Description: Caitlin's neatly organized life is turned upside down when Harrison Wells from Earth 2 lands in S.T.A.R. Labs, asking the Flash to save his daughter from Zoom and waking up feelings Snow had no idea she still possessed.

AN: Go to my profile to catch a video!

Part 1

Caitlin once again woke up early in the morning in an empty and seemingly cold apartment. It hadn't been warn in there, no matter what the temperature, ever since she'd lost everything a person could possibly lose in her life. Her fiancé, then husband, died saving the world; her once promising career, now only a distant memory. Yet, just like every other morning, she turned off the alarm clock on her phone and got up, heading straight to the bathroom and warming herself up with hot morning shower.

She was wrong, she thought when applying shampoo on her hair and lathering it into her curls. She hadn't lost everything. She still had more than a lot of people in this world had. She still had a pretty steady income from S.T.A.R. Labs she just couldn't seem to leave in order to pursue something else. She still had friends. She was a part of something big and amazing and even though sometimes, especially alone when in her apartment that supposed to be warm and cozy as it was her home, she felt alone and freezing, those feelings disappeared once she met with her friends. Friends with whom she saved the day, city or world – depending on occasion – therefore doing something worthy, something meaningful, something she could be proud of. It was both a calling and an escape from real life. She didn't want to admit that her job was all she truly had, that she seemed to have no interests beside it, no friends other than Cisco, Barry, Iris, Wally and Joe. Not that she had the strength and energy after a difficult day to go out there and try meet someone new and even if, she would have to lie to them from the start. Caitlin knew better than that. She wouldn't be able to do something like this to anyone she cared for, not to mention a potential boyfriend. She got over Ronnie's death, she did. She might've buried herself in work, living in denial for a while, but now she was truly over what happened to her. The problem was that once she did try to meet someone new, once she did try to maybe go after what her heart seemed to secretly desire, she would lose the life as she knew it now. And she didn't want to, because she loved it too much.

In the end, she remained where she was, she chose to accept this calling that sometimes – or maybe most of the times – felt like a heavy burden on her shoulders. This was her life now and nothing worth doing came without a price, therefore she sacrificed all hopeful and happy versions of her future, threw them out of her mind, locked them deeply into her heart, so they wouldn't bother her. She would never be a world renowned scientist. She would never become a mother. She would never fall in love again. Maybe it would be too much pain anyway, she decided when getting out of the shower and reaching for the towel and then the hairdryer. She might be strong now, but she knew she wouldn't handle another loss. And there was always such a possibility in love.

The easiest way to find it would be among her friends, but despite all the sayings that you should marry your best friend, Caitlin just didn't see herself falling for Cisco or Barry. The latter was actually a couple of years younger than her, but even if that wasn't an issue, he was head over heels in love with Iris and… Caitlin just couldn't picture herself with Barry Allen, no matter how magnificent a hero he'd become. Feelings didn't work this way. Then, there was either Joe or Wally. One too old, the other too young again, but in the end, thinking of any of them made her want to laugh because it just seemed so ridiculous.

Once done with her hair, make-up and clothes, Caitlin grabbed her coat and then her bag and she was out the door, leaving her apartment cold and empty for the whole day. Provided she would even get back there tonight. She never knew when the next crisis requiring her full attention would come up. There was always a possibility that she would stay in S.T.A.R. Labs for the night, using the change of clothes she always had there, the shower and the bed in one of the few make-shift guest rooms.

Yet, before she reached S.T.A.R. Labs, she dropped by the Jitters to get a cup of coffee, something that was also a part of her morning routine. She didn't usually sleep for long. If she got six hours of sleep per night, it seemed like many compared to some. And being busy during the night hour didn't mean what everyone else would quickly assume, oh no, she nearly sighed, not even trying to think when was the last time she'd actually had a man in her bed.

The truth was that she could sleep more as she didn't always need to be at work so early, but the longer she stayed in her empty apartment, the colder and lonelier she felt. So she got up, prepared for work, get a cup of strong coffee on the way and was ready for action at S.T.A.R. Labs.

Once she pushed the main door open and directed herself towards the main part of the building where they usually hung out and worked, she thought that just about now Cisco must've been waking up, groggily looking at the clock and cursing that he should've been at work already. As far as Barry was concerned, he might've slept in again as he'd probably stopped a robbery or two the night before and would once again face his angry boss at the precinct. Although, Barry had the advantage of his speed, so technically he could've still made it on time.

Caitlin smiled fondly as she thought of her two boys and finally, she reached the main room, walking over to the computers to see if anything came up during the night. The data was being cross-referenced all the time, the computer picking up anything that might seem connected to metahumans or just suspicious. Felicity's last visit also upgraded it to sort out the reached conclusion and estimate the danger. If it was high, an alert was immediately sent to all of their cell phones.

After she saw that not even a minor event was picked up, she sat behind her desk and while drinking her coffee and eating the fresh bagel she also got, she checked her e-mail.

She was nearly finished with her breakfast, just sitting there peacefully and enjoying the meal when suddenly, a terrible shrilling sound caused her to jump to her feet.

"What the hell?!" she heard Cisco's voice as he just now entered the room. "What did you do?" he asked her as though it was her fault.

"Good morning to you, too, Francisco!" Caitlin growled, her good mood evaporating. She loved her friend, but he could very easily piss her off.

"Caitlin, seriously, what's happening?" he repeated when dropping his bag to the ground and running to the main computer to check out the source of the alarm. "Did you activate the cortex?" he finally asked her.

"Of course not! It just happened!"

"Wait… those readings don't make sense…" Cisco said, typing on a keyboard. "Better get Barry! Something's happening!"

Caitlin reached for her phone and pushed the panic button that Felicity had also installed on all of their cellular devices, angering Cisco that he hadn't thought of it himself. Then she and Ramon took up running, directing themselves to the cortex. Caitlin didn't think twice about running in heels. She seemed to have mastered that particular skill to perfection. Barry and Cisco used to tease her that she still showed up to work dressed in costumes and heels as though the S.T.A.R. Labs was full of employees, as though the place still required a dress code. They learnt to leave that topic alone though. The truth was that Caitlin had already lost too much and she didn't want to lose any chunk of her own self as well. Dressing up elegantly for work wasn't just something that used to be required of her, she liked to look and feel professional. It made her feel better, it made people respect her more and treat her seriously, which frankly wasn't easy when being a long-legged, long-haired and slim brunette. She'd dealt with people – especially men – in her past that had actually the audacity to ask her why she hadn't chosen an easier career, like modeling, apparently something she would've been great at. To her, she was great at being a scientist, she had an amazing head full of fantastic ideas that she could actually bring to life and she was proud of it. She'd worked very hard in college, sacrificing her private life and any possible entertainment she might've had in order to be the best and the brightest. She was quickly rewarded by S.T.A.R. Labs' and therefore, Harrison Wells' attention. Barely had she graduated, she was already working hard for the man, doing everything in her power to be better than anyone else in there. And she was. She was also loyal. Maybe even too loyal or… there was something else that caused her to stay when the particle accelerator exploded. Maybe there was another reason to why she never left Wells' side, but that was just a foolish illusion, something she actually had the chance to realize.

Barry appeared in the cortex a moment before Caitlin and Cisco reached the room, making them feel like they didn't move at all. That definitely wasn't a benefit of being friends with a speedster who could make even the most athletic person in the world feel like a slug.

"What's happening?!" Barry screamed so they could hear him in the noisy room.

Something seemed to be hanging in the air there, a whirring hole, like a portal, moving faster and faster, emitting more and more nose until… it all stopped as fast as it started and there was a man jumping out of the portal and landing swiftly on his feet right in front of them.

Once Caitlin saw his face, she felt dizzy and needed to grab the railing of the stairs she had behind her.

Because this didn't make any sense. This was impossible. Period.

The man standing in front of them was Harrison Wells and she couldn't help but remember that particular time with a drop of her stomach.

It wasn't grief after Ronnie. That wasn't the reason why she stayed at S.T.A.R. Labs. That wasn't the reason why her career came to a sudden stop. It was simply what she wanted. She made the decision to stay with dr. Wells and Cisco. She dedicated her life to finding and neutralizing the metahumans that started to appear everywhere in the city ever since the explosion. Ever since the day she lost it all.

It happened when Barry was already a part of the team, when they established a common goal, a rhythm with which they worked together. It came as naturally for them as breathing now and none of them actually suspected that within just a few hours it would all go to hell with the real identity of the man they were working for revealed.

Caitlin and Harrison – or maybe rather Eobard in dr. Wells' body – were the only people left in the lab that day. Nothing eventful happened and everybody cleared up pretty fast, having their own lives and families to get to. It was then that Harrison asked her what she was still doing there as he drove over to her in that wheelchair of his, stopping just inches from her sitting by her desk.

"I could ask you the same thing, dr. Wells," she told him when meeting his eyes and feeling something clench in her stomach.

"How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me that? I'm Harrison. We're friends, Caitlin. Everything we've been through brought us too close to be called just colleagues, don't you think?

There was something in his eyes. Something that she couldn't possibly ignore any longer. The problem was her. Her and her conflicted feelings. And they weren't conflicted because she thought he was on a wheelchair or older than she was, no, they seemed to be conflicted because she liked him, she liked the way he looked, the way he moved even if incapacitated, but what she had trouble liking was the inside. She couldn't quite figure this man out, never seemed to get to the core of who he truly was. That pretty much frustrated her and caused her not to fully trust him – something she would never admit to Barry or Cisco or pretty much anybody. It was like she instinctively felt that this, those feelings, whatever they were, they wouldn't get her anywhere. They were purely physical.

Her mind was full of thoughts once again and she didn't seem to remember what they were even talking about, which he took as an invitation. Before she knew it, his face was getting dangerously close and her brain finally registered that he was going to kiss her.

In the last moment, just when their lips were about to touch, when she already felt his breath on her skin, she pulled away, realizing it wasn't what she truly wanted. If she was to continue working with this man, she couldn't let things get this far because she knew that she could never truly be with him.

Luckily for her, in the same moment her phone started ringing. It nearly looked as though she pulled away because she was startled by it. She could only hope Harrison thought that.

Only he didn't because he was a speedster himself, so he knew better. He saw better.

Then again, it wasn't like she knew it that very moment.

They never had the chance to talk about what happened because that very night Barry told her the truth about dr. Wells. Later on, Cisco and Joe went to Star City to check the spot where the accident in which Harrison Wells had lost his wife, Tess Morgan, happened. And they found more than they bargained for. It was a body and no near female. It turned out to be the real Harrison Wells.

And now Caitlin was entering the make-shift prison in the cortex and facing Eaobard Thawne. She now knew her intuition never let her down. She now knew why she seemed to feel attracted to this man, but couldn't find with him what should have been there. It was because he wasn't the real Harrison Wells and she could as well found herself falling in love with a ghost. The terrible truth was that she'd never even met the real man, just a shadow, a fraud wearing his body.

"Oh, hello, there, dr. Snow," he said with a smirk on seeing her. "Did you come here to set me free?"

"Why would I do that?" she asked with a frown, folding her arms across her chest as though in a defensive gesture. "You're nothing but a murderer and a fraud."

"Oh, is that how you want to play it? We both know the truth. You like me. You're attracted to me."

"Maybe I was," she admitted, looking him in the eyes bravely, "but I always knew something just wasn't right. You're not Harrison Wells. You never were. You're nothing more but a monster who've been deceiving us all in the worst way possible for the last few years."

"Is that why you came to see me? To tell me all of this?" he wanted to know, seeming exasperated with her by now. "You're wasting my time."

"You have nothing but time," she reminded him. "After all, you're locked up in here."

"You might deny it all you want, but in the end we both know the truth, Caitlin. There's darkness inside of you. I just regret I won't see it come out. I wish I could see the amazing person you'll become some day."

"I'm all of that right now and I choose what's right," she told him and then turned around to walk away.

Now, as Caitlin Snow once again faced Harrison Wells, she didn't know what to think or do. She knew he wouldn't hurt her. Not after what he apparently felt for her, but his words, still ringing in her head today, unsettled her.

"Stay where you are!" Cisco yelled, grabbing a gun from the nearest shelf.

"Wow! Wow! Wow!" were the first words they heard coming from the newcomer and it was enough to take them off their tracks. This man didn't sound like the one they knew. His words, even if all he said was a repetition, sounded differently in his mouth and didn't match the dr. Wells from before. They didn't much Eobard Thawne.

"Dr. Harrison Wells?" Barry asked, feeling just as much confused as every one of them.

The only logical explanation would be time travel as Eobard could have done it and traveled to the future, but the breech that was still hanging in the air didn't match that. And why would Eobard travel like this, showing himself to them, risking his identity when he'd spent so many years trying to conceal it?

"Do you know me?" the stranger asked with a frown. "Is there a me in this world, too?"

"Ok, what are you talking about, dude?" Cisco asked, flabbergasted as he lowered the gun.

"Ok, listen to me. My name is…" the man came to a sudden stop, "well, you already know my name, but what you don't know is that I come from another Earth, another… universe, so to speak. Something happened here a few months back, an event that ripped the time continuum and created breeches between my world and yours."

"You mean the anomaly?" Barry asked, surprised whereas Caitlin just remained quiet, still in shock, millions of thoughts crossing her mind.

"Yes, that's exactly right," Wells agreed. "I'm from another world and even if there's a man that looks like me here, he is a completely different person."

"We heard that one before," finally, it came out of Caitlin's mouth and all the three people looked at her. When hers and Harrison's eyes met, she felt her mouth going dry. Why was this happening? She wondered. She truly thought she put all of her past behind her and there it was again.

"I'm afraid I don't understand," Wells just said.

It was crazy, they all knew and thought that. Crazy as hell. Impossible. Yet, it was happening to them. Probably again.

"So, my doppelganger basically killed your mom and a bunch of your friends," Harrison Wells summarized the long story both Barry and Cisco relayed to him, Snow remaining quiet.

The way he said it though, made them all think that he didn't care. He didn't care that his counterpart had done all those terrible things, that he nearly destroyed everything and everyone they held dear. All he cared about was… what exactly? Caitlin needed to know. Himself? Was that why he made the jump through the breech? To save his own skin? Then, as on cue, she got her confirmation.

"There's someone like your enemy…" Wells started and stopped, waving his hand energetically like it could help him remember the name.

"Thawne," Cisco reminded him sharply.

"Right!" Harrison pointed Ramon, but didn't make the effort to repeat the name. "Someone like that is on my Earth, too and he's also a speedster. We call him Zoom. He's terrorizing the city and soon, I'm sure he'd go global and maybe even…" he swallowed hard, "hit the multiverse."

"You mean he can get here just like you did?" Caitlin asked and Wells looked at her again.

She wished he ignored her completely. His blue eyes, they were too vivid, too focused. She didn't want to be under his scrutiny and had the worse suspicion that he saw how nervous around him she was.

"Exactly," to her relief, he only confirmed that. "Not like it's my fault, though," he added and turned ostentatiously to Barry.

"Well, yeah… I know," the younger man seemed to feel ashamed. "I need to fix this."

To all of their astonishment, Wells started to laugh out loud.

"Yeah, that's a great idea! Why don't we do just that, hah? Why no one came up with this?" It was obvious that he was mocking Barry and even more so, that nothing about him reminded them of Eaobard. Well, maybe the looks, Snow frowned.

"So you're here because Zoom has it in for you and you bailed?" Cisco asked unceremoniously, clearly deciding to treat Wells just like he seemed to be treating them.

"No, that's not it," the man denied and they all looked at him with interest, even Caitlin who so far tried to avoid those radiant blues. "If it was just about me, I would fight Zoom and that would be it. He'd probably kill me, but that wouldn't matter. He has my daughter," he then said those last words quickly and there was silence in the room.

Finally, after what seemed like a whole hour, though must've been a minute or a half, Barry said, "You have a daughter."

"Yes. I'm supposed to protect her, damn it!" Wells raised his voice, fisting his hands, anger clearly taking over. "I promised her mother when she died that I would and now Zoom took Jesse and I can't help her! I came here because there was no other option for me. The Flash in my world hates me, but even if, he's been MIA for quite a while now, maybe dead."

"Or maybe watching you," they suddenly heard a voice coming from the door and all turned there, seeing a stranger once again.

"Speaking of which," Harrison said, clearly exasperated with the man's appearance. "Now you decide to show up?" he asked him.

"I followed you and jumped the breech," the man informed, "in case you'll decide to do something stupid."

"You…" Wells marched straight towards the man, but Barry appeared right in front of them, separating them. "First, calm down! And second, who are you?" he turned to the newcomer.

"Jay Garrick. The Flash from Earth 2."

"You're like Barry?" Caitlin's professional curiosity was piqued. She couldn't wait till she would run some tests on him to decide whether he was just like Barry or there were some differences between them. And that would also help her keep her mind and focus away from Wells, version two. A better version, something told her; maybe a good man, someone worthy the name and not a killer. And while she was pondering over that issue, unfortunately for her, Jay looked at her with interest that had nothing to do with hers or his career.

"You had no right!" Harrison snapped at Garrick, mad again. "I would've handled things perfectly on my…"

"…own?" Jay finished after him. "Yeah, I can see that. Is that why you're asking those strangers for help? Oh, and let me refresh your memory. Didn't your doppelganger betrayed just about every single one of them? Do you think they'll help you now when seeing his face asking?"

Caitlin actually felt sorry for Wells as she saw his expression. He fought so hard to remain calm, to be strong, but she could see the hopelessness, the grief that was pouring out of him. He was a single father who just lost his daughter in the worst way possible, after all.

"Couldn't you just help me, putting our differences aside?" Harrison retorted.

"For your information, I would because whatever this is, it's between us and has nothing to do with innocent kids. The thing is that I lost my powers. Zoom attacked me and left me like this. I came here looking for shelter just as you did."

"Ok, now I'm definitely doing some tests on you," Caitlin pointed a finger at Jay and he smiled towards her, clearly appreciating her interest. That smile actually put her off her track because the last thing she needed right now was the interest of Earth 2 Flash. She had too much on her plate and definitely didn't seem to return that. Her curiosity was purely academic as she used every chance she could to conduct tests, not having to do as many as she would like to when working with the Flash of this world.

"All right. Caitlin, take him to the exam room and you," Barry turned to Wells, "tell me more about your world and your daughter."