Chapter 4

Saying that Tina owes Hartley a favor is, perhaps, overstating things a little.

Hartley had gone to Tina after getting fired from STAR Labs, optimistic that she'd believe him and at least try to help put a stop to what Harrison was doing. Even if they weren't successful, Hartley'd been so certain she'd at least try.

She'd very politely listened him out and then, equally politely, had security escort him out. Tina hadn't believed Hartley in the slightest and... he gave up, afterwards.

There'd only been a few weeks left before the accelerator turned on and Hartley spent most of that holed up in his apartment, depressed and despondent. He'd gone to protest the accelerator's activation the night it was turned on, half hoping when it inevitably exploded that it would take him with it.

It didn't.

Afterwards, Tina called him a few times. To apologize. To offer him a job. Hartley's depression was all the worse for his messed up sense of hearing and he'd let all her calls go to voicemail. Eventually, she stopped calling.

Hopefully Tina still felt guilty enough that Hartley's name would get them through the door. Or at least she'd be curious enough to find out.

"Seriously, you're Dr. Rathaway?" The woman at the front desk seemed surprised, but she handed him - and Ronnie - a visitor's pass without even calling Dr. McGee to see if she was free. "I thought you'd be older."

Hartley tried not to roll his eyes. But Ronnie snickered and Hartley couldn't help himself.

"Anyway, I'll let Dr. McGee know you're here. She has standing orders that if you show up, we're to send you straight up to her private conference room," the secretary continued. "And cancel her appointments for the next hour at the least."

So Tina still felt guilty, then. Probably. Or she wanted a private place to shout at him for ignoring her calls. Hartley supposed he'd find out soon enough.

He ignored Ronnie's raised eyebrow and the look the secretary was giving him that said she had no idea why Hartley could possibly be that important to her boss.

The private conference room was on the top floor beside Tina's office and had a lovely view of Central City, a circular table ringed with the most comfortable office chairs Hartley'd ever sat in, and a seating area off to the side with a loveseat and two chairs flanking an oval coffee table and set before a large TV. There was a projector hanging from the ceiling, so Hartley suspected there was a screen hidden in the ceiling somewhere too.

"So..." Ronnie trailed off leadingly and gave Hartley a significant look. "Exactly what kind of favor does Dr. McGee owe you anyway?"

Hartley shrugged. He did not want to explain that he'd deliberately burned the only bridge he'd, sort of, had left to fix his career or the haze he's slipped into that had nearly consumed his life until he'd decided to take revenge on Harrison and let that consume him instead. Ronnie wasn't owed every single detail of Hartley's life.

Though if it had been Cisco asking... Hartley might have told him. And when did he start trusting Cisco that strongly anyway?

"Um, so... I think the Steins are on their way here," Ronnie said after a moment. "It felt like Stein was in trouble and then he... wasn't?"

"Alright, so I guess we'll have to ask Tina to have them join us when they arrive." Hartley sighed and then added, "the two of you are still linked. Which probably means the two of you could learn how to merge and unmerge again. Create Firestorm again, but with the merge happening with you entirely in charge this time around."

Ronnie scrunched up his face. "I'd really rather not."

"You might not have a choice. If you're still linked to each other, then you might not be entirely stable on your own anymore." Which was, clearly, not what Ronnie had wanted to hear.

The door opened and Tina McGee walked inside. And stopped stock still, staring at Ronnie in shock.

"So, Tina. I need your help," Hartley said, voice dry. "General Wade Eiling is after Ronnie here, as well as Professor Martin Stein, because of what the accelerator did to them. I need your help," he repeated, "to keep them safe. They've both already been attacked by soldiers and barely escaped. The Steins are on their way here too."

"I'll let Angela know to let them right up when they arrive. And then I'll get General Ellis on the line." Tina smiled and nodded to Ronnie. "It's good to learn that rumors of your death were greatly exaggerated, Mr. Raymond. And, Hartley... I'm glad to see you well."

"How's Barry doing?" Dr. Wells asked when Cisco came into the living room and slumped onto the blindingly white couch.

"Sleeping. He'll be fine, but he's going to need to eat something soon. I don't suppose you've got any power bars sitting around?" Cisco scrubbed his hands over his face. "This was bad..." He'd missed lunch, but watching Caitlin remove every single spine from Barry had thoroughly killed Cisco's appetite.

Cisco never wants to see or hear Barry in that much pain again. Ever.

This used to be fun. When did that stop?

"I honestly thought Eiling would shove his way into the house," Dr. Wells admitted, looking surprisingly frazzled.

What did it say that Cisco knew Dr. Wells had just gone to bat to protect Barry - and Cisco and Caitlin - from a rogue army general and yet still on some level suspected he was in league with the Reverse Flash? Everything felt like such a mess.

"You did great, Dr. Wells." Cisco smiled wanly, feeling exhausted.

"Now that things have calmed down, however, might I enquire as to where Ronnie wound up? I was quite surprised he and Hartley weren't with the three of you when you arrived. Considering Caitlin mentioned you gave Hartley back his gloves and he saved the day," and there's something in Dr. Wells' voice. Not exactly disapproval... but...

"Hartley took Ronnie to Dr. McGee to see if she'd leverage her military and government contacts to protect Ronnie and the Steins," Cisco replied steadily. "He gave me back his gloves for safe keeping."

"Yes, I suppose that was the right call." Dr. Wells still sounded distinctly odd. "My own contacts have rather... dried up since the accelerator failed. Anyway, there are some breakfast bars in the pantry. Barry's welcome to those and anything else he happens to be hungry for. Yourself as well, you're looking a little... in shock."

Food probably would do him some good.

"Thanks, Dr. Wells. I did miss lunch." He stood up and let Dr. Wells direct him to the pantry, glancing over the breakfast bars and snagging one for himself to nom on. Then Cisco got a glass of water. With a little food in him, Cisco started feeling a bit more human again. But still exhausted. "Mind if I nap on your couch?" he finally asked.

"Of course. Make yourself comfortable. I'm going to check in on Caitlin. Make sure she gets some rest as well." He rolled his wheelchair towards the hallway leading to the guest room.

Cisco watched after him for a long moment and then kicked off his shoes and curled up on the couch, snuggling against a couch pillow and letting his eyes slip closed. He felt someone drape a blanket over him at one point, eyes opening a sliver to see Dr. Wells sitting beside him. "Thanks," he murmured, eyes shutting again as a wave of tiredness dragged him fully asleep.

Clarissa is, somehow, unsurprised to find herself and her family escorted to join Ronnie Raymond and Tina McGee in the safety of a conference room behind some fairly decent security measures. She is surprised, however, to see Hartley Rathaway there too, sitting off to the side drinking tea and snacking on a sandwich.

He'd been quite kind to her the night before and Clarissa feels a little better, despite herself, to see him there.

"General Eiling is responsible for these attacks, isn't he?" Martin asked, once the polite niceties of introductions were out of the way.

"I'm afraid so," Ronnie agreed. "He was there in person to capture me and... he had a weapon specifically designed to take out the Flash when he showed up to try and help me. If Hartley and Cisco hadn't shown up, we wouldn't have gotten away."

Martin sighed. "He was in charge of allocating the military funding that went into the FIRESTORM research. If I'd known what kind of person he was beforehand... well..." He gave Clarissa and Lily devastated looks. "Now my family is in danger because of me."

"General Eiling has overstepped his bounds for, what is hopefully, the last time," Dr. McGee assured them. "I spoke to a contact of mine, General Michael Ellis, and they nearly had Eiling before on illegal incarceration and human experimentation on Sergeant Bette Sans Souci. Unfortunately after she escaped his captivity, Sergeant Sans Souci was murdered and a rather swift cover up followed afterwards. But this time he's gone too far and no cover up will protect him. If you're all willing to come forward to testify against him. General Ellis is on his way here and should arrive this evening."

"And what happens to us afterwards," Martin asked. "I did... technically lose government property."

"That you'll have to discuss with Ellis himself," McGee admitted, "but he wants to help Mr. Raymond here have the legal declaration of his death overturned. Get Ronnie back to his life and his fiancé so he and Dr. Snow can finally get married. And Ellis wants you to be able to get back to your life as well. I know that with General Eiling being behind these attacks it's a difficult thing I'm asking that you trust another member of the military. But Ellis is one of the good ones, I assure you."

"The very least we can do is hear him out," Clarissa spoke up. "I appreciate that you're speaking up on our behalf, Dr. McGee. Especially as we're strangers to you."

"Yes, well, it's the right thing to do. And Hartley doesn't ask for favors when it isn't important." Clarissa followed McGee's gaze over to Dr. Rathaway who smiled politely and gave a little wave.

There was some more discussion about their circumstances and then Clarissa made her way over to join Hartley in the sitting area. "Something tells me our safety right now has a great deal to do with you, Hartley. Thank you."

"I knew the accelerator was flawed," Hartley said quietly, startling her. "I was fired for what I found and didn't do nearly enough to try and stop the disaster I saw coming. I'm just... trying to get things right this time."

"You are a better man than you give yourself credit for." Clarissa gave him an arch look when he made to argue her on that point. Hartley went, a touch sheepishly, quiet. "If there's anything I can do to repay your kindness..."

"Well..." an amused smile made its way onto Hartley's face. "I am trying to build an army of plushie rats. For... reasons. So if you have any toy rats you want to donate to the cause..."

Clarissa chuckled in amusement. "I happen to have three Ikea rats gathering dust in my guest room somewhere. When it's safe for us to go home again, the rats are yours."

The amused smile widened happily. "Thank you, Clarissa."

Hartley followed Tina out of the conference room and into her office. He suspected he knew what this was about, but he was still somehow surprised when Tina put a file into his hands and asked him to read it.

"Is this another job offer?" he asked quietly, flipping it open to a project proposal.

"Yes. I want you on this project. I think it's perfect for you. But I also realize I screwed up. And I made a bad situation for you worse. I accepted that you wanted nothing to do with me or Mercury Labs when you refused my calls last year and shelved the project. But here you are. And I can't resist asking one more time."

Hartley froze at the implication that, as far as Tina McGee was concerned, there was no project if Hartley wasn't a part of it. She'd shelved it when he'd refused her calls...

That was... he didn't know quite what to make of that.

"I... I need some time to think about it." Hartley stared at the file, at the path it offered him. He'd thought...

He'd thought he'd burned his bridge with Tina and been afraid to find out otherwise. Thrown everything into taking revenge on Harrison. Nearly ruined his life barreling headlong down that road. And he wasn't done yet, still needed - desperately - to prove Harrison was criminally liable for the events of the accelerator's meltdown.

But if he kept pursuing his vendetta against Harrison, could he still have this? A... life for himself again? Hartley hadn't been letting himself think too hard about his future... because he hadn't thought he had one. And maybe that was why he hadn't let himself come to Mercury Labs until now. Because now he had to choose between... vengeance and moving on with his life. And he honestly didn't know which option to choose.

"Take all the time you need," Tina told him.

But what if he could have both? It'd mean telling Tina what he was planning, though. He wasn't sure he was ready to do that either.

"Thank you, Tina. You've given me a lot to think about." More than she even knew, really.

Notes: So, Ikea used to sell cute little plushie rats, but it seems they're discontinued now. :( They were very, very cute and a number of them live in one of the conference rooms where I work. (Theoretically they're there for us to throw when someone rat-holes a meeting, but mostly we just played with them. Kept us focused with our hands busy petting little rat plushies.)