Caitlin was excited. She was about to pull up to her first official conference as a scientist for STAR Labs. Wells had personally invited her to accompany him to this conference on 'Genetics and Bio-Engineering' and she was eager to accept. The event was being held in Coast City and they were just arriving at the expensive hotel which it was being hosted in. Wells had spent the taxi journey inquiring as to how she was fitting into life at STAR Labs and if she had any thoughts for future projects. She had been flattered that he considered her opinions important and gave him quite a few of her ideas, which he received with much enthusiasm.
They pulled up outside the hotel and Wells sighed as he glanced out the window. Caitlin followed his gaze and saw a large group of protesters. It was quite late at night and the conference had been scheduled for the following day so she was surprised to see that quite a large collection of protesters had gathered. Some had signs and banners protesting scientific meddling in genetics while others had just made signs which condemned all the attending scientists to hell. "Shall we?" Wells said, grimacing slightly as he realised that they would have to make their way through the crowd to reach the entrance.
Caitlin nodded and left the car. As soon as the crowd noticed her STAR Labs badge they started to boo and hiss insults at her. "Ignore them." She heard Wells say soothingly behind her. Feeling slightly more confident, she straightened her back and tried to make her way through while avoiding eye contact with the people around her.
She was almost inside when she heard a voice hiss directly into her ear, and while she didn't hear the exact insult she was so taken aback by it that she made the mistake of pausing slightly. An explosion of pain burst across Caitlin's face and she gasped and made a small pained noise. It took her a second to realise that the insult-hissing protester had struck her. Her hand flew to her cheek and she felt tears well up in her eyes.
Standing just behind Caitlin and dealing wit a few nasty protesters of his own, Wells had turned just in time to see Caitlin being attacked. He was absolutely furious. It was one thing for the protesters to stand and scream ignorant slogans but this was unacceptable. He was forced to immediately duck however as the same protester had decided to take a swing for him too. Dodging that punch, he retaliated brutally with one of his own and it made contact with the mans' chest and sent him sprawling to the ground.
Stunned, Caitlin watched as Wells decked the man who had assaulted her. Her surprise turned to worry though as she watched another man help the fallen protester up and both made their way towards Wells again. Shifting himself slightly so he was positioned in front of Caitlin, Wells tensed up in preparation of a fight.
Still clutching his chest, the initial assaulter took another swing at Wells who blocked his arm with his forearm and used his momentum to headbutt him square on the nose. Blood began to spurt instantly as the man fell again and Wells turned to face the second larger man. This man was about the same height as Wells but was a bald-headed mass of muscle. Caitlin felt real concern for her boss as she saw the man land his first punch on Wells' shoulder and she heard him hiss in pain. Deciding to get involved, Caitlin moved forward and booted the man on the knee as hard as she could. As his right leg collapsed Wells was able to sweep the other leg out from under him and as the man fell forward he punched him in the stomach. Wheezing, the man stayed down.
Having witnessed this fight a handful of other protesters were getting riled up and had started moving towards the warring pair. Caitlin had been impressed with how well they had been doing so far but she highly doubted that Wells and herself would be able to take on a gang. She felt relief flood through her, however, as a handful of security guards made their presence known beside them and intercepted the gang. Three guards held the men back while the fourth led Caitlin and a still agitated Wells inside the building.
After explaining the situation to the security guards and declining to press charges against the men they had finally arrived at their joined rooms. "You should put some ice on that Caitlin." Wells said eyeing up the swelling which had begun to develop on her cheek.
"Yeah I think I should." She replied and Wells stood up and disappeared into his room, returning a few moments later with some ice wrapped in a cloth.
"Thank you. How is your shoulder?" She asked politely before hissing slightly as he applied it to her cheek. She took it in her own hand and adjusted it across the worst of the swelling.
"It's totally fine. Might be a bit tender in the morning but hope springs eternal." He replied while touching it gingerly.
They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes to let some of the adrenaline still in their systems dissipate. Caitlin was the one to break the silence. "So where did you learn to fight like that?"
Wells laughed and moved his hand to the back of his head to rub his neck. "I have no idea. I think I reacted on pure instinct."
She smiled before becoming more serious. "I don't know if I said it earlier but thank you Dr Wells for-"
"Harrison" He cut her off. "You can call me Harrison, Caitlin. I think our little outdoor brawl has allowed us to reach that level."
Caitlin pondered on that for a second, smiled and nodded, "Thank you Harrison for getting involved. You didn't need to."
Wells turned to face her fully and after a small internal debate reached over and placed his hand over hers. "Yes I did. He hit you Caitlin. Also his language towards you was disgusting and he had no right to lay a hand on you. Hitting women is a sign of cowardice. You are a brilliant and intelligent and you deserve respect. I'm sure Ronnie or Cisco would have done the same."
As he finished his small speech, their eyes met. Caitlin was shocked at the genuine affection she saw there. She had always thought that Wells appreciated her but she was never sure if he actually liked her or not. Caitlin held his gaze for a few seconds before she felt her face flush and she broke away. "Right. I think I could do with a good drink and some sleep. This amount of adrenaline in one day isn't good for someone my age." Wells yawned and stood up. "Goodnight Caitlin. If you need anything then just come through and i'll try my best to wake up." He started towards the door which separated their rooms.
Making a brave split second decision, Caitlin also stood up and called his name softly. Wells turned and Caitlin came up beside him and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and whispered "Goodnight Dr Wells." He smiled at her while a small blush spread across his cheeks as he closed the door.
Caitlin giggled and quickly changed into her chosen pyjamas. She checked her face in the mirror and was pleased to see that the swelling on her cheek had receded a great deal. The huge bed in the opposite corner was calling her and she sighed in pure pleasure as she sunk into it. This had been a weird day. Her and Dr Wells getting into a brawl with protesters was not what she had in mind for her first conference and she was wondering if Ronnie and Cisco would even believe her.
Her mind drifted towards the man in the rooms next to her. Dr Harrison Wells was full of surprises. She had instantly liked him from the first meeting she had with him on her first day at STAR Labs. It was impossible to deny that the man was attractive with his dark hair and eyes which were terrifyingly beautiful. His blue eyes were so piercing and perceptive that it made it difficult to hold eye contact for too long because it felt like he was gazing into your damn soul. He also knew how to wear a suit and he seemed to have a nice build. She thought more about it, he didn't ever look like he was struggling to move around heavy science equipment so he must have a decent amount of strength.
And he knew how to fight. She thought back to their earlier brawl, yeah he said that it was pure instinct but quite a few of those moves looked practised and his reaction times were quite above average. Harrison Wells was her knight in shining armour and she had kissed his cheek before he left. It had been a spur of the moment move and she smiled as she recalled his slight blush as he left her room. His blushing face was gorgeous and she was thinking of other possible ways to make it happen again when a realisation jolted her.
Fuck. She had a serious crush on her boss.