Chapter Two

Caitlin Snow considered herself a fairly level-headed person. She constantly put up with the ridiculous shenanigans that took place in and out of STAR Labs. She'd been there to keep her team as healthy and safe as possible, always followed the rules that Dr. Wells put in place; she felt that with all the work she put into her job and into being a good employee, she deserved to know when there was a potentially hazardous situation going on around her.

How could he have kept this from us for two years? she thought in disbelief. It still boggled her mind. How could he?

She heard the lab doors slide open but ignored it. She wanted nothing to do with Dr. Wells right now. Hurt and fury radiated off of her in waves, and Caitlin hoped that it was enough to keep him away. Of course, Dr. Wells braved the storm. This wasn't the first time she'd been angry with him. He steered his chair around hers and stopped directly in front of her, and tried to make eye contact. Caitlin avoided his eyes entirely, and instead stared at a table of beakers left of him.

Harrison sighed and tried to think of what to do. He knew he'd made a mistake; he regretted it deeply and wished he could go back and change it. He understood Caitlin's anger. He'd felt it when Cisco had hid the cryonic gun from them. He wasn't entirely sure what to say to her; Cisco had made his apology easy, but Caitlin was a much more difficult situation. He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, ready to apologize; Caitlin, however, had other plans.

"I know what you're about to say," she murmured, still not looking at him. "You're going to apologize and say how much you wish you could go back and do something differently, but that's not true." Harrison looked up at her, confused. She continued, "It's in your nature to hide things from people. I don't know why, but it is; no matter how much you wish you'd told us about Ronnie, you would still have done the same thing even if you were given a thousand chances to change it."

Dr. Wells was silent. He knew that wasn't true, but he didn't know how to explain it. Two years ago, things had been different. Caitlin and Cisco had only been his team and nothing more. Barry had brought them all together as friends, and he was so appreciative of that. Gently, he placed his hands over Caitlin's and was relieved when she didn't pull away. "That isn't true for one very good reason, Caitlin," he said, choosing his words carefully. "Two years ago I didn't think of you two as family."

She finally made eye contact with him, and he continued, "I don't want to hide things from you. Sometimes it's necessary, but I've been doing my best. I care so much about you, Cisco and Barry and I couldn't bare to think about losing your trust."

Dr. Wells grinned at the sudden armful of bioengineer.

"I'm sorry, Harrison," she said quietly, hugging him tight.

"Don't be, I'm the one apologizing here," he chuckled. He grew serious before continued. "Since we're currently in the business of coming clean about things, there's something else I've been wanting to show you." Caitlin pulled back and watched him with curious eyes. Rolling over to a counter, he locked his wheelchair in place and placed his hands onto the hard granite surface. Caitlin almost stopped him, worried that he would fall and hurt himself, but something stopped her. With a great deal of effort, Dr. Wells hoisted himself up into a standing position, and leaned against the counter. Slowly, he weaned himself off of the crutch and stood on his own, looking proud and utterly exhausted. He grinned over at Caitlin before settling back down into his wheelchair. "I began to feel a tingling in my legs about two weeks ago," he panted, trying to slow his breathing. "I didn't want to say anything in case it was a fluke, but as the days passed, more and more feeling came back to these useless appendages. I don't know how or why, but I'm healing, Caitlin."

She was utterly speechless for a good 30 seconds before shooting up from her chair, mumbling something about tissue samples and lab work.

Harrison, feeling content, sat back and let her do her work.

*2 Hours Earlier*

Harrison watched his metachild's eyes flutter open and dart around confusedly before finally settling on himself. She shot up from her bed, but immediately fell back down - two years of no muscle action had rendered her virtually helpless. She looked terrified, but Harrison was quick to try and fix the situation.

"Breathe, Ronnie, everything is fine," he insisted calmly, "You've been in a coma for a very long time and you're body is just a little shocked, that's all."

Instead of that, however, Ronnie went into instant panic mode as her powers went out of control and flew about around them. She screamed and jumped off of the bed, crumbling onto the floor as her weak legs buckled under her weight. Harrison leaped out of his wheelchair and kneeled down next to her, grabbing her wrists and demanding eye contact.

"Veronica Monroe," he spoke firmly, "you will stop this and breathe with me. In and out, darling." She released a breathy sob as she heard his words and tried desperately to copy his breathing. Finally, she calmed, but nothing around them returned to their rightful places. Before Harrison could try and help her figure out her dilemma, Caitlin's voice echoed throughout the lab via intercom. "Dr. Wells, we have a situation up here," she shouted, "Objects are levitating, please tell me this is your fault!"

He ignored her for a moment and helped Ronnie back onto the bed. "I'm going to explain everything to you in time," he assured her, "And I will do all I can to help you control your powers. Right now I have to introduce you to some very good friends of mine." He smiled at her and gave her hand a comforting squeeze before returned to his wheelchair and going over to the intercom.

What an odd man, Ronnie thought to herself. I can tell he's some sort of doctor. How long have I been in this coma? I can barely lift my arms; my muscle is going to take forever to rebuild. Am I safe here? I feel safe but that in no way means that I am. I wonder who the girl over the intercom was. If he can walk then why does this odd doctor use a wheelchair? A hundred and one thoughts sped through Ronnie's head as she sat on the bed. She wondered where her parents were; did they even know where she was?