"Shouldn't you be at home or out, having fun?" Harrison asked when he saw Caitlin walking into S.T.A.R. Labs around noon at Saturday.

"I actually had nothing better to do," she admitted. "Besides, I knew you'd be here, working on either the cure for Jay or on finding and freeing Jesse from Zoom, so the best I can do is help, right?"

"You know, it's either very disturbing, very sad or very noble. I haven't decided yet."

"Oh, stop it! Unless you want me to throw these out," she showed him a bag she was carrying with the Big Belly Burger logo.

"You're not serious!" he called out to her, jumping to his feet and getting to her in order to grab the bag and look inside. "For real?!"

"I decided to sin today and have lunch with you that consist of food from Big Belly Burger, yes, that would be correct," Caitlin stated, watching him with a fond smile on her face. She knew this food was bad for the both of them, but she couldn't help but enjoy the happiness it caused him. It did bother her that he hadn't showed this much enthusiasm when she'd actually brought him some home-made sandwiches, but oh well, pleasing a man was always simple, right? You didn't have to try too much. Speaking of pleasing… She blushed when she watch him turn around so he could place all she got on the table and she caught herself staring at his bottom.

"You have to have some with me!" he then said when turning back to her and thankfully, she managed to raise her eyes just in time for him not to notice at what exactly she was staring.

"Just tell me what's the best," she encouraged him, "and enjoy this moment, you know. Because it probably won't happen again for a very long time."

"Will do!"

As they settled themselves in chairs and started eating and talking about trivial matters just to keep the flow of conversation, she realized that he was always different with her than he was with the rest of the team. Among them he was always back to being his mean self, even though both Barry and Cisco got to like him and they made fun of him, especially Cisco who loved to be the pain in Harry's ass… speaking of… Caitlin shook her head, focusing. When she was alone with Harrison, he always let his guards down, showing her the real him and it meant more to her than she would like to admit. Because he was apparently comfortable enough in her company that he didn't feel the need to hide anything. He trusted her. And she trusted him as well, knowing that whatever prevented her from truly trusting his precedent was gone now and there was nothing holding her back. Well, maybe he himself and her common sense, that was.

Should she be spending so much time with him anyway? She then wondered, realizing that he was the one person she was around the most those last few days, maybe even those last two weeks. Yes, she kept telling herself and her friends that it was because they were working together and she wanted to help both him and Jay desperately as they didn't have much time, but she would be lying to herself if she didn't admit it was also something more. She had feelings for this man, feelings she could no longer deny and it had nothing to do with what she'd seemed to feel once for dr. Wells. That hadn't been real. This was.

Then again, Harrison never seemed to make any move on her. Everything he did, everything he said, even the ways he touched her didn't seem to convey any deeper meaning. He did seem to look at her in a different way, but was that enough to suspect something? No, it wasn't, she decided. All she knew for sure was that they were good friends now, laughed together, even had their private jokes as they worked so closely. Also, they seemed to understand each other without words.

Finally, another thought came to her mind and it made her feel like a bitch because she was dreaming of something more to happen between them whereas his teenage daughter was still gone, still with Zoom. Once Caitlin remembered that simple fact, she hated herself for thinking of any possibility of a romance here right now. All Harrison could think of, even if he pretended he didn't, must be Jesse. Even if he started to feel the same for Snow, his daughter was still his priority and Caitlin could never ask him for it to change. She wouldn't even want to. She admired that he wasn't giving up and she loved the way he loved his daughter, being the devout father, the best one he could be and still thinking it wasn't enough, still thinking he wasn't good enough because Jesse was gone now. Only he couldn't protect her. He couldn't possibly watch her twenty four seven.

"Harry, are you ok?" Caitlin asked after she admitted that the Big Belly Burger's stuff was, indeed, delicious, but she couldn't make it an habit to eat there. Then he told her to loosen up a bit and to enjoy life and suddenly, there was silence. She kind of guessed that he couldn't truly enjoy his life because it wasn't complete, because something or rather someone was missing.

"Yeah, fine," he answered quickly what he thought he should. Only they both knew it was one, big and fat lie. He could lie like this around Barry or Cisco or Joe - who still couldn't get used to the new Wells, by the way – but he couldn't do it in front of her. Somehow she got to know him way too well as not to see right through the mask he seemed to be putting on every day.

"You have to have hope, Harry," was all she said and that was actually all she could do for him, all that he needed. There was no one out there who could promise him his daughter would be all right, but they could do whatever was in their power to make that true. Then she put her hand on his, a seemingly innocent gesture, but one that spoke mountains to the both of them even though they refused to admit it.

"I just don't know how I can go on for much longer without her. She was the light in my life, you know," he finally admitted, his voice hoarse. "She was all I had left and the only thing that kept me human. Without her, I would've buried myself in work with no care in the world. I know that I would've gone along with any of my research, even those who seemed most dangerous, just to achieve something, to create something new or to learn about things that other scientists couldn't even dream of. But I didn't do any of those things. The particle accelerator, yes, that was my fault, but it was also something I hadn't foreseen. Me and my team, we were all so sure everything would be all right." He shook his head, taking his hand away. Maybe Caitlin held it for a little bit too long and it got awkward. She just forgot that she shouldn't linger for this much time, but he didn't react any way to that. He now rubbed his eyes with both of his hands. "I always tried to do my damned best so Jesse could be proud of her father, so she could say I was a good man. When the explosion happened… I spent so much time trying to clean my own mess, trying to help those whom I hurt, trying to protect the city… And then she was just gone and I didn't care anymore."

There was silence for a moment as Harrison was just staring at the wall in front of him and Caitlin studied his face, biting on her lip when trying to figure out something to say to him. Then she finally came up with, "I understand, Harrison. I know how it is to lose someone you love. I also hope that what happened to me will never happen to you. I know that with Barry's help, there's a strong chance that we'll get her back."

"I just hope she's all right," he sighed and finally, he looked back at Snow and she found herself getting lost in those beautiful blue eyes. The silence was pregnant, their shared gaze meaningful and she wondered if she read things correctly, if they weren't just a figment of her imagination.

What the hell was she doing anyway?

"Why do you do this?" the words were already out of his mouth, but she needed a minute to fully register them, her mind long gone. She seemed to have forgotten about everything when looking into his eyes.

She blinked a few times and finally asked, "Why do I do what exactly?" she asked for clarification, a frown marring her forehead.

"Why do you choose to spend so much time with me outside of work?" he wanted to know.

"I like you," she simply said.

"No, really," he didn't seem to believe her. "You could've been doing so many other more interesting things."

"You know already that I don't really have many interests or friends beside my line of work or maybe even none, for that matter. And I truly do like spending time with you." She couldn't really believe she actually said it again. Did he know? She wondered. Did he know what she felt for him? She suddenly avoided his eyes, feeling her mouth going dry.

And then he just had to ask, "What about Jay?"

"What about him?" She seemed taken off track. Why would he mention Jay anyway?

"He likes you. That much is obvious," Harrison continued digging and she didn't know what his agenda was.

"Well, the feeling is not mutual," she said and to her surprise, Wells laughed.

"Yeah, the guy's a jerk," he told her.

"That he is," Caitlin agreed and he laughed even harder. "Although, we probably shouldn't. He might die, you know."

"I know, but he did it to himself. He was stupid and proud."

"A dangerous combination, indeed," Caitlin followed and couldn't help but join Harry in laughter. After all, he needed all he could get right now. "Can I ask, though, why do you two hate each other so much?" she then wanted to know when the laughter finally died out.

"It's simple, really. He always seemed to be doing everything for show. He was looking for appreciation and wanted people to worship him. Being the hero of the city didn't seem like enough for him. You see, Barry is a true hero, but not Jay and no matter how much he wants to change, he will never be Barry. And why does Garrick hate me? That's also simple. I always disapproved of the way he was and then I had the audacity – as he told me once – to create an app that exposed metahumans to the world. He took it as a personal affront, paradoxically trying to protect those he usually fought when showing his disapproval in my piece of technique. Maybe he was afraid I would expose his real identity to the world, but still, it just doesn't add up."

"Maybe he chose to believe that there were good metahumans out there, too. Ones that deserved to live in hiding," Caitlin tried to guess.

"Now, I would believe that with Barry, but not with Garrick. To him he was the one and only true hero and everyone else was a villain."

"Then why are you trying to help him now?" Snow wanted to know.

"Because one day my daughter might look me in the eye and ask why I didn't when I could," was all Harrison said. Then, after a moment of thought, he added in a playful tone, "Besides, I need all the points I can get so Barry would help me." He winked at Snow and she smiled to him sweetly. She truly admired the strength Wells possessed. Even when hopeless, he could still joke and make everything just a little bit brighter if just for a moment.

"Have you seen Jay recently?" Barry came to find Caitlin the next day.

"Why are you asking me?" she wanted to know when she turned to him. "It's not like I spend most of my time with the guy." She was actually spending almost all of her time with another man under the pretext of working together.

"Well, no, but…" Barry started and stopped.

"But what?" She placed her hands on her hips. "Bartholomew Allen!" she then referred to him by his full name.

"Well, ok, ok!" He raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "It's just that Cisco and I thought you two could be good for each other. Well, at least at the beginning."

"Because what? Because we're the same age?"

"Well, no… because Jay looks at you like… like I look at Iris when she doesn't know it," Barry finally admitted, scratching his head.

"And how well is that working out for you, exactly?" Caitlin regretted her words the moment she said them. "I'm sorry. Barry. I didn't mean that," she quickly apologized, feeling awful. "You and Jay are two completely different people and to be honest, you're a much better man than he'll probably ever be."

"Well, that you can never know, but it's fine. I just wish we had a better way of contacting him and I thought that if you two… maybe…"

"Or maybe not," Caitlin followed immediately.

"Well, ok, but I just thought you might know how to contact him."

"You know, despite the fact that we are not dating, I should have been able to," Caitlin bit on her lip when thinking about that. "He's just so mysterious. He comes and goes as he pleases. How would I even let him know I have a cure for him ready if I don't know where to find him?"

"Yeah, it's weird. But maybe he's closed off because that's all he's known his entire life," Barry guessed. "A guy can't just change overnight, can he?"

"I don't know, but I don't like it. I feel like he's hiding something. Or is just ashamed of what he's done to himself."

"Yeah, that's probably it… anyway, Caitlin?"

The way he said it made her listen closer. It sounded as though he wanted something from her, but wasn't sure in the same time.

"Yes, Barry?" she prompted, suddenly interested.

"I mean… what you said about Iris…"

"I already…"

"It's not that. You were actually right. And I've been wondering recently whether I should try and make a move. The last thing I want is to lose her friendship, but if we could be, maybe, something more…"

"You know, I think you should go for it," Caitlin advised him, "but be gentle and careful about it, ok? She's seemed to move on from Eddie and dealt with what happened, but she still is in a vulnerable place."

"I know."

"But I say that we should all stop living in the past and move on, Barry," Snow suddenly told him. "Don't you think we've done too much of thinking things over, of trying to change them, of grieving?"

"Yeah." He nodded in agreement. "I do. Too bad there's this threat coming from Zoom hanging over our heads."

"Something always happens around here," Caitlin reminded him. "It shouldn't stop us from having a life, should it?"

"You know, to me it sounds like you already made up our mind, Caitlin. But you don't have to wait for permission. You should just do it. We all should."

She nodded, smiling at him a little, acknowledging what he said.

"Then go get her and stop wasting time," she advised him one more time.

"Will try!" He saluted and was gone in a jiffy.

Caitlin's smile grew wistful as she thought of her own advice. It would be much harder for her to follow if only she could. Still, every journey began with the first step. All she had to do was to stop living in the past. Only then, when she thought about it some more, she discovered that she already had. She didn't miss Ronne anymore, didn't grieve for him. What was more surprising, she'd actually been thinking more about Eobad Thawne recently than her own dead husband. Yet, those thoughts led her to a conclusion that the man had absolutely nothing in common with Harrison Wells from Earth 2 and it was actually a relief. Yes, she almost smiled to herself widely. She was done living in the past and regretting all of her mistakes. She would now live in the present, looking into the future with maybe hope, something that she hadn't managed to do for a very long time.

A shrilling, horrible alarm sounded once again at S.T.A.R. Labs. Still, this one was different from when Wells arrived. In fact, it could raise the dead – at least that was what Caitlin thought when she heard it, her hands immediately going up to cover her ears in an involuntary response. A second later, both she and Harrison left the lab and ran to the main room where Cisco was just turning the alarm off.

"What the hell was that?!" Snow asked, her ears still ringing.

"That would be… Zoom," Cisco said slowly when staring at the screen.

"You're sure?" Barry asked, appearing right in front of them in a blur of red.

"I made sure the system let us know when another speedster will be detected and… it did just that, so yeah, 80 percent… no, 86… I'd say a solid…"

"Ramon," Wells scolded him. "There's no time."

"I'm on it!" Barry just said and before Caitlin and Cisco managed to stop him, advising to wait and see what happened, he was gone.

"That was very reckless of him," Harrison decided, but Caitlin could tell he was not only nervous but maybe a little bit excited as though he'd just woken up from a very long dream. What she couldn't be sure of was that it was a good thing. If Zoom finally revealed himself on this planet, it didn't mean he had Jesse with him or that she was still alive. Even if Barry managed to fight him and win, they'd still have no clue of where to look for the girl.

"There's Barry!" Cisco called out when showing Caitlin and Harrison the red dot on his computer screen, although it was all unnecessary since the both of them were already standing on each side of his, watching the dot getting dangerously close to the black one that must've been Zoom.

"Oh, that's no good," Cisco then commented when seeing the black dot running after the red one and eventually catching it.

"No, I can't," Caitlin shivered when turning her eyes away from the screen. "He's not prepared! He doesn't even know what he's up against!"

"I'd say he kind of does already," Cisco disagreed.

"Well, yeah, from what he heard. But he'd never faced Zoom alone!"

"He had to someday, Snow," Harrison just said, trying to comfort her as he walked over to her and looked her in the eye. "Barry eventually had to get to know his enemy because no simulation and no computer in this world could ever really prepare him."

"But this means… this suddenly means it's all real. Zoom is no longer a story, someone evil we heard about, he's here. He's in our city."

"That's weird," Cisco said when still staring at the screen.

"What is?" Wells was immediately back by his side.

"Barry slows down…"

"Barry, can you hear me?!" Caitlin grabbed the mike and spoke those words, hopeful Zoom hadn't damaged Barry's earphones.

For a moment she couldn't hear anything, so she waited with bated breath, her heart pounding widely in her chest.

"Yeah… yes…" finally, after what seemed like a whole eternity of silence whereas the dots on the screen were still moving, she heard him. There was something wrong, though. He sounded weak, almost depleted and she didn't remember the last time it happened.

Then, the two dots on the screen came to a stop and Caitlin heard the sickening sound of Barry being completely out of breath, nearly choking.

"Barry!" she screamed. "Barry, you have to make it! Run! Run to S.T.A.R. Labs! Leave him!"

"His ribs are broken!" Cisco informed when getting up from his chair as though he didn't want to be near his computer anymore, his hands on his head, his expression hopeless. He exchanged looks with Caitlin. "What if…?"

"No!" she refused to think it could all just end this way. With Barry, the greatest hero she'd even known, being killed barely minutes from meeting Zoom for the first time. "No, he's stronger than that!"

Wells grabbed the mike and screamed, "Allen, listen to me! Get away! The most important thing right now is not to fight but to simply run to fight another day, do you hear me?! Use your speed and kick him in the guts. That should give you enough time to get some distance. RUN, Barry, RUN!"

For a moment nothing happened. Well, maybe Wells proved it one final time that he could never be his evil counterpart as dr. Wells would've talked to Barry about using his speed in a specific way as though he, himself, could do it.

Few dreadfully long seconds later, a flash of red appeared before their eyes and then there was Barry, lying on the floor and wheezing, out of breath and in pain.

"I double-checked all the exits," Cisco informed when entering the infirmary where Caitlin tended to Barry's broken ribs and few other bone fractures.

"We double-checked them," Wells reminded him when standing right next to the guy and Ramon just had to nod.

"Yeah, yeah, we did, whatever." That caused Wells to roll his eyes. "Anyway, Zoom, even being the evil speedster who can defeat Barry and all, won't be able to get in. As soon as our system detects him using his powers, it'll block him for good."

"Then at least one good thing came out of our encounter," Barry groaned as he tried to sit up. "Is this supposed to hurt this much?" he asked then, laying back on the covers, powerless.

"I'm afraid not. Your healing abilities slowed down significantly," Snow said in a worried voice when looking at her friend's chart. "It's like… Zoom somehow took some of your speed," she then said slowly. "Otherwise those vitals don't make sense."

"He did what?!" Barry tried to heave himself up one last time and then he just gave up, laying on his back and staring at the ceiling. "How is this even possible?"

"Maybe that's what he wants," Harrison said, thoughtfully, "maybe he doesn't want to kill you or defeat you, maybe all his wants is your speed."

"Wait a second… Jay said he lost his speed because of all the drugs he'd been taking, but what if…" Caitlin started.

"What if Zoom did something to him as well." Wells nodded. "Maybe he depleted Garrick of his powers and now came to this earth to take Barry's…" Then, suddenly, his whole face paled so much it was nearly white. Next thing they all knew, he was turning away and leaving the room.

"Harry? Harrison!" Caitlin called after him, but he didn't react, so she just followed him, passing by Iris who just got there.

"Where is he?! Is he all right?!" the young woman asked Cisco and then walked over to the cot on which lay Barry.

"Fine, Iris… I'm ok," he tried to be tough in front of her, but he wasn't fooling anyone, especially her. They knew each other too well.

"Harrison!" Caitlin finally got to Wells in the corridor leading to the cortex. His steps were so big and fast that she had to take up on running.

Now she stood right in front of him, effectively cutting his way out.

"Talk to me," she encouraged him. "Don't shut off, please. Just tell me what's wrong."

For a moment he avoided looking into her eyes, staring at the wall on his right, his face pursed.

"Harrison," she repeated his name slowly, gently and then she touched his arm. "What is it?" she asked the question again. "You can tell me," she encouraged him.

"How do I know she's still alive?" he suddenly asked when finally meeting Caitlin's eyes, his own trying to hide so much pain that it shook her core. This man was truly on the verge of breaking and it was a miracle that he was still holding on.

"What?"

"Jesse," he said as though she hadn't figured that one out yet. "If all Zoom truly wants is more speed, why would he keep her alive? He took her because I crossed him. What reason does he really have to keep her alive?"

"I…" Caitlin started and stopped, finding herself at loss for words. Because she had no idea. Because what Wells just told her made an awful lot of sense. "No," she then shook her head, deciding to be strong and hopeful for the both of them. "No. She is not dead."

"How can you know?" he just asked, barely holding on.

"Because… because if he'd really killed her, don't you think he would've showed you her body?" she asked, knowing it brought terrible images to his head, but she had no other choice. She knew she was onto something. "Don't you think he would've wanted you to suffer even more? She's still somewhere out there, alive, Harrison, I know it. Maybe he wants to use her as leverage after he gets bored torturing you with not knowing what's happening to your daughter. It must be the truth."

"If it is, then he wants me to give up Allen, doesn't he?" Wells just asked bluntly. "If Jesse's still alive and I'm close to the Flash on this earth, he might want me to give him Barry."

"We won't let that happen, I promise. If Zoom proposes anything of the sort to you, then we'll deal with it the way we always do. As a team," she promised him when squeezing his arm gently.

Yet, he just shook his head and made a step backwards. He wanted to turn away and leave, but she stopped him again when taking his hand and pulling forward.

"You won't last a second out there alone," she reminded him in a hard voice. "Either the police or Zoom will eventually get you and then you'll truly be of no use to Jesse. It's one thing to get out in disguise from time to time, but another to actually not have a roof over your head."

He hated that she was right. He hated that there was nothing he could do at the moment. He hated the not knowing part. He hated feeling this weak and powerless as though Zoom had depleted him from his strength as well. Then again, in a way he'd done just that.

"I'm here for you, Harry," Caitlin said in a softer voice. "We're all here for you and we will help you because you are already helping us so much. I promise. Zoom is just one metahuman and we have Barry and Cisco and there's Joe, the cop and Jay. We can do this. We will do this." She didn't know what else to say, so she just surprised him with flinging her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly, pressing her body against his to share some of her strength and faith with him, to give him the needed comfort.

For a moment there, he just stood still, not knowing how to act or what to say and she nearly thought he'd push her away. Yet, in the end she felt his arms embracing her as well and he buried his face in her hair as though he was drinking her in. She felt uncomfortable with this closeness now. Not that she didn't like it. The problem was that she liked it too much and she immediately hated herself for feeling all flushed and off balance when being in his arms. She hated herself for getting lost in the smell of him, in the feel of his living, breathing and warm body right next to hers. She hated herself that she wanted him more than anything in that moment. She hated herself that he was all she could think about whereas in fact, he was suffering because he might not see his daughter ever again. She knew he didn't have the time or strength to think about romance or any kind of a feeling, really, but that didn't stop her. She was screwed. And majorly.