Just as the title is, this story was a little unexpected for me to have written and even decided to post online but here I am! It's a sequel to "The Ghost of You" more or less so definitely read that first if you want to take a peek into this! The good news is that this time around, I went with a much more happier ending and I hope that everyone will enjoy it as much as I did while writing! I'll be resuming to write my SnowWells fics soon, I know it's been a month since my last update, writer's block and all that... but hopefully this will get me back into the game! ^_^
The first time he sees her, Harrison nearly stops breathing for a moment; it is impossible obviously, she cannot be standing across the street from where he was waiting for Cisco and Caitlin. She's not really there but still, he can't stop staring at her no matter what logic says. The more he continues to stare at the woman by the traffic light, Harrison begins to wonder if he has finally started to lose whatever control he had over the dreams and visions of her in his house... surely this is nothing but a strong hallucination if he's started to see her in public, during the blazing summer afternoon sun, making her look more real than she's ever been. And yet, as soon as the the signal turns green, he is very much aware of the fact that this woman is walking toward him, along with a dozen other people who are all real. The closer she gets, the easier it is for Harrison to notice her clothes - this familiar looking woman is dressed in black pants and a white blouse - not the white dress that he'd seen her in on that last day together, not the white dress which was covered in his blood as she'd been dragged away from him, not the white dress she's wearing whenever those nightmares wake him up in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat as he cries out her name and she's there by his side. If that wasn't proof enough that she's here, by the time she reaches this side of the street, Harrison can see the gold necklace which is shining in the sunlight, a teardrop shaped rose quartz pendant - his gift to her on their 6 month anniversary. It dawns on him then, she really is here; by some inexplicable miracle, this woman who is now only mere feet away from him is his wife... alive.
His mind begins to race as he understands what this means, she's come back to him... after all these years, she's finally home. He can feel his palms sweating as he grips the handles of his wheelchair tightly, knuckles turning white and his eyes never breaking contact with her; there's a part of him that still cannot believe it, that thinks this is just a dream, but even if it is, for once, Harrison does not want to wake up. There are hundreds of thoughts and questions flooding his brain as he watches her pause and glance at the surroundings; she hasn't noticed him yet but he knows that she will and when she does, he will take her in his arms and never let go again. For the first time in years, Harrison senses that the stone around his heart is chipping away and he can truly feel the love for her hitting him in full force as she turns around and meets his gaze at last. The look on his face must seem to be quite a sight, because Harrison can see those beautiful brown eyes of hers lighting up in relief and that heart-warming smile makes his heart burst with happiness he never thought he could feel once more. She walks over to him and suddenly he is nervous, unsure of what to say to her, how to explain what is going on; he knows that she is the only person who could leave him speechless and he always loved her even more for it. Glancing up to see her at last, Harrison is lost in her gaze for a minute that he doesn't hear her speak, but when he does hear the question she asks him... everything changes in that split second; something inside him breaks, just like it had that fateful morning... his heart suddenly shatters into a million pieces as he struggles to make sense of what he's listening to. All she wants to know is how to get to the CCPD; he looks into her eyes and sees everything, but it doesn't hit him until much later when he's replaying this moment over and over again. There is no sign of recognition on her behalf, there's only a simple curiosity of a stranger asking for directions. Without even realizing that he'd answered the question, Harrison barely hears her thanks as he watches her walk away and suddenly, the pain has returned along with all those negative emotions which he'd struggled to close himself from for a long time - anguish, despair, heartbreak, anger, sadness. He's left alone on the sidewalk and the woman who was his life is gone again.
Thinking back on the encounter when he's back at S.T.A.R Labs in his office, Harrison manages not to lose his temper as he wheels over to the desk and lets out a deep sigh, removing his glasses and running a hand through his hair, trying to ignore the ache in his heart which hurts more than it should have. He knows that the woman he met was his wife, there was no doubts about that; her having the necklace also proved when she was from, and when he remembers what he'd seen in her eyes, he realizes what must have happened - she had been taken prisoner by the enemy, kept alive for all this time but they must have tortured her for information, they would have experimented on her in order to gain access to her abilities, and in the end... either she escaped or was set free, but at the cost of her memories. What Harrison had seen reflected back in her gaze was not just emptiness, it was the terror of being haunted by nightmares, confusion over her identity, fear of being in an unknown time, completely and utterly alone. It pained him to understand the truth behind her actions earlier and now that he knew of what surely happened with his wife, the only thing he wanted to do was rush over to her side and help get those memories back... but he hesitated... a second too long; that pause makes him think of something else, something he wished he wouldn't have thought of, he's not a selfless man but at the end of the day, as much as he loves her, the most important thing is that she is alive and needs to be safe. If she'd been in Central City even for a little while, then maybe the best thing would be for her to try and have the life she deserved; Harrison knows that without her memories, she has a chance to start all over again - without the horrors of war, without the fear of being hunted, without the responsibility of saving everyone around her but never herself; she can have a new life with a new name and be a new person, without... without him.
This life that Harrison has built for him at S.T.A.R Labs with Cisco, Caitlin and Barry is not the life he wants for her; chasing down meta-humans and trapping them in the pipeline is everything that she was against, if she were to ever learn all the unspeakable things he'd done since losing her, it would hurt more than anything to see her values and morals and her life's work betrayed; Harrison was the only one responsible for this and he wouldn't be able to face her, but he could let her go. He had done it once, he could learn to do it a second time; he didn't deserve her anymore. For her sake, for her happiness, he would keep his distance and remain a stranger in her eyes, just some random man in a wheelchair she'd once stopped to ask for directions, someone she'd forget. Even if he had to spend the rest of his life remembering her, knowing that she was alive and loving her from afar, Harrison knew it was better than the alternative.
Things never go according to plan and Harrison was well aware of that inescapable truth, no matter the situation or the circumstances, sometimes he wasn't in control of everything that happened at S.T.A.R Labs with his team. He could try to keep them safe to the best of his abilities but there was always that unexpected, unseen, unknown variable that would come out of nowhere and turn their world upside down without any forewarning at all. In this case, it wasn't anything to do with The Flash or their meta-human enemies or someone else with a vendetta against Harrison, this time, it was something much more personal and close to his heart.
Over the last month, Barry and Cisco and Caitlin had all encountered his wife separately at first; that initial meeting with Harrison had led her to CCPD where Barry was working in his office, but after witnessing her use some sort of meta-human powers, he'd come straight to the lab and told the others about this new discovery which came with a unique difference that they hadn't faced before - she had no memory of who she really was and only went by the name Rose as a temporary solution because of the pendant she wore everywhere she went. And at the police station, while she had been talking to Detective's West and Thawne, Rose inadvertently used her powers to prevent an minor attack to which Barry was a witness solely because he happened to be in the room at that time and was affected as well. Initially, it had been hard to explain exactly what had occurred, but Harrison had understood enough; when Barry mentioned his emotions being... changed somehow as well as Eddie and Joe suddenly appearing to be unusually calm in the face of danger as they dealt with the criminal, he explained to the trio that this was an ability known as Pathokinesis which in simpler terms meant that she was an advanced empath who could control the emotions of people around her. There was much more to her story than that, Harrison couldn't even call her 'Rose' because it never felt right, but knowing the risk it would create for her and the others if he revealed too much, he simply chose not to say anything else. Caitlin had been worried about the amnesia aspect that Rose was experiencing and due to her fear of any medical facility, the young doctor had offered this new meta-human ally to stay with her; although Rose never set foot inside S.T.A.R Labs, Harrison would sometimes take the risk of using his speed to watch over her, late at night when he knew that Caitlin was fast asleep in the next room.
All the test results had indicated a serious emotional shock or trauma she'd experienced which caused her brain to simply shut down in an attempt to keep herself sane; the amnesia may have taken away her memories of a life long gone - a life with Harrison where she thrived on happiness and used her gifts to save people, to fight for their survival, to have a better future, but it had not taken away the nightmares that continued to plague her mind. Nor were the scars truly fading away from her body, even though there was only one person who knew where they really came from; he had explained it begrudgingly as a sign of abuse in her past perhaps, but the truth that Harrison kept from all of them was that those scars were really the result of her being tortured. There were plenty of secrets he could never reveal, even if he had to struggle with himself to make sure nothing slipped out accidentally... whatever semblance of peace that he could give to his wife, he would gladly do so, just as long as she would be safe. He never met her when Barry, Cisco and Caitlin would take their work outside the lab in order to help develop her abilities more; that was a choice she'd made for herself, to be capable of helping others even if she wasn't able to help herself until they found a way to bring her memories back. Harrison knew he would never be able to stop her and perhaps it was because of the amnesia, but she seemed to accept the harsh truth that they all faced in Central City - not all meta-humans would turn out to be like her and not everyone could be helped with her empathy. Sometimes the Pipeline was the only solution; and while 'Rose' continued to help The Flash during his nightly adventures, Harrison stayed in his office or on comms when it was absolutely necessary. She knew him, just enough about Dr. Harrison Wells, to work easily with the team but apart from that one accidental meeting, he kept his distance.
Everything changed that night though. There was nothing that could have prepared him for the moment... and when it came, Harrison knew what would happen. It had started off as a fairly regular night for Team Flash as they were investigating a potential meta-human threat near the Central City Museum, Harrison was talking to Barry through the comms checking in on the two of them, for Rose was by Barry's side, when all of a sudden their conversation had been interrupted by one angry yell and a loud scream as their communication line was cut off. Cisco and Caitlin were monitoring Barry and Rose's status respectively but without any way of talking to them, they weren't sure if the attack was still ongoing; both their vital signs were in the normal range and fluctuating only with slightly increased spikes. For several extremely prolonged minutes in which Harrison found himself losing control over the emotions that he'd managed to keep in check when it came to his wife; he needed to know that she was okay. Each night that she spent trying to save the city, he would always wonder if telling her the truth would somehow bring her back to him with all those forgotten memories returning of their own accord, or if it would drive her away from him forever. Harrison was involved in her life even if it wasn't the way he'd envisioned when he realized that she was alive and with him, and that had to be enough. The abrupt static noise filtering through from Barry's comms broke his reverie of thoughts as the three of them heard his voice at last; sounding out of breath from a long fight and telling them that the fight was over and they were both safe, all Barry said was that they were headed back. The vague and short report should have been the first sign to Harrison that something had changed, but when he heard her voice in the background, he knew that she was going to be fine and it was all he could think about; there was no reason to suspect anything else, her vital signs looked normal, her comms were working again as she spoke to Caitlin briefly about something that he did not hear clearly - the second sign he missed was hearing his wife mention a slight bump on her head when she'd been thrown across the street during their fight against the meta-human; but what he didn't know was that it would be impossible for him to miss the third sign that was yet to come.
Harrison knew his work was done for the night, Barry would bring their prisoner back in a few seconds and lock him up in the Pipeline with Cisco's help while Caitlin would meet Rose outside and go home together. It was time he retired for the night as well; but just before he could wheel away towards his office, Harrison felt the fast breeze that belonged to Barry as the speedster entered the lab and started to turn around to congratulate him on another successful mission when he heard something he never imagined he would ever hear again. And in that moment, everyone else in the room just vanished as if they were no longer there.
"Harry?" That voice... soft and feminine, not unlike Caitlin's voice but not quite... that nickname which no one really used out of respect and formality... that emotion-filled tone which sounded familiar... it was her.
"No." His own voice sounded strange to him as he tried to understand what was going on.
He turned to face his team and saw her standing there. She was here, inside S.T.A.R Labs, in front of him and looking... looking into his eyes as her own eyes started to water.
"Harrison... it's me." She was riveted to the spot where she stood, halfway across the room but he knew... he knew that this was real, that this was happening.
"You remember." He stated rather than questioned, not knowing how it was possible, but not caring either. She remembered him. She knew who he was.
"I do, I remember everything." Her voice trembled as she let out a half sob and half laugh; her fingers were clutching the necklace as she told him her real name and waited, waited for time to freeze all around them as it always had when they were together.
He saw her hesitance then and knew what it meant; she was not afraid of the three pairs of eyes watching her and Harrison in silent confusion, she was not afraid of revealing her true identity, she was afraid of closing the distance that stretched out between where she stood and where he sat, because it was more than just a few feet away from him, it was all those years they'd spent apart from each other that lay between them; hours, days, weeks, months, years of Harrison mourning her, of her trying to find her way back to him... now that they were here... face to face... a month after having met him that summer afternoon... remembering what had happened to her and at the same time wondering what had happened with him, Harrison understood what needed to be done.
As the rest of his team watched in awe and wonder at the sight in front of them, Harrison did something he had never done before as he stood up from the wheelchair to everyone's surprise and walked across the room towards his wife, with each step counting as one year for the 16 that he had spent without her, but not anymore. He stopped only an inch away from her as he felt all the emotions that were building up inside him starting to break through his stoic reserve and reached a hand out to touch her... hoping that this time she wouldn't disappear. And when he faltered, she grabbed a hold of his hand in hers and rested it against her cheek, smiling at him through her tears, knowing all was forgiven between them.
"Oh, my love." Harrison whispered as he felt her skin under his fingers, she was as real as she could be. He kissed her forehead gently, letting his lips linger there, not wanting this precious moment to end.
And as he looked down to meet her gaze and saw the woman he loved staring back at him, Harrison could no longer control his feelings and broke down, falling to his knees as he wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her tightly, never wanting to let go. He had missed her so much and knew there was a lot to talk about and explain and understand but there would be a time for all of that later.
"I'm here my darling, and I'm never ever going to leave you again." She promised him as she kissed the top of his head. "I love you, dear husband."
"And I love you, my dear wife." This was home for Harrison Wells, being in each other's arms for the rest of their lives together.
Thoughts? Reviews? Comments? All are much appreciated!