Caitlin is there when Harry has nightmares after his imprisonment in gorilla city
The night had fallen and yet, Caitlin refused to leave the Labs, finding herself about a thousand things that she still needed to do just to postpone the moment she would finally have to go home.
Yes, she did use work as an excuse and deep down inside she knew it even though she wouldn't admit it to herself. She'd rather just not think about it, focusing on the task at hand. Something wouldn't let her leave and she kept on pushing those troubling thoughts to the back of her mind, knowing that once she actually let them consume her, she would be left troubled, maybe even depressed. It happened every single time he was back on her earth. She was happy to have him there, happy and grateful to be able to spend some time with him and then… well, then he always left, causing her to sink deeper into the darkness, retreat to her own world, to the lonely safety of her personal lab, licking her wounds.
Because he never stayed.
And she hated that.
Because she wanted him to.
She suddenly stilled, thinking she heard something and eventually dismissing it, blaming her imagination.
Only then she was sure that was not the case since this time he screamed louder.
She couldn't help it, her feet already carrying her in his direction as she needed to make sure he was all right, as she needed to be there for him no matter how much she would suffer later on once he left again.
The moment she arrived at the med bay, she spotted Harry nearly throwing on the bed, quiet moans escaping his lips.
Without hesitation she reached to him and stirred him awake, watching as his entire body froze, as he opened his eyes and looked around in confusion, a sheen a sweat on his forehead. This must've been quite the nightmare, Caitlin thought when studying his lonely and scared figure with concern. Then again, it was no wonder. He had been in gorilla's captivity for quite some time. It was bound to leave a mark, even on such a strong person as Harry.
"Are you ok?" she asked him with care and that was when he finally registered her presence, his stunning blues meeting her hazels.
"Snow," he gasped in that special way only he could. The one that always grabbed her heart, letting her know, yet, again that he was the only man who could ever win it. Well, correction, she thought then, since he already had it and he didn't even know it.
"Harry, are you ok?" she repeated the question, her voice softening even more.
He sat up, nervously running his hand through his hair before he glanced at her again and eventually answered, "Of course," in his typical fashion.
"Harry, you've been through a lot and if you need to talk…" she began again, actually pulling up a chair and sitting down, having no desire to leave him. Why would she? So he could fall back asleep and have another nightmare? She contemplated giving him something for sleep, but she knew better than hope it would stop the nightmares. It hadn't hers after Zoom had taken her.
"I don't," the familiar gruffness was back in his voice as he dismissed all of her concerns.
She nearly sighed in response, but she knew him well enough to expect such an answer. She tried a different approach.
"I know what it's like," she picked up again after a brief moment of silence. "When Zolomon took me, I couldn't sleep for weeks. Months, even," she added. "The nightmares were the worst, because they were there even when I was awake," she confessed.
It was then that he finally looked at her again and then started, "Snow, I…"
"You don't have to say anything, Harry," she assured him. "Not if you're not ready or just don't want to. I simply want you to know that I understand."
"I still can't believe you actually trusted that guy," he eventually said, surprising her with the change of topic. "Why was that?"
Damn, what should she say to that? She wondered, suddenly starting to panic.
Eventually, she settled for half-truth, "I was running away from something else."
"From what?" He just wasn't letting it go and she should know better than to hope he would. It was Harry, after all. He never let anything slide past him. Well, maybe except her, but that was entirely different story.
She answered just so he could take his mind off of his nightmares for a moment, "From a man who wore his face." The emphasis on the word didn't miss his attention and he frowned, thinking she couldn't be talking about Zolomon now.
"You mean…?" he then hinted, his voice trailing off as he pointed himself.
She didn't really want to dive deeper into the topic, but the look on her face told him everything he needed to know.
"Brilliant," he muttered under his breath, nearly angrily, running his hand through his hair again, messing them up even more and she had to bite her lip as not to moan at the sight.
"I shielded myself with Jay… Hunter," she corrected quickly when she picked up talking again, this time to distract herself. "I should've listened to…" no, she couldn't possibly tell Harry that,
"To whom? Or what?" he still pushed, now even more interested, but she only shook her head at him. "Were you in love with him?" he immediately followed with another question, regretting he asked that the minute it was out of his lips, scared of her answer.
"Hunter?" she frowned, misinterpreting. "No. I just thought I might be in the end, but that was stupid."
"I mean the other Wells. The one before me," Harry explained, bracing himself for her answer, his heart beating faster and this time it wasn't because of the nightmare.
He watched her biting on her lip and he nearly groaned, feeling as though he was being tortured on his own request. That very moment he knew he was basically screwed.
"I thought I could be," she answered, meeting his eyes bravely. "But I wasn't," she then said and he released a breath he didn't even realize he'd been holding. "There were… moments," she finally said after a moment of hesitation, "moments when I thought there could be more… but never was. He was a monster and he wasn't…" she came to a sudden stop again, not wanting to tell him more.
"What?" Harry had to push again, just needing more. He needed to know everything now that he finally dared ask. "Snow," he said her name again in that special way, reaching his hand to her without even realizing what he was doing. "Tell me, please," he pleaded, closing his hand gently over her arm.
His touch was warm and electrifying, his blue eyes mesmerizing as they were boring into hers.
"You," she finally confessed and he sucked in a breath. "He wasn't you, Harry."
He had to blink a few times before that would sink in and he would fully realize the implications of what she'd been missing then and what she found afterwards.
"I should have listened to my heart," she added then, providing the answer to his earlier question, deciding to just go all the way so she wouldn't have regrets later. He would leave anyway if he didn't like what she had to say, so she really had nothing to lose. Besides, the nighttime made it all easier as the next day it would seem like nothing more than a dream. "It tried to steer me in your direction, Harry, but I couldn't. I was afraid to trust you," she confessed, giving him the whole truth.
"I was never Thawne," he simply told her, his hand squeezing her flesh gently.
"I know that now," she admitted. "Now I also know that my heart would have never steered me wrong."
"Does it still feel it?" he then asked hoarsely, grunting afterwards, not knowing how to handle himself. Emotions this big were still a foreign territory to him, like a long forgotten dream. It had been so long since he'd last opened up to someone…
Her eyes flooded with tears as she met his and silently admitted, "Yes."
That was truly all he needed to know as he let go of her arm and reached for her face instead, pulling her forward and kissing her softly when their lips finally met.
"I wish it took us less time," he then whispered against her mouth, causing her whole body to shiver. "I knew it right away, Caitlin. I felt the same right away. It just… Jesse was gone and I was from another earth and much older than you."
In response she only kissed him harder, tasting him before he continued, "I also thought that by choosing Zolomon, you could never feel the same for me. That was why I left."
"I'm sorry," she apologized, taking his face in her hands and studying his features, looking lovingly at all the marks showed there, indicating he was so much older than she was. Yet, she couldn't care less. She was in love with this man and nothing could change that. "I was so stupid," she added when running her fingers over the scrappy skin of his cheeks.
"You can make it up to me," he suggested playfully, needing a lighter tone since he felt way too overwhelmed with all those heavy feelings.
"Oh, yeah?" she asked. "How?"
"I can come up with a few ideas. But first, I really do need some sleep. It's just…" He glanced at the bed as though it could hit him in the face and then he sighed heavily.
"Would it help it I was here with you?" she asked.
He didn't answer her, but he also didn't have to. She saw it clearly on his face, so she immediately climbed the bed, leaving the chair behind and settled herself with her face pressed against his chest, feeling all safe and happy for the first time since he'd left this world.
He put his arms around her and she listened to his heartbeat as he almost instantaneously fell asleep.
And something told her he would be sleeping tightly this time.
And once that was done, they would have all the time in the world to talk, to be together, to find a new rhythm in their lives.
And for the first time, Caitlin actually looked forward to tomorrow.