Dr. Wells smiled as he rolled into the laboratory. Barry was running a few tests with Cisco, literally. The young man had a few monitors attached to his skin and was running at a light jog. Cisco had the grin of a child as he watched Barry pick up speed.
His brows furrowed as he observed Caitlin. She was supposed to have left for a trip that morning and would not land until sometime the next day. It was curious to why she was still standing there, going through paperwork.
"What are you still doing here? I thought you would've left by now." he smiled, rolling up next to her. His entrance had seemed to surprise her as she jumped at the sound of his voice. It wasn't like her to be so nervous and it confused him.
"I… I got my days wrong, Dr. Wells. Tomorrow is when I leave. I-I'm so sorry." she apologized, her eyes cast down as she continued to shuffle with the paperwork.
Reaching out and putting a hand over her, he asked, "Is everything okay, Caitlin? You're not acting like yourself. You should be home resting before you go."
"I'm okay, Dr. Wells. Thank you." she smiled softly, tucking her hair behind her ear, "I won't push myself too hard today. If it's okay with you, I thought I would organize my papers before I go."
"I may be your boss, but you know you can do whatever you need to before you go. I'm not going to stop you. Take a deep breath. You're working too hard." Dr. Wells assured, releasing her hand and turning back to watch Barry run. It was still nice and steady for him. It was nice to see Caitlin smile a bit more, but she was acting oddly.
Normally, she was confident and at ease in the lab. Right now she was acting as if something had her spooked and was on edge. That didn't make any sense. He glanced once more at her and observed her going through papers. Her head was down and she almost looked defeated. That wasn't like her.
Something about her face was off too. Besides the worried look, there was something that he could not quite put his finger on. It wasn't her rosy lips or her complexion. Those look spot on like normal. Her brows were furrowed in but that wasn't much different than normal. And finally it hit him.
Her eyes were bright blue.
A deep frown instantly came to his lips. There was no sign of colored contacts either and Caitlin was not known for such things. No. There was no way that that it could be Caitlin… but how? She seemed to catch onto his looking and gave him a smile, which he calmly returned.
The woman before him was too spot on to be someone that just looked like the young woman that had worked with him for so long. And there was no signs of it being a faulty hologram either. The eye color would be too much of a change to be an error.
Whoever this was, he was going to get to the bottom of it. It was also unfortunate that she was going through important paperwork that was for their eyes only. And also, he wanted to test her to make sure she really was not the person she was pretending to be.
"Caitlin, could you do me a favor…?" Dr. Wells asked, turning back to her.
Nodding, she responded softly, "Of course. What do you need for m-me to do?"
His ears easily caught onto the stutter. It only served to solidify the evidence in his mind. Something certainly was not right. He leaned back in his chair as he asked, "Could you contact Barry's mother before you leave tomorrow? I know it's short notice but it would help me a lot."
"Yes, I'll make a note to do it, Dr. Wells. It's no trouble at all." she smiled, not skipping a beat. As she turned back, the frown grew on his lips and he felt anger rise up his back and across his shoulders. He would have to deal with this problem after the day was done. Caitlin knew just as well as anyone that Barry's mother was dead.
"Thank you, Caitlin. I can always rely on you when it comes to things like this." he simply spoke, his smile returning, but his words were sharp. It would be interesting to confront this imposter at the end of the day.
Barry left earlier before the others. He still had his real job and needed to help Joe figure out some forensics. He had said his goodbyes quickly before he trotted out. Caitlin had her head turned when he had ran out, not catching his speed.
Cisco had left next, talking about names he was brainstorming for some of the new metahumans they had encountered lately. Caitlin had even laughed at some of the ideas and it had made the young man get a funny look. Dr. Wells would have laughed at how poorly the young woman held her act, if it hadn't pissed him off so badly.
"Don't stay too late, Caitlin. You do have a trip in the morning." Dr. Wells chortled, watching how the young woman was still going through papers. It was one thing to worm her way into his lab, it was another to turn into Caitlin. The young woman had stuck to his side, even after his particle accelerator killed her fiance.
"I'm sorry, Dr. Wells." she spoke up, rubbing her eyes, "I'll be out in a minute."
Harrison observed as she looked at a picture sitting on the desk. It was one that the group had taken last year, a day that felt so long ago. In it, was Caitlin, Cisco, Ronnie, and himself. There was a curious look to her face, and not the usual sadness that he saw her take on when she saw her dead fiance.
"I can close up, Dr. Wells. You can go ahead and rest." Caitlin offered, closing up a notebook and slipping it into the bag she had on her.
The older man decided to play on letting her think she was alone, "Thank you. That's very kind of you. But don't stay too late. You need rest too."
Caitlin nodded, watching him leave. He noticed how intensely she watched him go. It was as if she was willing him to leave even faster. Most of the lights were off now and it would make it easier for him to watch her without being seen.
It didn't take long for a person to step out of the room. The figure was much larger than a female and looked left and right to make sure no one was around. Dr. Wells stayed still and silent as the figure made his way out. He allowed the figure to move on for a little bit before following after. It was a blessing that the chair was so silent.
Dr. Wells glowered as he realized the figure was heading toward his office. He was confused greatly by what was going on. Had the fake Caitlin let another in? It was most definitely male. Oddly, the figure looked familiar.
Rolling up behind the man, he noticed that he was having trouble getting the door open. Not surprising since it needed a scan of his prints, "Can I help you?"
The figure jolted as it turned around nervously. Dr. Well's eyes widened as he saw who stood before him: Ronnie. There was no possible way though. It didn't make sense. He was dead and the situation was too odd, even if he was alive.
"S-Sorry, Dr. Wells. I think I got a mix up in offices. Could you point me in the right direction?" Ronnie tried to cover up, as if he hadn't been dead for nearly a year.
A chilling smirk came to Dr. Well's lips as he slipped off his glasses and slowly stood up. It took Ronnie back as his eyes widened. Harrison could of swore he saw a tremble go through the young man's body. Ronnie would have had no reason to be afraid of him.
"Y-You can walk?!" Ronnie asked, utterly stunned. There was a fear to his eyes as he took a step back.
Harrison chuckled as he shook his head. The younger man still had the same bright blue eyes as Caitlin had. It struck him exactly how the imposter had made their way in. It was another metahuman that had slipped in.
"The man you have turned yourself into has been dead for nearly a year. Now, show me what you really look like." Dr. Wells nearly purred, locking the man's gaze.
Taking another step back, Ronnie stuttered, "I don't know w-what you're talking about…"
"I'm not an idiot or a fool. Change yourself back." Dr. Wells ordered, but noticed something particular. Ronnie's hair was starting to turn blonder and his skin had grown paler. Smirking, he spoke, "Or just let it happen by yourself. You can't hold a form for long, can you? And you played the part of Caitlin all day. That must have been exhausting."
The Ronnie imposter turned to run but Harrison reached out and quickly shoved him into the wall, holding onto his arms as he held the metahuman in place. Dr. Wells didn't have much trouble holding the figure, as the metahuman did not seem to possess the same strength as his form.
"Just let it happen. No sense in fighting it." Dr. Wells cooed, watching in fascination as the form slowly slipped. Whoever it was, they were starting to turn smaller and he had to tighten his grip as the arms grew slimmer.
Struggling, the metahuman's voice grew more feminine, "P-Please, just let me go! I'm sorry…. so sorry. I promise I won't come back."
"Somehow I don't believe you." Harrison smirked, realizing that he was dealing with a female. A small one at that. It wasn't surprising that one would finally break in. The question was why had she come?
It would have been a quicker process if the girl would have just given up trying to keep the form, but she had fought it the whole way. Dr. Wells had been curious about the whole process as he soon realized that she was growing nude. It wasn't surprising. She had needed to shift clothing around her to fit each form and physical clothing would have gotten in the way.
The girl was young, that was true enough. She still bore the same bright blue eyes as before. Blonde curls framed her face and sat neatly against her shoulders. Her skin was pearly white and her arms were crossed over her small chest and her legs were pressed together in an effort to hide herself. Her body was rather petite and delicate and couldn't be much taller than five feet.
"I think you owe me your name." Dr. Wells spoke, tilting her chin up so she couldn't hide her real face from him.
"C-Colette…"