Disclaimer: I do not own things
Chapter Fourteen:
Cisco, Barry, Harrison, and Joe all stood in the West house waiting for Eddie and Caitlin to show up. Harrison was feeling slightly wary that Caitlin would not be on board with their search—she had argued very adamantly against the other Wells being involved, after all. Nevertheless, the four men stood going over their plan of what to do next.
"So what do we do now?" Cisco asked.
"So far all the investigating I've done has gotten me nowhere," Joe replied. "I think we need to go back to where it all started."
"The crash where Tess died," Harrison muttered.
"You know about that?" Joe asked.
"Apparently it was supposed to have happened the day I got sent here," the black-haired young man returned. "I, uh—investigated into it yesterday, in fact."
"Do you know where the site is?" Joe asked.
Harrison nodded and said, "I can take you there."
"I'll go with you," Cisco said. "But—can we please just drive? Your method of travel is terrible."
Harrison laughed, recalling that Cisco had thrown up the first time Harrison had side-along apparated with him. "All right," he agreed.
"Hey, Bear," Joe said to the speedster. "Why don't you run and get us some pizza?"
"All right," Barry nodded and sped off.
Caitlin finally arrived. She was let in the front door by Cisco and glanced around at the four men that stood in the living room. Instead of joining them, she opted to sit on the stairs by the front door. Not long after, Eddie joined them as well. As he walked in the room, he asked, "Where's Barry?"
"He should be back soon," Joe told him. "I sent him to go get—"
There was a flash of light and a whooshing sound that cut him off. When Barry came to a halt in the living room holding three flat boxes, he exclaimed, "Pizza!"
"What!" Cisco cried in a sing-song voice.
"From Coast City?" Eddie asked, reading the box.
"Supposedly the best in the west," Barry told them, taking off his coat after he set the boxes on the coffee table.
Joe, Eddie, and Cisco crowded around it, grabbing some pieces, and Barry grabbed one as well. "Why did I not think of this before?" Cisco asked as he threw open the lid to the third box. "Come to papa!"
"You want one?" Joe asked Harrison.
The young man shook his head and said, "No."
Joe raised a piece at Caitlin, who mumbled, "I'm not hungry."
Joe sucked in a gust of air and said, "Ok. Six months of investigating Harrison Wells has led us nowhere. So, we're going back to the beginning to see what we can find out."
"What does that mean?" Eddie asked.
"Road trip, baby," Cisco replied in between chews.
"Joe, Cisco, and Harrison are going to Starling City," Barry explained.
"Starling City?" Caitlin asked. "What for?"
"To investigate the car accident that Dr. Wells was in with Tess Morgan fifteen years ago," Joe added.
"I-I don't understand," Caitlin said, her eyes scrunched up. She stood up off of the stairs and walked forward. "Why?"
"Dr. McGee said that after Wells' accident he became like a completely different person," Barry told her.
"Because the love of his life died," Caitlin argued. "You of all people know how grief can change a person."
Harrison stepped forward, his eyes glinting like steel. Joe put his hand on the young man's shoulder and said reassuringly, "Caitlin, we believe that Dr. Wells is the Reverse Flash, and killed Barry's mother. We don't know what happened to Tess Morgan," he glanced at Harrison, "but we have to learn everything we can about that night. See where it leads us."
"Can you cover for us with my doppelganger?" Harrison asked.
"You mean lie?" Caitlin asked.
"…Yeah?" Cisco replied.
"I need some air," she muttered, turning and exiting through the front door.
Harrison looked at Barry and said, "Just tell him that I'm researching for new ways to get me home—and Cisco is dealing with his brother. That would sound believable enough."
Barry nodded. Silence fell and the five men looked at each other. Joe glanced at the front door and remarked, "It doesn't look like Caitlin's with us."
"No, she is," Barry said firmly. "I'll talk to her."
"What do you want us to do while you're gone?" Eddie asked.
"Business as usual," the senior cop replied.
His partner nodded and said, "Copy that."
Cisco then smiled brightly, "Road trips are always the best."
…
As Harrison grew older, he slowly came to realize that the Wizarding World in America was less and less grand to him. As a bright-eyed eleven-year-old he had been sent a letter, received a wand and immersed himself in Wizarding studies as well as No-Maj. It surprised him how long it took others to notice what he was doing.
He was in his third year at Ilvermorny and taking college courses before his roommates figured it out. When they had, they had balked and exclaimed, "You'd better not let the Head find out, Wells, or they'll kick you out."
"They might even kick us out if they know we know what you're doing."
"I don't understand," Harrison muttered. "Why would they kick me out?"
"For a self-proclaimed genius, you're pretty dumb."
"Rappaport's Law, idiot," another replied.
"All No-Maj—Wizard relations are banned, punishable by law. There's a whole group of people that monitor No-Maj fraternization and they'll lock you away if they find out."
"But my parents are No-Majs," Harrison exclaimed. "What am I supposed to do? Never see them again?"
"That would be the thought."
…
"Road trips are terrible!" Cisco exclaimed, leaning his head back against his headrest. He sat in the back seat of Joe's car while Joe and Harrison sat up front, talking. Currently, they were stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic. "Why was I excited for this?"
"I don't know," Joe laughed. "Why were you?"
Harrison sighed and rested his head on his hand, which was propped up on the window sill. "We could have just gotten there instantly," he nearly whined. He turned and looked at Cisco. "For the record, this is your fault."
"Well," Joe muttered, looking at his phone. "It looks like there's a wreck up ahead. We'll probably be here a while."
"Can't you just pull off at a different exit and bypass the wreck?" Harrison asked.
"Do you see an exit we can get to?" Joe asked.
Harrison looked around and sighed, "No."
"Well it's not entirely bad," Cisco said from the back, perking up a bit.
"Why?" Harrison asked, his eyes closed to block out the sun that was shining directly in his eyes.
"I brought this."
Harrison opened one eye to see Cisco lean forward and stick a CD into the car. He switched the stereo from radio to CD and Harrison suddenly found that Phantom of the Opera was being blasted at them.
"You've got to be kidding," Joe moaned.
Cisco grinned even wider, "It's great, right?"
Harrison rolled his eyes and let them drift shut again as the sun came back out from behind the clouds. The light filtered through the windshield, feeling warm and pleasant. Beside him, Joe leaned forward. One hand blocked out the sun and the other rested on the steering wheel. The detective peered ahead of them in attempts to see if there were any moving cars ahead of them.
During a slow, quiet song Harrison found himself drifting off into sleep.
…
It wasn't long after coming to Ilvermorny that Harrison discovered he was the only one there from a non-magical family. Apparently most children born of non-magicals were ignored—there were generally less of them than in other nations because of the strict segregation laws and the MACUSA only took note of the No-Maj born children if they were so powerful that their magic endangered something known as the International Statute of Secrecy.
Therefore, his situation was just a bit unique. Still, Harrison forgot about the stupid laws as he slowly dropped his communications with his parents during the school year and immersed himself in advanced magics. It wasn't until after he had received his wand permit (something that happened once a Wizarding child came of age) and was nearing the end of his last term that it was brought to his mind again.
The head of the school had called him into her office and given him a lecture about integrating himself into Wizarding Society. She told him that he was a promising young man with lots of future and if he wanted to pursue any career, he needed to cut himself off from his No-Maj friends.
"But my parents—"
"You are adopted, are you not?"
Harrison looked down and mumbled, "Yes, Ma'am."
"Then it should be no problem. That probably explains your magic, anyway. Perhaps your parents are respectable wizards and witches that couldn't find you after you getting lost in the Muggle world. You might be able to find them."
Harrison had nodded and walked out of there before he realized that at this point, he didn't want to know who his real parents were. In his mind, his No-Maj parents were the only family he had—or needed.
…
"Harrison, wake up!"
The tall young man awoke with a jerk.
"We're here," Joe said.
Harrison sat up, unsticking his face from the window. At some point his head must have fallen off his hand for he was no longer leaning on it, but the window instead. He climbed out of the car looking slightly ruffled and joined Cisco and Joe. He looked up at the building they were parked outside of.
"The SCPD?" Harrison asked, looking at the police department building.
"I figured they could help us out—give us some pictures from the case," Joe explained.
Harrison hadn't even thought of pictures.
…
"Here you go," Lance said, handing them a case file.
Muttering a, "Thanks," Joe flicked through the pictures inside. Then, he looked up at Starling City's chief of police. "This is all you have?"
"Well it was a very cut-and-dry case," Lance replied. "Harrison Wells and Tess Morgan are out on a Sunday drive. The tires blow, and sadly Tess dies on the scene. Couldn't imagine trying to carry that kind of guilt around." It was almost exactly the same words he had used when talking to Harrison. The wizard supposed that being under the Confundus Charm, the man wouldn't have even remembered the encounter.
As he talked, Joe handed a few of the pictures to Cisco to look at. Harrison glanced down at one that showed a car completely flipped over and lying in the middle of the road. He swallowed and forced himself to look away.
"What are you three hoping to find?" Lance asked.
"We're not sure yet," Joe said slowly.
"You came out all this way to Starling City and you don't know what you're looking for?"
"Just following a hunch," Joe replied. He took the pictures Cisco handed back to him and stuck them in the case file. He turned to his two companions. "Let's go."
"All right," Harrison said quietly. "I'll take you there, and this time we're doing it my way."
…
It was an overcast day in Starling City. Trees hung over County Road J and it was completely empty. All was silent—there weren't even birds chirping. The tall, dry grasses swayed slightly behind the barriers. Then, a loud CRACK disturbed the silence. The grass rustled, and three men appeared in the middle of the street.
Joe held up the picture of the road and the crashed car, muttering, "This is definitely the place."
"Why did you bring that thing along, Cisco?" Harrison asked in an exasperated tone as Cisco hefted a large object that looked like a metal detector.
Cisco swayed slightly, gasping for breath. Then, he said, "It'll help me listen for anything that emits an abnormal soundwave."
He switched it on and wandered off over the barriers, waving the object towards the ground. Joe and Harrison both shook their heads and watched him walked back and forth, shouting random things.
"Oh, that's some tall grass!" He disappeared into said grass.
"Brambles! Brambles! Aaaah…!"
There was a scream and then, "Ok, I'm good. It was a bird."
Joe and Harrison were laughing very loudly at him by the time he shouted, "Guys I think I found something!" The two men hopped over the barrier and walked up to Cisco, who said, "Tachyons. Little bits of time travel."
"You sure?" Joe asked.
The both glanced over at Harrison's coffee, which was beginning to fly into the air.
"Pretty sure, yeah," Cisco replied.
"What should we do?" Harrison asked.
"Dig, I guess," Joe muttered. He looked at Harrison. "You don't happen to have a shovel with you, do you?"
The young man in question waved his hand and one appeared.
"That works," Cisco said brightly.
Cisco took the shovel and began digging into the ground. Then, he stopped as the spade hit something. Joe leaned into the hole the young man had dug into the soft soil. He put on a pair of gloves, grabbed a paper towel out of his briefcase, and began clearing away the soil. Slowly, he began to uncover an object that was pale, wrinkly, and limp. Harrison turned his head and realized that it looked an awful lot like—
"Please tell me that's not what I think it is," Cisco muttered.
"That is definitely a hand," Joe replied.
"See, I thought it was a foot," Cisco clarified, "but a hand is just as bad." Harrison gave Cisco a pained look. They both looked down again to see Joe was continuing to clear the dirt away. Where he was swiping, a skull appeared. "That is freaky."
"That, is proof Cisco," Joe said.
"I'm gonna need to test it to be certain," the long-haired scientist said. "I need my kit."
Harrison sighed and waved his hand once more.
"Is something supposed to be happening?" Cisco asked.
Harrison raised an eyebrow and lifted a finger for silence. Then, Cisco's kit came zooming down the road. It turned and soared straight into Harrison's outstretched hands. He handed it to his friend.
"How are we going to get this whole thing back to Central City?" Joe asked while Cisco took some samples. "Surely we can't stick it in the trunk of my car."
"I'll take care of that," the Midnight Phantom replied.
…
Harrison somehow managed to blend right in with everyone else at college. He knew what the Head had told him, but he had been aspiring to become a scientist since he was a boy. Why should he let the fact that he had magic deter him from that? He simply disappeared from the Wizarding World after applying for a few jobs and got himself a scholarship at Yale.
He got away with it pretty well. So far, no one had noticed his absence in the Wizarding World and he refrained from using all magic entirely. He went through courses with ease. Finally, his first term came to an end. He was walking across a lawn towards his dormitories when something hit him and he dropped his books. He stepped to the side to see a dark figure run in front of him. He glanced around at his belongings, quickly realizing his wallet was missing.
"Hey!" he shouted. "Get back here!"
But the figure did not even slow. With a growl, Harrison ran after him, but could not catch up. He looked around. No one else was nearby. Quickly, he turned on his heel and disappeared, reappearing behind a tree in front of the running man. He stepped out from behind the tree as the man ran passed and swung his fist as hard as he could. The thief fell to the ground, unconscious. Harrison grabbed his wallet and ran.
…
"This isn't possible," Caitlin breathed.
"Caitlin," Cisco said quietly. "I ran the test twice. This body is the real Dr. Wells."
Harrison looked down at the remains of body lying on a table in Barry's labs. He was suddenly finding it hard to swallow. His mouth had gone dry.
"If this is the real Wells," Caitlin thought aloud, "then who have we been working for all this time?"
"Tina did say I became like a different person," Harrison muttered. He couldn't wrench his eyes from his own dead body. "That's because he—Well, he is a completely person."
…
Harrison Wells opened the door to his dormitory and stepped inside. There, he set his bag and wallet down on a shelf. He stepped forward into the main portion of the room and stopped at the sight of a man standing there. The first thing Harrison noticed about him was that he was wearing robes. The second was the wand that quickly lifted to point at him.
"I don't know if you realized, but there are laws prohibiting your being here," the man said.
"What gave me away?" Harrison asked. "It was the apparating, wasn't it?"
The man nodded. "Dean Hornfeck, Head of No-Maj Fraternization Surveillance. We received signal of magic being used in a No-Maj only area. I was sent here to investigate with a prior warning of your background."
Harrison crossed his arms across his chest.
"Meaning my No-Maj parents," he retorted, receiving a nod.
"I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to take you in."
Harrison nodded. "All right. Let's get this over with."
The man looked at him.
"You are just going to come back here after we let you go, aren't you?" he asked.
"Uh, yeah," Harrison replied.
"And we can't keep you away?" Hornfeck asked, sounding sure of the answer.
"No," the young man replied simply.
Hornfeck sighed and thought hard. Then, he looked up at Harrison. "I'll make you a deal," he said. "I'll let you choose your world. Choose to stay here, and you'll put away your wand. Live as a Muggle. Not produce children. If you do that, we'll leave you be. If you choose the Wizarding World, then you can get a nice job in the MACUSA—given your school records, anyone would accept you—and you can have a family there. What's your choice?"
"My family is already here," Harrison replied. "I don't need any more."
"All right," Hornfeck nodded, getting up off of the rolling chair he had been sitting on. He pointed a finger at Harrison. "But I'd better not see your face again."
"Roger that," Harrison replied, and the man disapparated.
Harrison shook his head. He grabbed his wallet and decided to go get some food. He went into the cafeteria and grabbed some food. As he turned to pick out a remote table, he bumped straight into someone, accidently knocking over their tray. A pair of dark blue eyes blinked at him over the tray.
"I am so sorry," he muttered. "Let me—let me get you some more food."
He turned away and grabbed a new tray, filling it up. The young man turned back and handed it to the young woman standing there. Caught in her dark blonde hair was a goop of pudding, which was also spilled on her shirt.
"I'm so sorry," he repeated.
"It's all right," she smiled. With one hand, she zipped up her jacket to cover it. "I hated this shirt anyway. Now I have an excuse to get rid of it."
Harrison nodded awkwardly and turned away.
"You have the same major as me, don't you?" she asked.
Harrison turned back to her, saying, "I guess."
"You're in a lot of my classes," she smiled.
"Oh," he muttered, turning red.
"You aren't going to go sit by yourself, are you?" she asked. "What's your name, anyway?"
"Harrison," he replied. "Harrison Wells."
"Tess Morgan," she said, shaking his free hand with her own pudding covered one.
"Well, I guess I'll see you around, Tess Morgan," he said, finally smiling himself. He began to walk away to sit at his usual table and turned back one more time to look at her as she sat with her friends, laughing happily. Then, he sat and began to eat.
:) A bit of backstory for you guys!
~LittleMissMycroft