast, potatoes, corn… She even made a fucking pie. I remember I used to love pie. But I was so hungry. So … Fucking … Hungry … And then, out of nowhere, the other shoe dropped.” He gnashed. “I couldn't stop it…”

Harrison's mouth pulled tight against his teeth before feeling the unwelcome sensation of fear trickle into his already overwrought system…

“Do you want to take a guess at what I ate that day?” He asked with his rough voice cracking just enough to make Harrison squint through the darkness to make a piss poor attempt at gaging Winn's expression. “Do you have any idea what it's like to pull shards of your baby sister's bones out of your teeth? Can you even imagine what it'd be like to swallow chunks of her flesh… And live your life knowing you ate her?”

“No….” Harrison breathed warily, slower than ever before finally - finally - breaking eye contact and slamming his lids shut. “I can't …”

“After that, I started picking off homeless dudes… Prostitutes… People I didn't think anyone would miss.” He started again.  “Did you know that women taste better than men? Because I do… And you know what…?

“That's not something I should know…”

Drawing in a deep breath, Harrison didn't bother opening his eyes, only gave a subtle shake of his head before dipping his chin to his chest and letting an inhale catch inside the confines of his lungs …

Through science and that damn blast, Harry hadn't created extraordinary individuals; men and women who could harness the power of speed, fly, read minds or all the other impossible things anyone would have wished for as a child… He hadn't only created heroes or petty thieves or even a confused group of people who would blindly join Zoom through either the promise of glory or the threat of destruction.

No …

Flash or no Flash, Harrison Wells was the father of monsters and in turn, was a monster himself because in the end, men like him weren't meant to touch those stars...

With a sudden rap feathering gently across his temple, Harrison sucked in a lungfull through his nostrils and shot up on all fours a little too quickly for his own good before blinking the tiredness out of his blurry vision… His chest heaved around the rapid beat of his heart a few times before registering his surroundings; the wet sludge squelching between his fingers, the sparse chirping of birds as they signaled the very start of spring, the agonizing pain ripping through his clawed legs, and the sobering pressure of the hand, light as it was, resting over his incredibly stiff shoulder. Relaxing a bit, he leaned into that grip and let his lower half angle back to settle his ass on the wet ground before kicking his legs forward and hunching his torso over a set of bent knees.

“I didn't mean to startle you…” Caitlin said with a breezy chuckle before dragging her hand away and letting it fall to her lap.

Barely grunting in response, Harry rubbed at his eyes with dirty fingers before sliding his hand through the dew-ridden mess of hair clinging to his forehead and pushing it back; his digits curling there for a bit as he settled an elbow against his knee and finally looked at Snow.

“Sleep well?” She started, lifting a brow as if she was already anticipating his less than jovial answer.

Sleep, even if it had only been a few hours, should have done him some good, made him more energetic, cleared his head and forced him to function with enough logic to get up and start looking for food or planning out the next move in this hellscape but the only thing it seemed to accomplish, was giving him a migraine and a bad attitude. It didn't do him any favors, especially after listening to Winn's biting voice as it snarled out pieces of history Harry never wanted to know… Last night had rattled him to the bone and even after shutting down and falling into the lure of sleep, it wasn't peaceful. Not while it left both he and Snow vulnerable to a meta who's appetite could only be sated with human flesh. And certainly not with the imagery of pointed teeth ripping into him, rendering him motionless, and stealing his ability to scream for help...

“No…” Harrison gruffed, finally sitting upright and taking a deep breath before blinking far too hard as if it would somehow squeeze away the nightmares and the oncoming throb in his head.

“You were drooling.” She remarked with her lips curling into a pleasant smirk.

Harrison popped a brow and absently ran the pad of his muddy thumb from one corner of his mouth to the other, collecting a sticky grime of some kind and pulling his hand away to inspect it as if he could determine whether or not it was his saliva with nothing more than his naked eye… Flicking a quick glance toward her just in time to see her smirk spread into a full blown grin, he let his hand fall back over his leg before giving a small smile of his own and rolling his eyes.

“I guess I didn't realize you've been in the habit of watching me sleep.” He jested.

At that, Snow’s expression twisted into something he could only describe as a tangle of confusion and rectitude as if she suddenly thought there was something he needed to know… As if she hadn't been honest with him up until this point.

“You make me feel calm.” She finally said, blinking her lids around a set of large eyes as she searched his expression for anything that might relay how he felt about that.

Snow and her tired but somehow bright eyes, sunken features, and muddy attire still had a way of drawing his gaze no matter how unkempt she may have seemed. Because there was still something about the way the early morning light caught and held onto her hair like she could somehow harness the sun, the way she still pressed on with her head held high knowing that everyone in this city who she's ever cared about was gone, the strength she held fast to when she was in the process of matching wits with him, and fuck him, that smile was starting to look like the only thing keeping whatever was left of the fire alive in his weary bones. He couldn't really get his head around it since nothing had changed but she was different now… Better . Or maybe he was… Either way, he couldn't manage to drag his eyes off of her.

Blinking slowly and shifting the sore meat of his ass against the tree roots below, he gulped and continued watching as she pushed the heel of her faded blue sneakers into the mud, her eyes bouncing back and forth from her feet to him and holding on for a little too long as if she wanted to make sure he wasn't about to jump to his feet and bolt up… And as much as he wanted to reach out and touch her, let her know that it was okay and give her some sort of reassurance, tell her he wasn't afraid and that it was a welcome change to be the calm to her storm when he’d spent so long keeping balance on shaky legs, he couldn't move. Call it nerves or maybe embarrassment but there was something about being anchored beneath her soft brown eyes that both immobilized him and gave an anxious rise in his chest, a hard beating that thrummed painfully against his breastplate while simultaneously holding him in place just to keep his scattered mind from warning him to sprint away as fast as he could and escape before whatever it was in that gaze of hers could carry out the threat of holding him hostage until the end of his days.

Harrison swallowed then, and let his eyes briefly fall toward the ground before quietly asserting,  “You make me nervous.”

And with that, it was now Harrison’s turn to quietly wait for her judgment to pass… It wasn’t much, really; just a quick fact that didn’t mean anything at the end of the day. But somehow with his eyes fixating over one of those irritating tree roots and his chest holding fast to the last breath he’d sucked in, he was starting to think he’d said too much. There was a good chance he was overthinking it but as if everything they’d been through over the passed few weeks had lead up to this seemingly simple moment, he couldn’t bring himself to look at her; didn’t want to know how she took it and certainly didn’t to watch the shift in her endless collection of facial expressions as she processed a deeper meaning that he was still trying to understand for himself.

Whatever he’d meant when he said it, it wasn’t necessarily negative … Maybe it was at first, what with him fumbling his way through an obstacle course of different anxieties, but now that he’d had her warmth grasping at him every day from dusk till dawn, Harrison was beginning to understand that some of those anxieties - the ones that came whenever she was within proximity - gave him a thrill that had a strange way of making him stronger and weaker all at once.

Finally forcing his stare away from the ground after the silence had become too much to bear, Harrison exhaled through his nose and dragged his hand out of his hair before flicking his eyes back on her to find one of those smiles all but permeating her face and filling his chest with a sudden burst of warmth that had his mouth falling open. And before he could stop it, he was returning the gesture with an earnestness that equaled hers because maybe, as strange as it may have initially been to say, it was something she might like to hear… And maybe he wouldn't be completely opposed to doing it again, especially if he was going to be rewarded with an all but rapturous smile that had a way of taking a hard earned decade off his age.

“I…” He tried again, knowing full well that there was a potential risk of ruining this, whatever it was, with what he'd intended to say next but with her all but beaming expression leading him on, he drew in a deep breath and pressed forward. “I like that.”

Harrison had to force himself to keep his stare pinned in place… Nerves be damned. The truth of it was, he was having trouble comprehending their dynamic and needed her to help him process things, come to a conclusion and understand exactly why he was so confused by her simple gestures and fleeting touches.

“I like that too.” She finally laughed, as if it was a relief to be able to log that realization away.

With an elated huff pushing up from his chest, Harry dipped his chin to hide the now ridiculous grin splitting his face and drew in a slow breath to say something else, but moments before he could, Winn's rough bark sounded through the trees, causing both he and Caitlin to jerk their stares toward the sound.

“You guys are so cute…” Came his sarcastic bite as he stepped back into their camp. “I'm almost jealous.”

At that, Harrison glared… “Should I ask where you've been?”

“Hunting…” Came Winn's light response before he began digging in his pack to withdraw a handful of squirrels that had been tethered together by a cord. “Anyone hungry?” With a smirk that was meant solely for Wells, Winn dragged his gaze away from him before settling it over Caitlin and jesting, “I'm fucking starved … Could eat just about anything.”

Harry tensed, immediately pressing his palms into the mud and trying to mount a slow stance, but with the pain in his legs shooting straight to the bone, he'd only made it as far as his knees before Winn began laughing at his efforts…

“Chill, bitch!” Winn growled, tossing the dead squirrels straight into Harrison's chest with a slap . “Don't gotta get all up in arms. I'm just being a dick.”

Barely managing to grapple at Winn's quarry, Harry clapped his hands around the furred bodies and was instantly met with the unwelcome realization that his fingers where pressing into a series of wet puncture wounds and broken spines…

Fuck ...

Quickly tossing a side glance at Snow, Harry waited with baited breath until at length, her large eyes dragged away from the mangled squirrels in his hands and fluttered toward Winn. With her brow puckering and her head tilting slightly as if she was having trouble understanding the underlying meaning that was about as subtle as a bus, Harrison exhaled at the wonderful realization that last night, when Winn had gone into the sickening history of his transformation from man to monster, Snow had been, in fact, asleep … No innocence lost.

With a growl, Wells reared back and chucked the squirrels at Winn's feet before rasping out, “Fuck you…”

Unable to stifle another barking laugh, Winn pitched forward and snatched the tethered bodies out of the mud before stomping off once more and disappearing into the trees.

Afternoons were a complete bitch, especially now that everyone in the party was running on roughly no sleep for the passed twenty four hours… But even with the stickiness of tired lids clinging to Harry's eyes every time he blinked, and the aching hunch at his spine as he rested his upper body against a freshly fallen tree that had snapped off near the base during the storm, he couldn't seem to stop staring at her . Still unable to put his finger on exactly why , Caitlin looked different now that he'd lost her and somehow had enough dumb luck to run into the only meta in this city willing to help him get her back.

It was like he was finally beginning to see for the first time since he'd hopped through the breach and landed on Earth-2 with his ass in hand, truly see … For the first time since he'd lost Jesse, he could almost remember what it was like to sink his teeth into something good . For the first time since he'd lost Jesse, he was starting to remember what it felt like to be groundlessly hopeful… Even if that way of thinking had always seemed flawed in his eyes. But he was starting to understand that Caitlin's optimism wasn't a disease that he'd built immunity against, no matter how cynical he might have tried to be. It was contagious… She was contagious. From her messy bun and big eyes, all the way down to the earth shattering voice that held every potential to knock the ice straight out of Harrison's soul, Caitlin Snow was thoroughly and irreversibly contagious .

And with a quick tilt of her head and a small bat of her eyes as they hastily flicked toward him, Harrison blinked; the subtle action of her gaze finding him and pulling him out of the isolated realm he'd been building in his mind in order to privately process what it was that had changed between them, ended up causing another heated burst of air to bubble from the depths of his lungs and swell within the confines of his chest. Swallowing down a gulp of air that managed to burn his extremely dry throat and make him want to fall on all fours and start lapping at the mud under his boots like a dehydrated dog, Harry dropped his stare toward the ground and bumped his hip against the mossy log under his hand. It wasn't that she'd caught him doing anything wrong, but the hot flare shooting up the back of Harry's neck had him wavering under her gaze whether he liked it or not.

The baffling thing about her wasn't just that she seemed different , but she was unquestionably happy to be sitting on a patch of wet leaves with no food, no water, and no hope for the future; she was unquestionably happy to be sitting with him … The predominant cause for this meta-human apocalypse.

Barely shifting his sore body against his perch and wincing at the pain ripping through him from head to toe, Harry chanced another small glance in her direction to find her still, irrevocably happy as she watched him, giving an almost timid grin that showed off the laughter lines around her pretty eyes...

Whatever the true reason for her undoubtedly good mood, Harry finally forced a small smile in return as he willed his eyes to stay fastened to her, unsure really if he could curl his lips back in a way that relayed the same message as she was currently sending him; could push himself to give more than just a simple twitch at the corner of his mouth and make her feel safe, give her warmth, make her feel like she had a place with him no matter how far they were destined to accompany one another.

“We gotta move…” Came a sudden voice from somewhere down the trail, causing Harry to pull his eyes away from Snow and snap his stare toward Winn, who was busy toying with the channels on his high-tech two way radio. “So, if you two are about done eye-fuckin’…”

Like he'd been caught red-handed in the process of committing a crime he didn't understand, Harrison let his stare drop to the mud below before pushing a snort through his nostrils and doing everything in his power not to be pulled back into Snow’s gaze, uplifting as it was. But if staring at Caitlin was his only crime, he'd gladly take any sharp remark from Winn because letting his gaze wash over her was like surviving long enough to witness the earth's final sunset before all other lights would go dark - a bittersweet warmth that filled him with joy but was accompanied by an ache that gave him the sense of dread all at once and he wouldn't trade that for anything in her world or his.

Bouncing his eyes back in her direction, Harry took note to the way she was now pinning Winn beneath a bone chilling glare and all but baring her teeth as he shot a smirk toward her, tucking his walkie into his jacket and crossing his arms over his chest as if he'd won the silent war that had been started the moment he plucked her from the city and dragged her back to the railcar where he'd locked Harrison away... But it wasn't until Caitlin sent a short glance in his direction that Harry found the wisdom in casting his eyes back over the sodden ground below. There was something in the way her lips tightened and in the way her eyes fluttered absently to the side as if he wasn't the only one who had been caught red-handed in whatever it was they were doing wrong… As minimal as it may have seemed.

So, grabbing briefly at the back of his incredibly bruised head, thanks to Winn and that fucking pry bar, Harrison pushed himself away from the log and took a stance on weakened legs, wincing against the way the weight of his body shot bolts of pain right through the deep lacerations covering his limbs as if to scold him for forgoing a much needed rest...

“How much further is your safe house?” He finally grunted after taking his first step and clenching his jaw at the burning sensation ripping through his barely healed wounds before shoving his dirt ridden hands into his grimy pockets and doing everything within his power not to look at Snow and wordlessly invite her to rush to his aid… Again .

“Dunno… Probably be there by the end of the day.” Winn replied, tilting his head in the direction where their trail started to bend and disappear through the trees.

“I don't suppose there's a shower where we're going...” Said Snow as she got to her feet, voice rougher than usual and eyes still digging into the back of Winn's head as if she'd love nothing more than to carve out his brain.

With a rough snort, Winn chuckled out, “Tub, actually.”

At that, Snow’s hostility melted away and was quickly replaced by a toothy grin before all but skipping to catch up with the meta leading them on. “I hope you're not pulling my leg.”

“I ain't kiddin’.” Winn confirmed as he clomped through the weeds surrounding the path. “Got  beds, some cots in case the place fills up, food, water, meds…You might be bunking with people you don't know but after all that shit back in that garage…”

“It would be an improvement…” Harrison supplied.

“Yeah…”

“Still sounds too good to be true.” Harry grated.

“Don't remember asking for your opinion, princess…”  With Winn's eyes flicking toward Caitlin, he took note of her filth ridden attire from Harrison’s now tattered jacket all the way down to the faded blue sneakers that were starting to split near the toes… “Might even be able to find some clothes for you to wear too…”

As if Christmas morning had come early, Caitlin quickly spun around and graced Harrison with one of those heart stopping smiles… “Did you hear that?”

“Yeah.” He gruffed, barely audible and woefully less enthused than he'd originally tried for, causing Caitlin's face to drop as if she suddenly understood…

This could be a trap...

Significantly less chatty and now biting at her lip, Snow blinked and set her large eyes on Harry for a short time before he hobbled closer and tentatively placed a hand on the knob in her shoulder to give her a small squeeze that he'd intended to be reassuring, but with the half stifled groan pushing through his throat and the wince curling through his expression, the only thing he managed project, was how miserable he was…

Her automatic response was to give a quick flick of her arm as it coiled around his lower back, causing him to stop mid-step and just lean. Harrison's body hunched sideways, uncaring how the weight of him forced Caitlin to shift awkwardly beneath the bulk of it in order to keep them both from slipping through the mud.

“Sorry…” He rasped, trying in vain to pull back as she worked against his motives and kept him firmly in place by flattening a hand at his side.

“You're hurt…” She whispered back, her chin dipping so she could get a look at his legs and frowning at the thick mixture of blood and sludge coating the denim near his wounds. “If you need to rest, maybe we can-”

“I'll be fine…” He grated, trying and failing to take another step without grimacing. “The sooner we get there, the better.”

At that, Caitlin's gaze darted up the wooded path to find Winn still purposefully stomping along before shifting beneath Harry's weight and maneuvering him in a way that had her supporting as much of his upper body as she could manage. With her fingers curling into the belt loop at his hip and gripping hard enough to pull the fabric taut around his waist, and her other hand now bracing him at his stomach, she urged him to take a slow moving step forward and waited until he gained his bearings before doing it again… And again.

Before long he was moving… It was sluggish and uneven but it was progress all the same. And now that he was draping an arm around Caitlin's  shoulders and clapping his grip over the hand at his stomach, he wasn't sure why he'd been efforting to trek this path alone.

Her fingers curled under his hold, the tips of them dragging over the worn fabric of his shirt and gently rubbing at the skin of his abdomen underneath, giving him a pleasant distraction to the agonizing pressure of his steps as he walked. Harrison huffed then, low and steady before casting a side long look in Caitlin's direction to find her once more pulling her bottom lip between the pinch of her teeth…

Frowning, Harry asked, “You okay...?”

Releasing her lip and directing her stare back over him, Harry swallowed… The sudden realization of just how close she was forcing him to keep his already weary legs from seizing under her gaze as he hobbled along.

“You don't trust him…”

“ He's a dick…” He grated through clenched teeth.

“I didn't ask if you liked him.” She deadpanned. “I think it's safe to say that neither of us do.”

With a scoff, Harry set his jaw and growled out, “He ruined my legs, knocked me unconscious twice , and handcuffed me in a railcar for an entire night … Any opinions I have are going to be biased.”

“Do you think he's lying?”

“I think …” Harry started, his eyes fixing on Winn for a short time before dragging his gaze away and pinning Snow beneath an expression that he'd hoped was easier than the scowls and distant stares she'd grown accustomed to receiving. “We’ll be safe as long as you and I stay together....”

With a smirk curling at her pretty mouth and her hip playfully bumping against his, Caitlin teased, “It's about time you started coming up with good ideas… I was actually starting to question which one of us was supposed to be the genius.”

“Stop…”

Chapter Text

With stiff, half-dried denim rubbing against the wounds in his legs and causing his teeth to grind after every rough pass of fabric, Harrison forced another step forward and barely managed to keep balance as the mud-slickened trail head began guiding them uphill. Clenching his eyes and halting before the weight of that step could follow through with the threat of pushing an unbearable pain through his wrecked legs, he waited a beat longer, not bothering to look at Snow as she fastened to his side and gave a gentle nudge toward the incline before them.

“This hurts…” He finally rasped after forcibly dragging his other leg forward and planting another firm step in the sludge below him.

Harrison had always prided himself on having a high tolerance for pain, but the torturous burn that refused to break it's relentless assault as it throbbed in every corner of his body, made him want to give into the urge to pursue high dramatics and crawl the rest of the way on all fours. And with another slow-moving step bracing on the hill, Harry opened his eyes and pitched himself forward just enough to hold there, balance out his weight and keep himself from losing whatever progress he'd gained by sliding rearward.

“You can do this…” Caitlin reassured, still holding fast to his arm and trying in vain to keep him in place as he predictably started to slip in inch or two in the wrong direction. “We're almost there.”

Setting his jaw, Harry shook his head and asked, “How do you know?”

“Because I told her it was just up the hill.” Came Winn's huff as he stepped up behind them and drew in a heavy breath as if he too had been struggling to continue on…

Harry's eyes shot to the side, all too late after Winn rounded him and took a stance next to his right, opposite of Snow; the jagged teeth on the ruined half of his face catching his gaze for a brief moment before efforting to ignore them altogether and force his stare onto the green of Winn's irises. 

A frown quickly pinched at Winn's brow, as if he could sense Harry's unease… And with his jaw fixing as best as it could around the teeth jutting through the irreparable damage they'd caused over the skin of his left cheek, he sneered; practically folding the receding side of his lip into his face before tipping closer to Harrison…

Harrison didn't have to question why Winn hated his very existence… Not anymore. Aside from the very obviously altered left side of his face, the retractable claws, the skin tone that could turn deathly within and instant, and his insatiable craving to feed on human flesh, Harry understood that no matter who Winn was, either an enemy or an unpredictable ally, he'd always have an ever present resentment toward him because of what happened to his sister… Because of what he'd become after the particle accelerator went up in flames… 

The knowledge hung heavily between them, seeping through the cracks of their fragile dynamic and ultimately thickening the air before Winn finally stifled the inhuman growl threatening to bubble up from somewhere deep in his chest. He stepped closer then, clapping a hand around Harrison's  bicep and starting a brutal pace up the unpredictable slope ahead; sliding a bit as he dragged Wells out of Caitlin's grasp and tugged him on without giving him a moment to process the fact that he was moving… And with the slap of mud beneath their boots as they trudged forward, they'd finally reached the top.

Winn gave a final tug against Harrison’s arm to be sure he wouldn't begin sliding backwards again before gracelessly ripping away and allowing him to fall knees first into the mud. His hands gripping through the crunch of wet leaves as he heaved and gritted his teeth around the agonizing sensation of pain as it shot through his body, sharp as knives and faster than light, before forcing himself to pull his gaze away from the forest floor and take a long look at their destination… The finish line that they'd worked so hard to get to before the sun had another chance to fall below the towering trees over their heads. And at last, when he forced his stare to settle before him, he was met with--

Nothing …

Nothing but brown patches of thistle bushes that lay half dormant in the wake of winter; a sparse line of green blooms barely making a break for the teasing warmth of spring… Nothing but a forest of old, withered trees, nothing but a thick layer of dead leaves covering it's floor and stamped into the ground after the animals that inhabited it trekked back and forth, and nothing but a still endless, damn-near untouched trail that lead deeper into the thick of it…

Pinching his eyes briefly and shooting a glare up at Winn, who was still hovering above him with a scowl, he growled, “Dick…”

“You were slowing down…” Winn shot back with equal ferocity. “I don't got time for quitters.”

“You lied…”

“It got you up the hill, didn't it?” He barked, shoving a hand in his satchel and withdrawing a half empty bottled water that had been crumpled beneath the weight of whatever else he was carrying before tossing it down to Wells; the landing causing Harry to flinch after mud splattered and dotted a sticky trail along his lip and jaw. “Get bent.”

Quickly wiping the back of his dirty hand across his mouth, Wells gripped at the bottle and pulled it out of the sludge before making a bullshit attempt to shake the rest of the grime off of it with a quick flick of his wrist. Begrudgingly so, but still not caring enough to question whether or not Winn had actually offered him water or something else, Harry twisted at the cap and tipped back before guzzling down a few gulps of the contents… It was satisfying after going an entire two and a half days without stopping to eat or drink too much. From Lucas Bauer to Winn whatever-the-fuck his name was, everything had been nonstop and Harrison was fucking thirsty .

It wasn't until Snow had climbed up the ridiculously steep hill and pulled herself out of the depths of that damn trench that Harrison replaced the bottle cap and held it up to Winn, who had all but snatched it back before offering it to Caitlin with a good deal more finesse than he'd done for Harrison. And within seconds, she too was taking a desperate swig.

With him settling onto his knees and being too tired to do anything about the chilled muck oozing into the fabric of his jeans, Harry placed his hands on his hips and hunched forward just enough to rest his spine; his eyes tacking onto the sparse layer of grass poking through the leaves before the sound of Caitlin swallowing down a mouthful of water pulled at his attention. Quickly, and without thinking, he gave a sidelong glance in her direction to find her predictably gulping at the mouth of the bottle in a way that was very uncharacteristic for the Caitlin Snow he'd grown to know over the last few months… He pursed his lips and watched with a fixated stare as the line of her throat shifted around the gentle slide of water, the drops that she'd carelessly lost after moving too quickly and allowing them to drip off her chin and cascade in the form of a wet stream down the length of her neck, and lastly, the happy little hum that had sounded off when she'd finished and tossed the now empty bottle back to Winn… Who was now staring at Harrison with that crooked smirk of his curling through his deformed features.

He wasn't sure when exactly his mouth had fallen open like a dog panting for air but within an instant, Harry had snapped it to a close, quick enough to knock his teeth together with a clink … And with Winn popping a knowing brow and stuffing the bottle back into his bag, Harrison glared and quickly rose to his feet before crossing his arms over his chest and taking another slow step forward, wincing at the bite of it as he did.

“You sure you're good to go?” Winn grilled with a tone that had the pinch of Harrison's frown buckling even tighter… The underlying tease all but forcing Harry's back up. “Or do you need a minute to recover?”

“I'm fine…” He rasped.

“As long as you're sure…” Winn said, the hidden jest still taking jabs at Harry's diminishing hedges, the ones he'd been carefully shaping ever since Snow had jumped in front of his car, her hands flattening against the hood and swallowing him whole with the prettiest set of eyes he'd ever seen.

“Are we almost there?” He growled in response, not bothering to humor him.

“Yeah.” Winn chuckled, now stepping forward to continue leading them on. “We're close…”

And they were ...

A few hours later and just as the sun began casting an orange glow across the dimming sky overhead, Harrison stepped out of the woods and planted the heel of his boot directly into the bumpy line of upturned sod where a tractor had previously pulled at the ground with the intention of preparing it for crops. The job was never finished, what with the owners of the field catching word of the fallen city just on the other side of their patch of woods and bolting before the effects of the fallout could bleed into their little haven.

Pushing himself fully onto the field and staring down the length of the subtle descent that lay before him, Harrison's eyes fixed on the small white blur of the farmhouse that was nestled at it's base. It wasn't exactly what he had expected, but it was probably the best shelter they would inhabit since the start of this mess, and it looked undeniably safe … A word that Harrison had forgotten the shape of, a word that had been lost somewhere and categorized as fantasy in his previously dimmed mind, a word that was starting to rear it's gorgeous head and swell his chest with something familiar to hope . 

“That it?” Harry chanced, tipping his head toward what was starting to look like a two story home.

“That's it.” Winn confirmed, slapping a hand briefly between Harrison's shoulder blades as he stepped into the clearing with Snow following close behind.

“Are you kidding?!” Caitlin enthused as she practically flew through the space between them and started for the house. Now a good few paces ahead and having no intentions of slowing down, she shot a smirk over her shoulder and shouted back, “Dibs on the tub!”

Rolling his eyes Harry barked out a quick, “Snow!”

The sharpness of her name caused her to stop in her tracks and flip around to find herself pinned beneath his hardening stare…

“Maybe stick close…” Harry's eyes shot toward Winn for a moment before tacking on, “Just in case.”

“You're so fucking anal…” Winn growled before slapping a hand over his chest and letting his tone practically drip with sarcasm, “And here I thought you were gonna get sappy… Where's the thank you?”

“Okay…” Harry deadpanned. “Assuming this isn't a trap, thank you.”

“Actually I forgot to mention…” Winn started again. “I have a pretty weird kink where I like to lead victims to this place, let them settle in and get comfy before I eat them… I admitted it. Satisfied?”

“Fuck you…”

“I'm starting to think you want to.” Winn bit back with a smirk before flicking his gaze on Snow. “How about you muzzle your dog.”

“I've tried . He's just pretty big on biting.” She teased, clearly more comfortable with the situation than Wells was before smiling, which ended up forcing him to drop his eyes onto the ground below.

“I knew you two were fuckin’!”

At that, Harry's head popped back up before trying, “I… She's… We don't…”

“Oh, shut up! I'm fucking with you.” Winn bit again, as if Harrison was far too tiring to even bother teasing. Turning back to Caitlin, Winn winked, “Go find that tub. If it makes your grandpa feel better, I'll hide in the kitchen or something...” Glancing at Harry, Winn crossed his arms and lowered his voice, “Is that a good enough compromise? Or do you got anything else to bitch about before you let your chick clean up?”

“She's not my chick …” Harry growled through his teeth. 

“I'll take that as a yes …” Winn grouched before looking to Snow once more. “It's Caitlin , right?”

“Right.” She answered with one of those fucking smiles, apparently temporarily forgetting how they weren't supposed to be trusting Winn just because he promised her a bath .

“The tub is all yours, sweetheart…”

And with that she was shrugging the red straps of her backpack tighter over her shoulders and heading for the house.

Harrison's feet seemed too heavy as he pressed a boot through the threshold of this old house; the creak and groan of his steps against the floorboards all but screaming their disdain and sounding far too loud in his ears before he forced himself to a halt in the middle of the entryway. Even through the obscurity of dusk, this small haven was lit up enough for the scrutiny of his gaze to make a scan from one end of the room to the other, because true to most farmhouses that had been built early nineteenth century, the inhabitants relied on natural light to pour through the obscene amount of windows that had been cut into the walls…

Taking another slow, and damn-near bone shattering step forward, Harry's eyes made a quick sweep to the right-side wall after passing a doorway that lead into a very bare, uncluttered living area that housed the absolute minimum; two unpatterned, solid blue chairs, and an equally boring off-white sofa. As unimpressive as it was, it was arranged with a no nonsense efficiency for anyone whose intention was to sit ; the couch and chairs surrounding a wooden table that had been placed directly in the middle of a good sized area rug. From what he could see through the dim light of the setting sun, there was also a lamp that was now rendered useless thanks to Zoom, the dominant feature of the room was a fireplace with a small stack of wood waiting to be lit within its hearth, and toward the front, a large bay window with a cushioned bench pushed beneath it. Not bothering to explore the room any further than a short scan, he pushed himself onward through the entryway until at last, on the wall opposite of where he'd found the living room, Harrison was bracing his weight against the banister of an oddly steep flight of stairs.

It could have been due to the fact that they'd reached the end of their journey and landed in a surreal environment that had the potential to make them feel like human beings again, make it possible for them to settle in and just live , but whatever the case, Harrison could feel the let down after being forced to survive for so long. As if it could sense the comfort of the surroundings around him, his body was suddenly heavy and screaming for rest, and was on the cusp of giving out beneath him.

Grinding his teeth and shifting his weight against that banister, Harry glanced further down the hall… The house was built with unsurprising amounts of character, what with it being small as it was and clearly structured around the idea of having no more than needed. There was a single coat closet under the stairs, and at the end of the narrow space before him was another doorway, smaller than the one leading into the living room, that would shoot him straight into what looked like a kitchen.

Harry let out a breath and took a moment to just lean; his eyes pulling back to the stairs and bouncing up each tread until they reached the top of the incline and narrowed through the darkness as if he could somehow explore the expanse of the second floor without actually having to move.

“Bedrooms…” Winn supplied, clearly taking note to how long Harrison's gaze had been locked on the stairs.

Giving a brief hum, Harry tossed a glance over his shoulder to find Winn bracing himself with his hand flattening against the now closed front door as he awkwardly crouched down to begin plucking at the laces of his boots with the other. Blinking once, Harrison's eyes practically slammed to the ground before finding his own feet and, predictably enough, frowning at how much mud had been caked around them… With a frown, Harrison's gaze scuffled across the floor to see that he'd, in fact, left a sticky trail of sludge in the wake of his steps after he'd walked inside the house.

However old this place was, Winn wasn't lying when he said it was clean …

The floorboards, no matter how loud as he hobbled across them and made his way back toward the door, practically glistened against the evening glow that poured through the long windows framing the entry. The walls were white with an array of uncomplicated photos, either of scenery or animals, filling spaces that seemed too bare. And even with the fine layer of dust that was lining the small, rectangular table that had been shoved up against the wall of this narrow entryway, it was clear that somewhere along the line, someone had been tending to this home.

It was an odd phenomenon after spending the better part of this nightmare padding barefoot across the slick, oil-stained floor of a garage and then suddenly being thrust, filth-ridden as they were, into a space that had been forgotten and completely untouched by the fall… 

“Like I said, it ain't much.” Winn began again, tossing his now shucked boots on top of Snow's, shoes that had been long since removed and placed into the tray near the front door, before stalking passed Harrison and making his way for the kitchen. “Shits small… And I know it'll take you guys a couple days to relax; it usually does after I drag people outta dodge, but this place... It's safe .”

There was a moment or two where Harrison found himself staring at his own feet, contemplating whether or not to calm down, give into proper etiquette, and remove his boots or hold fast to that fight or flight urge and leave them on just in case Winn was lying… Regardless, at the end of the day, no matter how much promise was held within these walls, Winn was a predator and hated him with every fiber of his altered being, and it was enough to amplify the already screaming alarm inside Harrison's head.

Safe and Winn , somehow didn't go together, even if he had been slowly proving himself a formidable ally.

But as Snow had pointed out shortly after he'd knocked Bauer unconscious and tied him to a chair in that damn garage, his head had been a little fucked.

“Do you want a tour?” Came the steady drum of Winn's voice, as if he was trying to be gentle and help lure Harrison further into the realm of ease.

Snapping from the endless echo of his thoughts, Harrison lifted his stare and locked onto Winn; the sharpness of his teeth poking through the permanently gaped holes on the left side of his cheek and showing off just how daunting and fang-like they were even though his mouth was closed. 

“No…” Harrison finally rasped, the sound of his voice harsh and low in his own ears, causing his brow to buckle a bit. “Thank you…”

“Yeah…” Was Winn's response, his eyes suddenly dipping and tracking the length of Harrison's frame, causing him to stiffen a bit. “Your legs look like shit…”

With that, Harry huffed out a low grunt and narrowed his eyes. “Thanks for that, by the way.”

Now sneering, Winn growled, “Uhh… Fuck off, I wouldn't have lost control if you hadn't stabbed me with a pry bar…” Clenching his eyes and taking a deep breath to cool off, he gave a slow and controlled, “Forget it… All I wanted to say was that there's a first aid kit in the bathroom upstairs.”

Winn didn't wait for Harrison's response, just turned and stalked toward the kitchen before shouldering roughly against the swinging door and slipping inside… And with Harry standing alone in the narrow space of the entryway, listening to the low groans of the house as it gently settled around him, the slow shuffling of Winn as he moved through the kitchen, and the creak beneath his soles as he shifted from one damaged leg to the other, he pursed his lips and finally decided it was for the best if he kept his boots firmly on his feet.

And once that small issue was out of the way, he was once more grappling against the banister and pulling himself up the stairs… It was slow moving and each step made him want to claw at his limbs and rip the skin the rest of the way off his legs, but eventually, after constantly batting away that urge to stop, he'd made it to the top.

The second floor was just as unprepossessing as the first with nothing more impressive than the three doors scattered along the wall of the upstairs landing… The walls were white as ever; the illusion of a well-decorated home was completely abandoned as if the owner had decided to use what little amount of wall art they had on the main level, forgoing the idea of paying any attention to the top floor as if the effort was nugatory. First impressions and what not… But based on the layout of the house and what he'd seen thus far, Harrison was starting to think the owner might have been a minimalist.

Rounding the banister, Harrison hobbled passed the first door, automatically writing it off as a bedroom before heading for the second, the one with the slab of frosted glass stretching through it and clearly labeling it as the bathroom, and placed his hand on the knob. With a quick twist, he was pushing through and-

Suddenly stopping short at the sound of sloshing water filling his ears.

Blinking once and fixing his jaw around a set of clenched teeth, Harry quickly remembered that the bathroom would have been occupied by now, and if he'd been paying more attention, he would have at least knocked before barging in on a presumably wet, and very naked Caitlin Snow.

Fuck …

Chapter Text

Harry pushed a breath through his nostrils and willed his eyes to stay fixed to the off-white tiles under his feet, but even with his efforts to recover and give back the privacy he'd ripped from underneath Caitlin, he could still see her through his peripheral vision… She was quiet, but he could see she was staring at him, almost as if she was waiting for something...

There was still that pesky issue hanging between them, the one where the rules of conduct came back into play now that they were no longer scurrying about a fallen city and fighting for survival. Survival was still a priority, of course… Harrison wasn't sure anything could really change that at this point, but the context was different now that he was sharing a house with a girl who wasn't exactly willing to let him scuffle into the bathroom when she was in the middle of scrubbing herself off.

He may have been having trouble transitioning but even so, he knew better than to stand there gawking at the floor like he’d just been slapped in the face. So, Harry gripped hard against the knob under his hand and took a quick step back before hurrying out a low, “Sorry.”

He'd meant to leave, clap the door to a close, and run back downstairs as fast as his injured legs could carry him, but the door had barely jerked inward before Caitlin's voice was dancing right into his tired ears.

“Look at me.” She said with an ease that had him fighting the urge to slam his stare directly onto her…

With his mouth forming a hard line and his chest locking tight around the air that had been pulled through his lungs, Harry blinked dumbly at the tiles and rolled her words around his mind…

“I'm not… You're…” He tried, not entirely sure what he'd meant to say.

With another awkward slice of silence falling between them, Caitlin finally huffed and lurched oddly through the blur of his peripheral vision before he felt the very cold, wet slap of a washcloth hitting the knob of his shoulder, causing him to flinch. It was instinctual then, the way his eyes bounced away from the tiles and smacked directly onto her to find her sitting on the edge of the tub, stripped down to a tattered tank top and filthy jeans that had been rolled at the ankles so her feet could submerge in the water.

The breath that Harrison had caged in his lungs punched free from the confines of his chest before he gave a quick smirk, relieved to find he hadn’t had the insipidity to rob her of any privacy.

“I forgot you were in here…” He offered.

“You know, a guy fed me that exact line at a pool party.” She said before tossing her gaze back to the water in the partially filled tub. “He barged into the bathroom and tried to catch me changing into my suit. He thought he was so smooth about it too.”

Sucking in another breath, Harry tried, “I didn’t… Sorry . I just…”

With an actual full blown laugh that had Caitlin’s head falling back and a mess of chestnut hair tumbling over her shoulders, she breathed, “I’m messing with you.”

“ Oh… ” With a shrug and a quick attempt not to look like a limp dick standing in the doorway, he rasped an unconvincing, “I… know….”

“Sure, you do.” She teased as she tossed another glance over her shoulder and smiled. “Are you ever going to loosen up?”

At that, Harrison snorted and rolled his eyes with very little traces of contempt before tugging gently at the door to pull it back to a close so she could get on with whatever she’d hoped to accomplish by sitting on the edge of the tub and kicking her feet in shallow water. 

“I’ll come back later.” Was his fleeting response to all her teasing before backing out of the bathroom. 

“Wait…”

He stopped, barely shoving back at the door to push it open just a fraction more so he could look at her face… Shifting the swell of her ass along the ceramic rim of the tub, Snow pulled her feet from the water and spun to place them on the tile before mounting a very wet and slippery stance.

“Want to see something crazy?”

Harry pursed his lips and nodded once, unsure of exactly what he was agreeing to before taking a slow step forward and bracing himself as best he could on the pair of shredded legs holding his body upright. After finally finding his balance, Harrison let go of the door and made his way toward her in a way that probably would have been comical under any other circumstances, what with him shakily moving forward like a wet noodle that had made an attempt to sprint for freedom before dinner. And by the time he’d reached the middle of the bathroom, she was there with her hands bracketing around his shoulders to steady him before he gave in and bared his weight down just enough to relieve some of the pressure that had been building in his wounds.

It could have been because he was tired or because he was experiencing some sort of survival let down, but for the first time since he stepped into this house - for the first time since Caitlin darted across the beam on his headlights and slid into the passenger seat of that stupid yellow car, Harrison felt…. Well, he felt safe . With her hands sliding over the bend of his shoulders and her fingers lacing around the back of his neck, Harry puffed out a low breath and lowered his forehead to rest against hers before letting his lids shutter to a close. Even if he had trouble initiating contact, her touch always felt so natural… The easy slide of her arms as she coiled them around his neck and the gentle press of her chest as she pushed closer and tucked her face beneath his collarbone.

He wasn’t sure if he’d ever be able to tear himself out of her embrace… But just as he settled in and found his hands sliding around her hips with a mind of their own, he heard her give a low chuckle just seconds before pulling back and meeting his gaze through the dim, evening glow that had been trickling through the frosted window above the tub. It was then he realized how close she was, what with the point of her nose barely bumping against his chin and her breath fanning against his throat… A slow smile curled through his mouth because maybe this was okay - maybe being this close and being able to touch her was a normalcy they’d built after fate had thrown them together. Maybe, regardless of his difficulty pinpointing exactly what it meant for them to be embracing in the middle of an unnaturally clean bathroom in some strange house in the middle of nowhere, she was his home.

Closing his eyes, Harry bent himself forward once more and pressed his head to hers, holding every possible intention of staying there for the rest of his life until he felt one of her arms sliding away so she could press a hand at his chest…

“Look…” She said quietly, causing him to blink and lift away once more to find her attention had been pulled away from him and was now fixed somewhere on the wall.

Turning his head in the same direction, Harry was immediately met with the unwelcome and downright alarming sight of his own reflection looking back at him… It’d been a while since he was actually afforded the luxury of seeing himself in a mirror, and for the first time in weeks, he found himself staring at the withering husk of a man he once knew.

Pulling away from Snow, Harry stepped closer to the mirror and ran a hand through his dark, tangled hair… He knew it might have gotten longer in the last few weeks but with the ends of it hanging well below his ears and curling at his nape, he was beginning to think he might have misjudged exactly how much it had grown. And with lingering traces of blood, sweat, and grime sticking to his face, Harrison’s fingers swiped a path through the layers coating his brow before he began prodding at his now bony features.

He grimaced then, taking in how skeletal he’d become after living off of scraps and random canned goods… He’d taken note of just how thin Caitlin was, of course, but never stopped to consider how he might have been deteriorating as well… With his eyes practically sunken into their sockets, he looked frail . Hollow… Empty . 

He’d seen himself with dark circles before, but this ... The shock of it had him staring dumbly at his reflection like he was staring into the exhibit of a new species that had been a freshly released attraction at a zoo. He blamed it on stress and those sleepless nights that had been dominated by his brain obsessing over Snow and her safety in a city full of metas that had targeted him ...

Swiping a hand to his chin and scratching at the rough stubble covering his jaw, he smirked and took note to just how patchy his beard was, what with him shaving blind that one time in the garage since whoever built the place didn’t have the decency to hang a mirror in the co-ed, single stall bathroom… Some places had come in longer than in others due to him failing to run the blade of his razor along his jaw with any amount of efficiency.

Even with his bedraggled appearance, nothing was quite as shocking as the paleness of his skin and the dull color throughout his habitually sky-blue irises… He looked sick… And it wasn’t too much of a wonder why Snow had taken up the habit of force feeding him from spaghetti jars or all but shoving him into the backseat of that damn Lincoln to strong-arm him into switching off for once.

Finally pulling his hands away from his face, he crossed his arms over his chest and scoffed before flicking his eyes to her reflection and gruffing out, “Well… at least one of us still looks decent.”

With a bright smile, all teeth and laughter lines, Caitlin replied with an easy, “ Thanks… ”

“I was referring to me .”

Caitlin laughed then, and quickly swatted his shoulder which caused him to bite at his lower lip to try and fail to keep a straight face… 

“Are you ever going to loosen up?” He mocked.

“You’re a nightmare!” She laughed.

Chuckling and smiling down at her, Harry waited a bit too long before finally dropping his gaze to the ground between them and asking, “How’s the tub?”

“Freezing!” She whined, turning back to the water as if frowning at it would somehow will it to take on warmer temperatures.

Hobbling toward the tub and pitching to brace his weight against the rim, Harry swiped at the ice cold water inside and hummed. “I can ask Winn… He might know a trick to get it fixed. Or maybe he’d know of a change of clothes somewhere around here.”

“I’m okay… I’m a big girl. I should be able to tolerate a sponge bath…”

Pulling upright, Harrison stared at the water for a short time before saying, “So… I came in here for a first aid kit.”

“Oh… You meant, this?” She asked, all but whooshing passed him and pulling at the mounted cabinet above the commode, that she’d very clearly thoroughly explored during her short time in the bathroom, before taking a large box from one of its shelves.

It wasn’t labeled, so with a shrug he said, “I think so…?”

Setting it on the floor, Snow crouched down and popped the lid to dig through the kit before ordering, “Go ahead and strip down… I’m sure there’s a needle in here somewhere…”

“ What?”

“A needle…” She repeated, looking up at him with a blank stare. “You’ll need stitches.”

“No, I got that part… But I’m not sure I’m comfortable with stripping down.”

Rolling her eyes and digging through the box once more, Snow huffed out, “ Harry… Come on. It's not like I haven’t seen you in your underwear before…”

“Right, but-“

“Are you this surly with all your doctors?” She teased, causing him to blink for a short moment before barking out a quick laugh… She’d said that once before, the day he’d been concussed after taking a beating from Leith in that corner store.

So, following suit, he responded with, “I’m usually much worse.”

Now it was her turn to laugh… “Oh, I can believe it!”

Mounting a stance, Snow grabbed at the fabric covering Harrison’s navel and guided him back to the rim of the tub before pushing him into a sitting position. His hands gripped at the edge of the tub and before he could blink, she was on her knees and sitting between his parted legs, trying to thread the needle she’d pulled from the first aid kit. And that was fine until she finally managed to ready her needle and started tugging at his belt, which ended up hitting his panic button and caused him to lurch forward to grapple around her wrists.

Fuck!

“Hey!” He barked, causing them both to flinch at how rough it sounded in the small space of this bathroom. Harry’s gaze shot toward the ceiling before white knuckling around her wrists and grinding out, “You, uh… You don’t have to do this…”

It wasn’t so much the needle or the impending threat of stitches, but more of the fact that she was sitting between his knees and pawing at his belt buckle like she was about to--

“It’s just stitches…” She started gently. “If it freaks you out, you don’t have to look.”

The fact of the matter was, it did freak him out… “I can do it myself.”

“Harry…” she huffed.

“I’ve done it before.”

  “Just take off your pants.” She tried, this time with an underlying plea sticking to her tone. “Please… It’ll take me two seconds.”

It could have been the gentle prompt of her voice or the reassuring smile that had just barely begun to form a bow over her lips… Whatever the reason, Harrison suddenly found himself allowing her wrists to slip from his grip before pinning his tongue between the pinch of his teeth and dropping his hands to the clip of his belt. He’d barely managed to unfasten the damn thing before feeling an almost numb pressure at his feet… 

He stilled then, his eyes flicking back to Snow to find her plucking at his muddy laces and gingerly tugging his foot free from the confines of his boot… He was beginning to see the wisdom in removing them when he had the chance because here and now, with Caitlin tucking her hair behind her ear and giving him a smile that made him have to make a determined effort not to fall back into the tub, the gesture seemed too intimate.

Clearing his throat and purposely ripping his eyes away from the vulnerability left in the wake her stare, Harry tugged at his belt until it slid free from the hold of his loops before dropping it to the ground… Next came his pants. Easier said than done. Biting his lip, Harrison hooked his thumbs in his pants and slide them down as best as he could. Bracing himself on sweaty, sock covered feet that slid across the clean tiles below, and balancing his weight on shaky legs was nothing short of impossible. And by the time he’d shrugged them down to his thighs, Caitlin was there, wrapping her fingers against the dirty fabric and tugging them the rest of the way down his legs.

Once she’d pulled his jeans passed his feet, she quickly balled the denim in her lap and stared at his legs with a frown pinching at her brow. Biting the swell of her bottom lip and leaning forward, Caitlin gingerly wrapped a hand around one of Harrison’s calves, being careful not to let the pads of her fingers pass over his injuries, before letting her eyes track from one puncture to another…

Huffing and pitching over the bend of his knees, he took a quick mental note of how her now downcast expression had soured at the sight of what was sure to be disastrous, gaping wounds… With his eyes locking onto the lip that she’d been holding hostage between the clamp of her teeth, Harry resisted the urge to reach forward and pull it free with the pad of his thumb. He wasn’t sure if that was the best idea, even if he didn’t like the thought of her fretting over his injuries, he’d never actually touched her without having purpose… 

Only, there was a purpose, even if he wasn’t entirely comfortable with the motivation behind it… He would like to touch her mouth, pull her lip free from her teeth, and take a bite out of it for himself… Or maybe he was just tired, and his half clogged brain had pulled the situation of why a pretty girl was sitting between his legs while he had his pants down, out of context.

Fuck… He needed sleep.

Instead of doing anything involving Caitlin Snow’s mouth, Harry batted those thoughts away and opted for asking, “Is it bad?”

“These are infected…” 

At that, his eyes shuttered a bit before stretching out the leg that was still held fast in her grip so he could see for himself. And sure enough, throughout the scattered punctures and claw marks covering his legs, was a sour looking discharge clouding what should have been a clear series wounds that, if they weren’t so deep, would have been scabbed over by now.

“Bummer.” Harrison half teased.

Only this time, Snow didn’t laugh. With hardening features, she let go of his legs and began digging through the first aid kit once more until she was able to find antibiotics, a roll of gauze, and what looked like an abused bottle of peroxide.

“I won’t be able to stitch these up just yet…” She sounded tense now, like she was on the cusp anger or maybe hurt. Whatever it was, Harrison couldn’t exactly place it… 

“Well, you can thank Winn for that.” He tried as he watched her scoot around on the bathroom floor, and position herself so she could pull his foot into her lap, and begin washing his wounds.

Harry grit his teeth under the unwelcome burn of the peroxide as it bubbled through each of his wounds… 

“Sorry…” She muttered, biting at her lip once more and furrowing her brows before dabbing at the seeping punctures with a cloth that had been previously draped over the edge of the tub, next to Harry’s hip.

“Don’t worry about it.” He ground out before forcing a smile that quickly fell from his face after he’d met her stare and found her watching him with watery eyes. Narrowing his eyes, Harry prompted her with an easy, “ Hey… ”

“ Sorry .” She said again, quickly ducking her head and wiping at her face with the back of her hand. “I’ll just finish this up and-

“Snow…” This time he did reach for her; his hands going to either side of her face before tilting her head back and brushing his thumb along the curve of her jaw. “I’m okay.”

“I know but…” She started, doing very little to mask the slight quiver in her tone before her hands came up to grasp at his wrists.

“But…?”

Caitlin blinked once, her big eyes fluttering upwards to meet his gaze before she drew in a breath to respond… Only, she never did. Instead of answering his question, Winn’s voice beat her to the punch as it barked through the house, letting them know that he’d prepared food and didn’t want to hear either of them bitching about it if it was cold by the time they came downstairs.

Snow was the first to break eye contact after that; pulling herself out of his grip and taking up the gauze to continue dressing his legs. Silence fell between them once more… And if Harry had the strength, he would have marched downstairs and shoved his foot up Winn’s ass for interrupting what was sure to be an important moment for him… Or so it seemed. 

Regardless of the significance of whatever she was going to say, they didn’t have time for it now, not with Winn growling at them to hustle from the perch of the bottom stair.

So, hunching his shoulders and gripping at the edge of the tub on either side of his hips, Harrison watched quietly as Snow finished dressing his legs, only offering tight smiles whenever she happened to briefly glance in his direction.

One thing was for sure… She was closed off and he hated it.

Dinner wasn’t half bad, considering Winn had been the cook… That or Harry had been so starved, it hadn’t mattered that he came downstairs and was met with a plate full of plain, white rice, a soggy slice of bread that was half thawed after Winn had pulled an entire loaf from the icebox, and a pale, unseasoned chicken breast, small as it was.

He no more sat down before he’d devoured it, uncaring over the lackluster appearance and blandness of the overall meal. It was satisfying, even after being denied the glob of butter both he and Snow had practically begged for after Winn had snatched a stick out of their reach, explaining they needed to start with crappy tasting food until their stomachs adjusted to actually eating something other than canned beans, or else they wind up vomiting it all back up. He even went as far as showing Harry and Caitlin what else had been hiding in the ice box for whenever they were no longer malnourished...

Pie...

And even if their mouths had watered, there was no way their stomachs could handle the sweetness of it. So, for now, it was off limits, especially with Winn hovering over the rations like a troll guarding passage over his bridge from a pack of weary travelers. Which, in hindsight, Harrison was thankful for, considering how queasy he’d been after filling the capacity of his weakened stomach with a meal that had been nothing short of boring and tasteless. But that could have been due to the butter that he and Snow had snuck from the dish on the center of table when Winn had gone to cellars below the house to grab supplies that they might be able to use...

Dairy had been a mistake, especially after living off of scraps and junk food for the past few months in the city… But worth it at the end of the day, especially after breaking a piece off the stick and shoving it toward Snow only to be rewarded with a smile that had him forgetting how to breathe...

Shortly afterwards, when Winn had walked in on them practically turning green at the mere contact of it hitting their stomachs, the meta had rolled his eyes and dropped two bundles of clothes down onto the table before grabbing the butter and heading into the living room. He might have muttered something about the pair of them being giant fucktards but Harry hardly paid attention after Caitlin had untied the bundle of clothes that had been labeled: Female, Size S. Stepping forward, Harrison worked at his own bundle that had been labeled for a male of his size and was rewarded with three extra changes of clothes, fresh boxers, sweat pants, and a pack of socks.

With the sun finally settling below the treeline, Winn quickly lit oil lamps around the house with an efficiency that once more confirmed the fact that this man could see just fine in the dark without the aid of artificial lights to help him navigate through a house that had been shrouded in an ocean of shadows… It gave rise to Harrison’s anxiety; the image of him creeping through the house and being able to see them through the obscurity without either of them being aware. And after a heated discussion, Winn conceded through gritted teeth and offered to sleep in the barn that was tucked behind their little house, but that was before Snow rose to his defense and redirected both their ire into comprising rather than locking horns over said territories… And shortly after, Winn had bedded down on the couch in the living room, giving both he and Snow free reign of the second floor. 

He still wasn’t comfortable with the idea of sharing a roof with a meta that rode the line between man and monster, and a meta who had previously threatened and physically assaulted him...

But that was how Harry ended up standing in the dark hallway of the upstairs landing, staring dumbly at Snow’s bedroom door with his arms bracketed across his chest, as if he could silently will it swing open with nothing but his questing gaze…

Pursing his lips and shifting from one socked foot to the other, Harry let a puff of air push through his nostrils before frowning at the wooden barrier before him… There was still that pressing issue of etiquette; the one that demanded she have privacy now that they were in an actual home, with real bedrooms that allowed their residents to lock themselves inside and hide away from the rest of the world. Somewhere, hidden in the very back of his brain, he remembered that no matter how many times he and Snow had huddled together to keep warm, no matter how many times they had slept together and took comfort in the fact that neither of them were trudging through this nightmare alone, her door had been clapped to a firm close and he knew he wasn’t supposed to be hovering outside like a teenager who had snuck off in the dark of night in the hopes of getting any sort of action from the girl next door.

If this was a normal situation or even whatever their version of normal had been before the fall, he probably wouldn’t pay her too much attention, unless it was completely necessary. And if this was a normal situation, they’d still be in the lab, of course… And since he didn’t really have any other options, it would still be labeled as his domain; a place where he could snap and snarl and knash his teeth at the remarkable young people surrounding him, when at the end of the day, after bickering with Cisco, giving Barry twenty more reasons to be suspicious of him, and ruffling Snow’s feathers, they were all permitted to go home and leave him there to wallow in his own self-loathing.

But at the very heart of the matter, this wasn’t a normal situation… They were in a strange place, with a potential problem sleeping on the couch downstairs, and like it or not, Harry had been forced into this shit show with Caitlin Snow and, yes , he cared… He cared more than he would have liked to admit.

It shouldn’t have been that hard, considering all the times they had laid together in the back of that Lincoln, and even if Harry wasn’t just some horndog teen, he felt oddly guilty over the fact that he was hovering outside her door, shrouded beneath a blanket of darkness and the gleaming light of the moon…

Caitlin hadn’t invited him, and yet, there he was… Neither of them had slept properly in weeks, let alone used a bed, and yet, there he was. This was the first time in a long while either of them had a chance to be alone, regroup, and gather their thoughts about exactly what they had been dealing with and yet… There he stood.

Fuck…

Unfolding his arms, Harry roughly raked his fingers through his now clean hair and puffed out a sigh that seemed too loud for the stillness of the night before setting his jaw and clenching his eyes…

Why wouldn’t she have invited him over?

In hindsight, after Winn explained the bedroom situation, he might have been the one to send the wrong signals when he called the bunk beds and offered for Snow, with a stupid smile, to use the small master bedroom down the hall… 

Maybe she thought he wanted to be alone. After all, they’d been forced to be together all this time, hadn’t they? What if he was the one who needed some space…? But after everything, after being tied down in a rail car and left within the unforgiving confines of his own mind, and after seeing her again, and holding her so tight, how could she even begin to think that he wanted to be alone?

Huffing out a mirthless snort, Harry fixed his arms across his chest once more and stared at that door. He was pretty sure he’d fucked himself over with the sleeping arrangements, and now, if he wanted any peace, he was going to have to knock on her door and…

And what?

Give a half baked excuse over the meta downstairs going dark-side and beg to sleep with her? Even if Winn did end up going feral, Harrison wasn’t stupid… They we’re stuck upstairs with one way up or down, he was injured, and even on his best day, Winn was still going to be the victor in any battle against him.

But it wasn’t only about that, was it? Harry, although not entirely comfortable with the fact, was in no position to sleep alone. He’d gotten used to the press of her body as she shifted against him in her sleep, the stray hairs tickling his nose any time he’d rolled in her direction, the puff of air ghosting along his skin and eliciting goosebumps when she breathed into him… He wouldn’t be able to sleep without her even if he tried.

Another sigh rolled out and suddenly, hunching his shoulders, Harry glanced toward the direction from which he came and debated on whether or not to give up on his plight and head back to his own room like an adult… He clearly couldn’t bring himself to knock, even if it had been his intention to take a small space on the floor.

He never liked putting himself in situations with a potential rejection on the horizon, and certainly hated feeling silly, and the combination of those two things made his next decision resolute… He was headed back to his bunk and was going to pretend he’d never left in the first place.

But before he could even shift in that direction, Snow’s knob began to turn… And with his brain reeling to keep up, before he could even blink, he found himself bathed in the dim glow of an oil lamp as the light of it cascaded into the dark hall around him. 

Struck almost as still as he had been when Caitlin first dashed through the parking lot at the lab, he found himself once more staring into a set of large brown eyes, only this time, he was the one who seemed to be caught, half shocked and standing in the beam of her headlights. 

With his skin pulling tight over his muscles, he stared down at her, working his jaw into a few frantic circles before swallowing down against the dry lump forming in his throat… He’d been caught lurking outside her door like some kind of predator and was failing to formulate any sort of excuse.

Chapter Text

Anything that was thrust to the edge of his tongue quickly became tangled, so Harry had settled on pinching the tip of it between his teeth to ensure it didn’t make an aborted attempt at speaking… Because based on his history with Snow, he had developed a bad habit of being a little too honest in her presence and quite honestly, wasn’t in the mood for his tongue to go rogue and start spluttering out anything too damning. Because yes , he wasn’t supposed to be there, yes , he was caught sniffing at her door, and yes , he wasn’t there only to confirm her safety for the night. And in a perfect world, if the Flash had never been struck with that bolt of lightning, if Zoom had never torn their lives to shreds, and if he would have had the opportunity to meet her on his Earth, under normal circumstances, he might be standing in the dark, outside her door for entirely different reasons…

But Harrison Wells wasn’t in his twenties anymore and for that matter, he wasn’t even in his thirties or forties, and Caitlin Snow was young and, if he was being honest with himself, downright, well... Bedable seemed to be the only eloquent way he could describe being hot as fuck. And at this point, he wasn’t sure if fate had dealt him a winning hand or a hard kick to the balls when it decided that he and Snow were destined to survive together for the last few months of this adventure. The only thing he could be sure of was, she would sure as shit go a different route if she had any other options that night.

Slumping his shoulders a bit, Harry sucked against his teeth and drew a breath through his nostrils, finally making an attempt at saying anything clever. But then…

“Hi.”

Blinking twice, Harry puffed through his nose and tried everything in his power to relax his tensing frame before echoing a tight, and almost snappish, “Hi…”

He wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting after she’d swung the door open, but nothing could have prepared him for the thorny silence that seemed to fall between them like snowflakes in the cold air… She wasn’t exactly mad , but she was certainly projecting something unwelcome and unpredictable and if he didn’t know any better, he might have thought she was giving him an odd version of the cold shoulder treatment.

But wasn’t she fine during dinner? He’d already determined she seemed off when she had broken down into near-tears in the bathroom… But in a way, that was expected, what with her seemingly overwhelming drive to fix broken things, and considering it had been the first time she was able to see his injuries…

The situation was equal parts uncomfortable and oddly intimate… Uncomfortable for the fact that she was standing in her doorway with an apathetic expression covering her usually bright features, as if she couldn’t care less about whether or not he’d stayed away or come sprinting to her door. And intimate for the fact she was standing in her doorway wearing leggings and a loose sweater that was hanging on by one shoulder, while he had been caught slinking through the house in sweatpants and a clean tee, that had come from the bundle of clothes Winn had pulled from the cellar.

They weren’t exactly considered pajamas but they were undeniably a novelty, what with the metas tearing through a city that had been razed to the ground in a matter of hours… Lounge clothes weren’t exactly needed, but they weren’t exactly unwelcome either, especially not when Harrison had an unimpeded view of Snow. And especially not when Harrison had allowed his eyes to explore from the expanse of her naked shoulder, all the way to the pretty curve of her collarbone where they had tacked themselves for a short time before he heard her draw in a slow breath.

“I was waiting for you to knock.”

At that, Harry gave his best effort at beating down the flush threatening to heat through his neck because, of course… Of course she knew he was there long before he had made the decision to even knock . 

Furrowing his brow, Harrison gave a quick huff to try to cover his unease before ripping his stare away from her exposed skin and asking, “How’d you know it was me?”

“It was either you, or Winn…” She said with a shrug rolling through her bare shoulder. “And I don’t think Winn would have waited that long to either knock or kick the door in.”

For a short moment, Harry stared down at her, allowing a heavy silence to swallow them up once more before comprehending exactly what she’d said… He wasn’t sure if he liked that or not; the way she recognized his hesitation even beyond the door.

“Did you need something?”

“I… I wasn’t…” He tried with another gulp raking down his throat, before fixing his eyes to the ground as if the right words had been written on the floorboards beneath his feet. In all honesty, he hadn’t gotten that far… He never worked out exactly how he was supposed to ask if he could sleep in her room if he’d been brave enough to knock on her door. 

“Hey…” Came the gentle caress of her voice as it slid into his ears.

At that, Harrison looked up to find Snow braced against the doorframe, and smirking at him with her arms folded across her chest… 

With a slow smile curling through Harrison’s mouth, he finally determined, “You’re teasing me.”

Caitlin snorted then… “Do you want to come in?” 

She knew him well enough by now to determine what he had intended when he left his room... And with a half-suppressed laugh pushing through his lungs in the form of a grunt now that that weight had been lifted from his shoulders, Harry rolled his eyes and stepped through the door…

“Can’t sleep?” She asked easily as she shut the door behind him and made her way toward the bed, which made things feel oddly final.

“Yeah…” He rasped, deciding on whether or not to give her further explanation, or just leave his one worded answer as it was. Instead he settled on supplying a quick, “Something like that…”

“Me too…”

Giving a low grunt in response, Harry’s stare pulled away from Snow just as she sat on the edge of her bed before scanning the room… Even though he’d been in there before, when Winn had given them a quick tour, at Snow’s request, it seemed smaller now that he was held captive within its four walls. And it could have been due to that prickly little issue of etiquette, the one that was beginning to look more and more like a scenario Harrison had invented based on his own insecurities, but Caitlin’s room felt damn near suffocating after the weight of the situation came crashing down on him… Because suddenly, he was standing there in the dead of night, trapped behind a closed door, and within close proximity to a female who he wasn’t intimately connected with… At least not in the traditional sense of the word.

It was different from the garage… Of course, they had lived together within its walls for weeks on end, but the garage was at least open . There were no beds, no trunks or wardrobes, no nightstands to clutter the space with the exception of that Lincoln, and the handful of work benches that had been shoved along the walls and littered with tools.

With his arms still folded tightly across his chest, Harry stared, because even though nothing had changed, everything felt so different… If he’d had the good sense to plan ahead, he might’ve brought a blanket and a pair of pillows from the bunks in his room. He could have at least made himself a place on the floor like the loyal hound he was turning out to be without questioning where his place was in this great big mess. Because it would be weird to head back to his room for a supply run now, wouldn’t it? And it was probably on the poor end of etiquette to start digging through the trunk at the foot of the bed for something suitable to sleep on...

“What are you doing?”

At the sound of Caitlin’s hushed tone kissing his ears, Harry pulled his stare away from the trunk to find her sitting on one side of the bed with her legs tucked beneath her… And with her folding the covers back with one hand, while the other gently touched against the empty space beside her with splayed fingers, Harrison gave a slow blink… It was an invitation. Or at the very least, he thought it might be. He’d have killed for her to explicitly tell him what she wanted, but her request was wordless, and relayed through body language, and a pair of fluttering eyes. So with pursed lips, Harry stared at her under the cover of a charged silence before taking a careful step toward the bed. And when she hadn’t scolded him for making a move to cross the room and close the gap between them, Harry did it again and again until at length, he was able to lower his ass against the lumpy mattress. And with that, Harry found himself lying flat on his back and staring up at a plastered ceiling while Caitlin shifted about on her side of the bed before leaning over and blowing out the oil lamp with a quick puff...

After the silence fell over them like a sheet, Harry blinked through the darkness of the room and waited for Caitlin to stop shifting beside him… The bed was big enough for two, a full-sized, but even so, it felt oddly small, much like the rest of the house now that Harrison had been confined within its walls. All the same, even if it was cramped, lying there face up, and partially hanging off the edge of the mattress to avoid touching her, it was still considerably bigger than the back seat of that car. But as he’d already determined, the garage was different, open, spacious… The vulnerability of it gave him a reason to find solace in her embrace but now…? Now he felt oddly out of place after seeking her out, as if he truly had no right to be lying next to her even though he’d done it plenty of times in the past.

It wasn’t until Caitlin finally found a comfortable position, stopped fidgeting, and bumped her shoulder rather roughly against Harrison’s that he grunted a bit and locked his limbs, startling under the sudden and unexpected contact before taking a deep breath and quickly caging it inside his lungs… He continued to stare, and listened to the sound of a clock that had made itself known by reverberating through the silence like the distant clap of thunder at every individual tick. And finally allowing the air to gently slide from the captivity of his lungs, Harry pinched his eyes and willed the rise and fall of his chest to beat up and down in a way that didn't give the appearance that he was experiencing mild cardiovascular issues.

At this point, he wasn’t sure if he would have been better off staying in his own room where he would be lying alone and longing for her companionship, or if trying to pretend to sleep over the roaring of the blood pounding in his ears in fluid beats was the better choice… Either way, he couldn’t foresee one situation being more suitable than the other, not if he’d intended to sleep.

“Are you feeling better?”

Harrison’s lids popped open, and with a quick flick of his eyes casting a sidelong glance through the dark where she had settled in, he cleared his throat and shrugged, before answering with a tired, “Better.”

It may have been rough and low, but with the silence finally broken, Harry felt his spine relax against the awkward dips in the mattress. The tension had practically melted off of him now that she’d had mercy and initiated small talk…

“And…” She started again, her voice erring on timidity. “Your stitches… Are they holding up, okay?”

With a short huff, Harrison smirked and said, “About as well as stitches can. But yes… Thank you.”

Another silence tucked around them, and since it hadn’t been as strained as before, Harry closed his eyes once more, fully intending to chase down at least a few hours of sleep but before he could fully settle into the realm of dormancy, Caitlin cleared her throat and rolled toward him.

“You know…” She tried again, her tone oddly guarded as he watched her silhouette prop itself up through the darkness. “You don’t have to push yourself so hard.”

Blinking once, Harrison frowned. “What?”

“I just… I don't think…” Her voice faltered, and with her sucking a breath through her nostrils, Harrison braced for what was sure to be an impact because something was undoubtedly wrong here… “For example, you throw a lot of yourself into protecting me. You don’t have to do that.”

“I want to.” Was his instant response.

“It’s not healthy.”

“What are you…?” He wasn’t sure how he’d gotten in trouble, but based on her clipped tone and avoidant demeanor, he was almost certain he’d driven through fuckville at one point or another. “It’s not that I-

“I didn't ask you to do that.”

Briefly pinching his tongue between his teeth and blinking slowly, Harry said, “You’re mad at me...”

“I'm not!” She quietly seethed.

“Snow, I can’t...” He started again before biting the inside of his cheek and mapping out a careful path in order to tiptoe around her ire. “You don’t understand… I’m-

With Caitlin’s silhouette bolting upright, and all but hovering above him with a murderous intent that had Harrison gripping against the sheets, he grit his teeth and glared up at her… His interest in defusing her attempts to bait him suddenly dying off and giving rise to the fight he would have liked to avoid.

“ No ,” She snapped. “It’s you who doesn’t understand…”

“If you have something to say...” He growled out, low, lethal, and foreign in his own ears, as if he had been threatening Winn rather than speaking to her . “I suggest you say it.”

“It’s all you do! There are plenty of other things more important than keeping me alive.”

“You’re mad at me…” He snarled, now lifting up on his elbows to be at eye level with her. “For that ? I thought you might appreciate the help.”

“Don’t give me that bullshit...”

“Bullshit?” He bit back. “Maybe I don’t understand. Why don’t you tell me what got jammed up your ass before you start ripping chunks out of me.”

“You’re just selfish!”

“Keeping you alive is selfish?” Gritting his teeth and pushing himself the rest of the way up, Harrison slumped forward and roughly raked a hand through his hair before grinding out, “Alright fine, we’ll do that from now on… You get a meta chasing after you, I’ll let you handle it. If you get hungry, or cold, you can figure it out. If you get hurt, I won’t lift a finger… How's that for selfish?”

She huffed. “You’d don’t get it…”

“You just said, that’s what you wanted.” He gnashed.

“That’s not what I want, and you know it!”

Now reaching back and gripping at one of the pillows, Harrison hurled it as hard as he could through the darkness of the room; the light weighted fluff sounding off a gentle, and ultimately unsatisfying thud after it smacked flat into the wall ahead of him, before he barked out, “Why the fuck are we fighting?!”

“Because I didn’t want to leave you!”

It was quick and honest and suddenly, with a sharp pinch of clarity taking small bites out of him, Harrison wasn’t angry… Not anymore. Even if it was still foggy and even if he didn’t fully understand, he was sure as shit done being mad. Especially not after the way her silhouette had curled in on itself; her head falling into her hands as she forced him to watch her shoulders jerk through what appeared to be a repressed sob…

Fuck…

With his tongue practically gluing itself to the roof of his mouth, Harrison began violently clawing through his brain for a solution to this problem, for a way to patch the damage, or a few quick words to make her feel better, but he’d always been shit at saying the right thing at the right time. So, instead, he folded his hands in his lap and stared at the obscure pattern of the quilt covering his sore legs before listening to a sniffle rip through the now quiet room.

And with nothing to hide now that she’d yelled at him, Caitlin wiped at her eyes before whimpering out a rough, “I've lost everyone I've ever cared about in this city, and you asking me to leave you behind like that…” 

Harry pinched his eyes, and allowed the hollow ring of her voice to settle bone deep within him before dropping his head into his own hands… The brokenness of it was so wrong and offensive as it slid its way through his drums, as if someone had held him to the ground and forcefully shoved a handful of shattered glass into his ears. And nothing , absolutely nothing , could have prepared him for the weakness of it as it wobbled around each new word, as if it had been a fawn struggling to gain its barings.

“I can't lose anyone else.” She whispered before shifting once more, and lowering herself against the mattress. “I understand why you did it, but it wasn’t right… We should have stayed together .” 

Even though her hushed tone was still holding the shape of a weak sob, Caitlin was resolute in her decision, causing Harrison to finally drag his hands away from his face and glance her way just in time to see her rolling away from him… She had practically positioned herself on the edge of the mattress, and if Harrison hadn’t been married before, he might not have recognized that gesture for what it was… Curling into a tight ball and nearly hanging over the lip of the bed in order to put as much distance between them as physically possible, Caitlin was telling him to fuck off because, yes, he’d done something wrong and he wasn’t allowed to come anywhere near her until the problem had been rectified.

“ Snow… ” He tried, low and rough before listening to her wrestle another shaky inhale and cage it within the depths of her lungs.

“I just need…” She began, so quietly that Harry had to pitch sideways and hold his breath just to catch the sad little sound. “I need you so much.”

And in that one little moment, Harrison was soaring… Quickly drawing in a sharp inhale and bracing his weight on the palm that he had placed in the middle of the bed between them, he stared through the dark to see her outline jerking through her quiet sobs before forcing himself to reach for her. With his fingers sliding over the quilt and fixing one by one against her hip, he set his jaw and shut his eyes before sucking in a slow gulp of air.

He wasn’t sure if he was supposed to feel guilty for pushing her away at such a crucial moment, but fuck it all, he did it to protect her and he would have done it a thousand times over if ever it came back down to it… But even with her working to suppress the tight whimpers currently bubbling through her throat, Harry was elated in a way he couldn’t begin to explain. It didn't matter if she'd been afraid when he’d told her to run - when he had ripped what little security she had right from under her feet when he shoved her away, because maybe this wasn’t entirely on him…

She needed him. She’d said so…

And for the first time since Central City fell, Harrison had finally been made privy of the situation before him… This wasn’t as one sided as he’d previously thought, because maybe, he had the ability to haunt Caitlin in the same way she haunted him. Maybe his subtle gestures had a way of bringing her comfort, or a quick flick of his eyes could give her a sense of security… Maybe she found solace in his voice or strength in his presence, and maybe… Maybe Harrison had been mentally fucking her just as hard.

What if the tables had been turned and she had been the one to tell him to run? What if she had put him in a situation where he, at the cost of his soul, was asked to leave her? Never… Under no circumstances could he have had the strength to walk away and leave her behind…

Setting his jaw and allowing his eyes to open, Harry understood why she had been so angry… He was the most selfish person alive. He hadn’t asked her to go for the sole purpose of keeping her from harm… That was, of course, the main goal but there was more to it than that. The truth was, he couldn’t bear the thought of failing one more person - couldn’t bear the thought of seeing her laying in a lifeless heap, covered in blood, or screaming in pain… He sent her away because he was the one who lacked the ability to hold fast under the assault of any of those scenarios. He did it for her, but he absolutely did it for him…  

And if Winn had been batting for Zoom… He was sure as shit, she would have suffered.

Taking a shallow breath and swallowing down the dark plague of his mind as it continued to flash those horrific images featuring Caitlin Snow, Harry gripped hard against her hip and lowered himself back to the mattress. He’d never been good at talk, because anything he used as a means to sympathize usually fell from his tongue like a tree that had been chopped down… His words were always wrong, too blunt, too honest, and too much. So, instead of saying anything, Harrison simply scooted a bit closer, and slid his grip from her hip to the bend in her waist before looping his arm around her stomach to drag her toward him. Still rigid and curled into that protective ball of hers, she wasn’t exactly pliant, but she wasn’t resisting, so… By the time he’d pulled her to the middle of the bed and worked his other arm beneath her, Harrison had begun to curl around her in a way that had him holding her against his chest. He hugged her as close as he could, almost as if it was his intention to absorb her and morph them into one being. He would have if he could, if he knew that would help, make her relax, and give her the security she’d been craving. Burying his head in the crook of her neck, Harry took a deep breath through his nostrils, quickly inhaling the fresh scent of whatever soap had been in the bathroom when she washed off, and something else… Something uniquely her . 

He’d been so stupid… And even with his heart pounding through his chest and threatening to beat through the cage of his ribs and break free, Harry wasn’t sure what he felt for Caitlin Snow. Only that the feeling that had taken hold in the pit of his stomach was familiar, and was maybe something that needed to be ignored until later… Much later. Or then again, maybe not… Maybe he was tired of pretending that, that nauseating little flip in his gut wasn’t only because he thought she was pretty. Maybe it meant she was a little more important to him than he was willing to admit and maybe, he wanted to be with her. All he really knew was that he wanted to fly and die in her arms.

“I’m sorry…” He finally breathed, hugging her impossibly closer and causing her to grasp at his forearms. And with the scrape of her nails against his skin spurring him on as she dragged against him, he blurted, “If something had happened to you, I’d…”

With his voice dying in the back of his throat, he blinked and allowed his mouth to snap into a hard line before burrowing further into her bare shoulder… He really didn’t know what he would have done, and without knowing how to relay the intensity of it, the only thing he could be sure of was, if the roles were reversed, he wouldn’t have enough fight left to weather the storm and would ultimately fade away. For lack of a better term, Harrison would be fucked…

“I’d…” He breathed again before furrowing his brows and pinching his eyes shut. Pulling in a labored breath, and wrapping himself around her even more by drawing his legs up to settle against her, Harry grinded out, “It's you and me. From now on… I’m not going to leave you.”

Huffing once and failing to stifle the sounds of her sniffling as it ripped through the room, Caitlin relaxed against him and said, “I’m pretty sure I was the one who left.”

It may have been a poor attempt at a joke; a small way to lighten the mood, but he wasn’t going to complain… Still pressing his forehead against the skin of her shoulder, Harry let out an elated puff of air, before loosening the grip of his arms. She didn’t exactly sound right, but he’d determined that she wasn’t as sad as she had been a minute ago, and figured it was safe to pull away, even if he hadn’t planned to go far. 

So, lifting his head away from her neck and settling against the place where his pillow had been before he tossed it across the room, Harry continued to keep her as close as was considered appropriate before saying, “I hope you’re not sassing me.”

With a full bodied laugh now brightening the room, Caitlin quickly rolled in his embrace and, before he could get comfortable with the idea of lying face to face, Harry tensed after feeling her hands splay across the expanse of his chest. And suddenly she was there, chest to chest, with her knees butting against his, and her nose barely tickling at his chin. With one of her hands snaking over his shoulder, and sliding up his neck before it had finally ceased its movements and settled over the bolt of his jaw, Caitlin giggled again and brushed the pad of her thumb over his cheekbone, which caused a flush to permeate through his previously fair toned skin. And with that, Harrison was suddenly thankful for the cover of darkness as it blanketed around them and hid his ruddied face.

“You’ll get over it.” She said, still running that lightweight touch of hers along the side of his face…

Harrison had never felt self conscious over the texture of his skin before, but with Caitlin stroking soothing patterns along the structure of his face, he hoped that somehow she liked the way he felt under her touch - hoped she found satisfaction as she mapped around the dips and rough edges. He just wanted to appeal to her, in every sense of the word...

Shuttering his lids and smirking against her fingers as she grew bolder and began to walk them toward his mouth, Harrison pushed forward and pressed his forehead against hers before grunting out, “I won’t.”

Chapter Text

With the subtle savor of something dark, and rich permeating through the air, Harrison rolled languidly onto his back, wincing as he went with the not so gentle reminder that his legs had been turned to minced meat, before dragging his tired lids over dry eyes. The ceiling was boring, smooth, and a stark white that echoed mid-century and forced him to question whether or not he was still trapped in the confines of a suspended consciousness… But no… He wasn’t dreaming.

That’s right…

The small house in the clearing. They’d made it. And they’d slept there. Together…

After registering the absence of what should have been warmth beside him, Harry blinked the fog of sleep from his eyes, and quickly slapped a hand down against the very cool, empty space at his side to find Caitlin Snow was not where she was supposed to be… Or maybe she was, what with the natural light of what looked to be late morning pouring through the long windows in the small bedroom, there was a good chance she had slipped out of bed as quietly as possible so as not to interrupt his long needed slumber, and headed downstairs… With Winn. 

Because how fucking considerate of her…

Bolting upright and not giving two shits about his stitched legs, Harrison all but ripped himself away from the mattress and within an instant, found himself grappling at the door. Dizzy and tired, with his wounds now throbbing in protest at his hurried attempt to fly across the room, Harry no more had the door creaking open when he heard the sound of Caitlin’s soft laughter floating up the old staircase and gracefully fitting into his ears like a housecat, leaping into a soft duvet. And it wasn’t much but it was enough… Enough to discourage the heated drive of anxiety licking at the pit of his stomach and let him know the meta downstairs hadn’t lured her to a dark cellar and devoured her. 

No… Winn wasn't eating her, he was making her laugh . Which should have been a relief, but instead allowing himself to be comforted by the fact that she wasn’t in any immediate danger, he was… Actually kind of pissed for reasons he’d rather not address.

Pulling his brows together, Harry listened carefully to the deep muffle of Winn’s voice as he spoke softly to Caitlin… He couldn’t make it out exactly, but with another fit of giggles coming from the lower level, Harrison wasn’t exactly pleased to find that Caitlin found him funny . Now wracking his brain and tossing and turning over every memory he’d stored away that featured her, he couldn’t recall making her laugh at any time since he’d jumped through the breach. He made her mad, made her cry, and at best had made her smile but he wasn’t sure he’d ever made her laugh or at least not on purpose. 

He did seem to recall her laughing last night before wrapping him up in her hold, but it wasn’t intentional. She hadn’t laughed because she found him charming… or maybe she did. Regardless it didn’t seem fair that Winn, after being the enemy only a few nights ago, had been able to win her trust and elicite such a response when Harrison had to work so fucking hard just to look her in the eye without feeling like he’d burst into flames from within. Ever since jumping through the breach, he’d never possessed the talent of conversing easily with her, as he’d witnessed Allen or Garrick do countless times.

Harry drew in a slow-moving breath, took a step back, now fully aware of how he had abused his legs by rushing across the room in what had been a useless panic, before managing to back himself against the bed and all but plunge ass first to the mattress. The springs groaned under his weight as he pitched forward and gripped at the gray fabric of his sweats to inspect the tears covering his legs. And predictably enough, some of the stitches had torn, thanks to his anxiety, and to make matters worse, the infection seeping through the punctures that Snow had refused to mend until they’d cleared up, hadn’t improved much. So, he was left with gaping holes that had been taped with limited amounts of gauze and slathered in an antibiotic ointment that didn’t appear to be the miracle he was hoping for… 

Harry tilted back then, and settled his weight against his elbows as he laid against the quilt… He wasn’t entirely sure how comfortable with the idea of limping his way down the small flight of stairs but he supposed in the grand scheme of things, as annoying as it was to be rendered somewhat helpless, he’d only have to make the trip once… 

“Fuck…” he growled out to the empty space around him before closing his eyes and drawing a breath through his nostrils. He was once again met with that familiar smell; the heavy, full-bodied scent that had initially prompted him to stir, and quickly opened his eyes. His gaze shot instinctually toward the bedside table where he’d pinpointed the source. And just like that, he was reaching for a mug of fresh coffee and throwing it back like a man dying of thirst.

It didn’t matter that it was lukewarm, and it didn’t matter that the grounds had been broken down from what was possibly the cheapest brand on the market… After weeks worth of caffeine withdrawals, it was heaven, and if this house had nothing but cheap coffee to sate his postponed fixation, he would pledge his allegiance to Tina McGee here and now. No questions asked…

She was fine… Even with that ever present nagging in the depths of his mind that Winn was going to turn on them as soon as they dropped their guard, Harrison couldn’t deny that every inch of Caitlin Snow from top to bottom was glaringly intact. It really didn’t matter if he still couldn’t see her, with his white-knuckled grip all but strangling the dark-stained banister as he winced and staggered his way to the first floor, because he could hear her… There was the low, muffled grate of Winn’s voice as he grumbled something Harrison was just out of range to catch, followed by that gentle caress of her laughter; a sound that he could only describe as the welcome warmth of a fire after braving the unforgiving cold of a blizzard. And he normally would gravitate toward the ring of it, but Harry had found himself stopping midstep, just before reaching the final stair and listening…

Why was she laughing?

With something greedy and possessive, finding what little strength it had left to rear its ugly head, Harry felt his brow pucker before gingerly bending over the banister to peer down the hallway… His gaze was hindered thanks to the butler door at the end of the small entry corridor and it had ultimately blocked him from clapping his eyes on what he assumed was Winn purring insipid bullshit to Caitlin, causing her to give him one of those smiles that Harrison had already inwardly determined were his . And shortly after hearing another one of those glittering sounds bubble up from the confines of her chest, Harry was slithering as quickly and as silently as his injuries would allow.

Pushing through the bite of pain as he hobbled his way into the kitchen, Harrison no more shoved at the door and graciously lumbered through before both Winn and Caitlin’s voice came to a screeching halt. His eyes bounced back and forth between the two of them for just a brief moment before decidingly landing on Winn, who was sitting at the table, and leaning back in his chair like he habitually took his morning coffee hour with Caitlin snow. It was then, Harry pinned him beneath a penetrating glare that really didn’t have much merit, what in his condition, but regardless, it still managed to cause the meta to tense, lean forward and flash the scorn of his jagged teeth. Which was a small win for Harrison… Especially after listening to him talk so fucking soft and slow to Caitlin right before he made his presence known. Winn held his stare for longer than he would have liked but suddenly, with the scrape of a heavy plate being shoved along the tabletop between them, they both blinked and lowered their stares in time to see Caitlin setting down a platter filled with a few pieces of bacon and a heap of eggs that had been intended for him.

“Good morning…” She greeted easily with a smile, before tightening and tugging at the heap of hair she’d wrestled into a bun at the crown of her head.

“Hi…” He breathed back, doing everything in his power not to make a move to pull her into him like he had last night. He wasn’t sure how, but the idea of convincing her to go back upstairs with him kept flashing in the forefront of his mind… Harry blamed the nights rest and her leaving him the welcome surprise of coffee upon his wake, that had put him in a such a fantastic mood, but fuck all if he didn’t think that was the best idea he’d ever had.

“Morning, princess…”

Harrison frowned, his eyes slicing toward Winn to find him once again leaning back in his chair, his mean scowl replaced with something far worse after witnessing Harry turn to putty in Caitlin’s hands.

“What are you staring at?” Harry growled, trying in vain to stamp down the flush that was now sprinting up his neck.

“Oh, nothing…” he replied with a sly grin tugging at his ruined lip. “Just an old dog, trying to learn a new trick.”

Winn’s eyes shot to Caitlin, his line of sight quickly followed by Harrison as he snapped his gaze on her as well, just in time to see her shoving a pan into the old wash basin near the stove…

The screech of Winn’s chair as he stood, caused Harrison to quickly pin the meta once more and watch as he purposely rounded the small kitchen table, swiping his Walkie-talkie off the top as he went, and heading directly for him. Lightly checking his shoulder as he passed, Winn pushed through the door growling out, “That dog is stupid… Even if it is a pretty, little trick.”

Once Winn was out the door and clomping loudly down the hallway, Harry all but limped his way to his chair and sat down with a thump before pinching his eyes shut and gritting his teeth… Just an old dog, learning a new trick. At that, his eyes slid open, and against his better judgment, flicked back to Snow to find her leaning her hip against the counter with her arms crossed, and chewing at her bottom as she regarded the floorboards covering the space between them. 

“What’s wrong?” Harrison started immediately. After seeing her worry her lip between the bite of her teeth, he didn’t need to question it… Because something was wrong.

With Caitlin’s large eyes lifting to meet his gaze, she forced a smile and shook her head. “Everything is fine.”

Bullshit…

“I’m sorry about last night.” He found himself saying without hesitation. “If you need… If I can do-“

“No… Harry. I’m sorry about last night too. I just…” Her voice tapered off and she gave a shrug.

“Tell me.” Harrison prompted gently, his voice coming out low and easy like Winn’s had been right before he entered the kitchen.

She pinched at her lip again and then said, “You’re in no condition to keep going… I know McGee has been looking for you and you’d be such a tremendous help, because you’re incredibly smart. Harry, you’re so talented and-“

“ Snow… ” He interrupted without really understanding why, his gaze now planted on the scrambled bits of egg hanging off his plate. But there was something about listening to her happily prattle through a list of flatteries involving him , that had him oddly self-conscious. Harrison could feel that damned flush clawing its way back up his neck and without thinking, wiped at his mouth to make a futile effort to keep it from reaching his face before sputtering out, “Just… Just tell me. ”

“Well, Winn and I were talking…”

“Oh, I know… ” He gruffed before shoving a fork full of eggs into his mouth to try and pacify his sudden bitchy disposition after the prompt of Winn and Caitlin chatting so easily this morning…

“Well, we thought it would be best if we all stayed here for a little while longer.” She finished. “You need to heal and he showed me a map. The bunker is actually really far away, and with your legs… ”

“Snow…” Harry said again, a smirk curling at his lip. “You don’t need to convince me to stay put.”

“I don’t?” Caitlin asked gently, giving him a gratified grin; the expanse of it reaching her eyes before she made her way to the table and sat down in the empty chair next to his…

With Harrison’s eyes pulling away from his plate, he settled them back on Caitlin and gave her a small smile because, no… She certainly didn’t need to convince him to remain tucked away, in this small corner of the world where they could stay hidden, stay safe . He didn’t need to be swayed if it meant he could fall into that bed every night and keep her wrapped in his embrace, wrapped up in a place where he could feel her warmth and breathe her in. There was no persuasion needed if it came with the reassurance that he could hit the breaks on Zoom’s shit show and keep her all to himself, like none of it had even happened in the first place… Not now. Not ever… Not when he could sit with her at the breakfast nook, or be graced with the sight of her gliding over the doddering floors with socked feet and messy buns. Not when the gentle light of the morning would brush evenly through the thin windows of this old house, casting life into the room as Caitlin Snow’s big eyes slowly pulled him in.

Without thinking about it, Harrison was pitching sideways and balancing on his elbow as he leaned closer to Snow… His gaze drifted briefly to her mouth before flickering back up to meet her stare, and for the first time since he’d met her, allowing it to swallow him whole, which had ultimately inspired his stomach to give a brisk jump of anticipation. And oddly enough and as bold as brass, Harry had somehow managed to summon up just enough courage to consider pressing his mouth to hers. 

It was still in the kitchen, save for the sudden and quiet rumble of Winn’s feet on the other side of the butler door, as he moved without purpose somewhere down the hallway… And at that, Harry blinked, because how could he have forgotten. Winn was in the next room, pootling about, his very existence standing at a constant threat of rearing it’s ugly head and bumbling back into the kitchen just in time to find Harrison pressing an unhurried kiss to Caitlin’s mouth.

That dog is stupid… Even if it is a pretty, little trick.

Harrison flexed his jaw and allowed his eyes to drop to the table between them before slowly pulling back until his spine hit the wooden back of his chair, effectively breaking whatever spell he’d been caught in when he’d had the inane compulsion to kiss her, of all things. He cleared his throat and willed himself not to wince under the overwhelming sound of it as it ripped through the previously tranquil atmosphere.

“You call the shots, remember?” He breathed, now turning his focus back on the platter of food before him, and sending the sharp edge of his fork back into his eggs with a bit too much force, what with the points of his utensil all but chafing the ceramic with a hurried scrape.

“You and me?” She said cautiously, as if to probe him… As if she too felt like last night’s breakthrough for their mutual camaraderie was too good to be true.

“You and me.” He confirmed through a mouthful of egg, without an ounce of dubiety. His eyes cut a path back to hers and he held her gaze to make an attempt to communicate without words how truly earnest he’d been with her last night. He made her a promise that he intended to keep even if it killed him in the end. “You’re all that matters.”

Harry shifted against his seat then, unsure of how her perception of him would continue to shift if he couldn’t stop ripping out his very soul just to give her small whispers of just how important she truly was, and what that meant to him. Regardless, he forced himself not to shy away from her overwhelming gaze as it softened, and allowed him to sink further in like he’d been drawn into a deep, well earned sleep; one where he dreamed vividly of warmth and sunlight.

“I’m glad you feel that way… Because… ” Shifting in her chair, Caitlin tossed a look over her shoulder and gestured toward the very old ice box that had been awkwardly jammed into the corner of the kitchen between the small excuse of a counter and a wall that had now been dwarfed by the bulk of such a sizable machine… But it wasn’t the ice box she’d meant to show him, because shoved next to it was an old wheelchair.

Harrison blinked before sitting back in his chair and quickly snapping his stare back to Snow. “Absolutely not…”

“It’s only temporary…” She reasoned. “Originally, I tried hunting for crutches. But Winn found this in the cellar… I think it’d be a great way to—

“I’m not… ” Harry rasped, staring at the chair in disbelief. “How could you possibly expect me to-“

“Wait, just… It doesn’t mean you can’t walk around or anything like that.”

With a furrowed brow, Harrison rapidly shook his head… It might not have mattered, not really, but to him, the mere suggestion that he be confined to a wheelchair for any amount of time was an agonizing step backwards. It wasn’t just a wheelchair that temporarily would render him unproductive for the next few weeks or so, it was a potential reminder for her . A vivid evocation of a different Harrison Wells that she claimed she once held in reverence and now, he would once more be an echo of the man who betrayed her when he’d worked so hard to peel layers of Eobard Thawn away from the identity that was stolen from him.

“Snow…” He rasped before biting at the inside of his cheek. “I can’t.”

“It’s just a chair… with wheels.” She argued, now furrowing her brow.

“No, it’s not…” Harry snarled.

“Just to get you off your legs.”

“Snow.”

“What if I promise not to offer to push you?” She teased.

“Did you push him?!” Harry finally growled out, shooting her a biting glare that had her mouth snapping to a close, and her pretty eyes fluttering away from underneath the sheer weight of that scowl.

The silence shouldn’t have been that deafening… And with Harrison’s eyes roving across every dip of her face and searching her startled expression, he regretted ever barking out his insecurities. But Harrison knew he wouldn’t be able to stomach going back to that day… The day he slammed feet first onto Earth-1, only to have a trio of traumatized kids scrutinize his every move because he wore the same face of a man who deceived them, and injured their awe-inspiring ability to be optimistic even when everything around them seemed cataclysmic.

Roughly forcing his plate away from the space before him, Harrison all but knocked his elbows against the table before lowering his head into his hands. A sigh ripped from his throat… He wasn’t sure how to convey it exactly, how to tell her how much he needed her to keep seeing him , the real Harrison Wells, and not the imposter she had before…

“I’m sorry…” He finally rasped. “I’m so sorry. I just… I can’t-“

With Caitlin’s cool grasp gliding easily around his forearm, and tugging gently at the limb to pull his hand away from his face, Harrison shot her a sidelong glance and watched silently as she threaded her fingers through his. There was a moment or two where he felt like he was being suspended; like being on a roller coaster that stalls just before the largest drop in order to build anticipation, as he examined the way she smiled, taking her other hand to sweep the pads of her fingers against his knuckles. One by one, she continued to toy with his fingers, watching the way the length of them engulfed her own before drawing her eyes away from their laced hands and lowering her cheek to rest against his knuckles.

“You’re not him…” She whispered quietly, her eyes searching his face in a way that completely disarmed him. “You never were.”

Harrison full on grinned then… And it didn’t matter if he looked like a stupid kid with a crush, because the way she was looking at him in that moment, nothing else mattered. He would have ripped his heart out of his chest if she had asked…

Drawing in a breath and scooting his chair a bit closer to her, Harry said, “Okay… you’re calling the shots now so…”

“So…?” She prompted.

“I’ll do it.”

“Thank you.”

Still grinning like a dope, Harry leaned in and pressed his forehead to hers before chancing, “But, will you do me a favor?”

“Maybe…” Her breath fanned across his mouth and suddenly, the urge to kiss her came roaring back to life.

Closing his eyes and stamping down any chance at acting on that reckless impulse, Harry sighed, and pressed on. “Will you stop talking to Winn?”

Caitlin giggled then, the sound of it burrowing against his ears and causing him to flash teeth just before she pulled back and shoved at his shoulder.

“No!”

“It was worth a shot…”

“So, basically… Between the chickens, the solar panels, and supply runs when McGee’s carriers come in to stock this joint, or pick up survivors...” Winn paused, taking a long drag from his cigarette and closing his mouth before allowing the thick, gray smoke to seep from the glasgow hollow of his left cheek before gesturing to the space around him. “This bitch runs itself…”

“That’s amazing!” Caitlin began from her perch on the porch swing before taking up the map from the small patio coffee table that was shoved against the banister of the front porch. “You said the bunker is… here?” 

The pad of her finger graced the oddly pristine piece of paper, before dragging a path down its length and stopping right over the trio of the wide-banded stripes that had been stamped into the map, marking the location with the Mercury Labs logo. 

“Yup…” Winn was almost bored as he glanced at the map in her hands and pressed his back against one of the porch poles that framed its entry. He shifted a few times as if he couldn’t find a comfortable position against the spindled wood before huffing and reaching into his jacket pocket to withdraw his pack of cigarettes and Walkie-talkie, and laying them on the step at his feet. “It takes a few hours to get there if you’ve got a vehicle… Might take about a day if you tried to walk.” Cutting his eyes toward Harrison and flashing a self-satisfied smirk, he tacked on, “Might take you a little longer if you were dumb enough to pick a fight with the wrong meta.”

At that, Harrison glared and shifted his ass against the old leather of his rickety wheelchair… It had been exactly three days since Harrison found himself shackled by its restrictive hold and even though he was undoubtedly making a much speedier recovery than he’d originally hoped, he still was itching to claw his way out and rip into Winn for putting him there in the first place. 

“I don’t remember starting that fight.” Harry bit, practically showing teeth as his eyes continued narrowing on Winn. “But I think if you didn’t have the perception of a rabid animal, we could have avoided the entire thing with a simple conversation.”

“Oh, but then we wouldn’t have been able to have all that fun .” Was Winn’s harsh retort. 

Harry scowled and drew in a breath to bite back once more, but before he could, Caitlin had cut in, drawing both of their heated stares.

“You said you’re able to communicate with the Mercury Labs bunker by radio contact…?” She prompted.

“Only when it’s absolutely necessary.” Winn answered. “There’s a series of transmissions that I can send from the barn.

“There’s a trapdoor where everything is out of sight. It’s padlocked, just in case. But basically McGee has that shit wrapped up in some sort of anti-meta metal where outgoing transmissions can’t be detected. It’s all coded too… She’s fucking paranoid if you ask me.”

Snow's eyes shot from the map, to the large, ramshackled structure across the lawn… That barn didn’t look fit to house a family of racoons, let alone a complicated operations system that was programmed to send and receive encrypted messages that were almost completely impossible to detect from unwanted authorities. Then again… an old, dilapidated barn could easily remain unsuspected if ever this small farmstead were to draw the wrong sort of attention.

“Better safe than sorry…” Caitlin said with a shrug.

“Technology is constantly evolving.” Harrison started. “She’s smart to stay ahead of it to avoid detection.”

“Yeah…” Gruffed Winn, taking another slow drag from his cigarette. “McGee said the same shit. You two are gonna get on swell.”

“You said it’s padlocked… Where’s the key?” Caitlin asked, genuinely interested in anything Winn had to say.

“Loose floorboard on the steps.” He huffed. “Like I said, that bitch is paranoid.”

“I’d love to see it.” Caitlin chimed happily, still keeping an eye on the barn.

“You know… I gotta go down there in a bit. Need to let Tina know I’ve got her special package ready, so her carriers know they’ve got a pickup waiting.” Winn began with a purr, shooting a puffed up grin toward Harrison and causing him to glare yet again before leaning forward to gently pluck the map from Caitlin’s hands. “How about you meet me in the barn after dark? Just you and me… I’ll show you exactly-OW! Fuck !”

Ripping himself away from Caitlin and all but rounding on Harrison, Winn gripped against the armrests of the wheelchair and forced it back with enough might to knock it against the exterior wall of the house.

“Fuck off!” Winn barked, pressing a rough hold into Harrisons shoulder and pinning him against the leather of his chair. “You did that shit on purpose.”

“This chair… ” Harry began calmly as if a meta human, who’d previously assaulted him, hadn't just manhandled him in his very disabled state and growled in his face. “I’m having the worst time getting the hang of it. Did I catch your toe?”

“ You about took it off…” Winn grated darkly through his sharp, clenched teeth. “You watch your wheels, bitch… ”

“Oops…”  Came Harrison’s impassive response.

And this time, it was Harry’s turn to flash a very self-approved smirk as he watched Winn’s darkening eyes pin him with a glare before pulling back and snapping. “I should roll you right off this porch.”

“Try me…” Harry dared.

“Um… Excuse me… “ Caitlin butted in that den-mother way of hers, using the very tone Harrison had witnessed her practicing on Allen and Ramon every time they’d given in to immature distractions when there were adult problems to be handled. “As entertaining as it would be for the two of you to wrestle each other for king of the porch, there’s more important things happening.”

“Yeah?” Winn asked, not taking his eyes off Harry. “Like what?”

“ That… ” 

Her finger pointed to the forgotten Walkie-talkie Laying across the top porch step, causing both Harrison and Winn to slide their heated gazes to the previously disregarded gear. Sure enough, although low and barely audible, crackling through the receiver was a voice. It was faint at first but then, suddenly, it was snarling out bits and pieces of what sounded like threats.

“Shit…”  Winn ground out before pulling away from Harrison, whirling toward the steps and pitching to snatch the walkie in order to toy with it. “I’m a little out of range out here. But usually if I…”

“Fucking… Hear me?? I’m going to… You…”

The transmission continued in fluctuating patterns of angered voices and static until at length, Winn snarled and slammed the piece of equipment against the banister with enough force to cause Caitlin to jump.

“You’re going to break it…” Harry deadpanned.

“No, I won’t…” Winn snapped. “I do that all the ti—

“ Winn… I will fucking kill her. ” The voice growled through a low and biting rasp, causing Winn, Harrison, and Caitlin to stare at the two way radio, completely speechless. The three of them remained stuck, frozen in place as if they’d been eclipsed in ice as they continued listening to the voice… That voice… And all at once Harrison recognized that drawl, and based on the threat that had been laid before them, his eyes shot to Snow to find her wide-eyed stare engulfing him.

Leith…