Caitlin shouldn't have been surprised at the emotion in Professor Stein's voice after she told him about Nimbus. About the sample that Savitar had finally extracted. But she had only ever heard her Professor Stein choked up once or twice. This one seemed slightly more vulnerable; he'd been through just enough to split him down the middle. When she informed the older gentleman that Savitar had captured the meta, Stein's tone had been cold and triumphant when he breathed "At last." A little light-headed, as if he could hardly believe what he was hearing. But when she'd reminded him that this meant they had their sample to work on, Stein sounded like he was coming up for air, like he'd just finished drinking a large glass of water. He sounded like someone had hit him over the head with the butt of a handgun. A lot of stammering, and she realized he was trying not to cry only after he said, "When can we start?"

She walked into the Cortex, running through a list of preparations in her head as she spoke into her phone. "How does tomorrow sound?" She could barely keep the grin at bay. "I'll provide breakfast."

There was a smile in his voice now too. "6 AM," Martin insisted. "And not a millisecond later."

When she hung up, Caitlin turned to take her seat at her monitor, get some calculations going, but she started when she saw that Savitar was already sitting there.

"Professor Stein should be here early tomorrow," Caitlin explained cheerily.

Savitar snorted, shaking his head. "What makes you think he's coming here?"

Caitlin came around the desk and decided to take the seat beside him instead, booting up the second screen. "I just said he was. He said around 6, but I'll have to be up earlier than that getting everything ready—"

"I don't want him here." Savitar said it slowly, in a hard voice, clearly insinuating it was time for her to stop jabbering and pay attention to him.

Caitlin steadied her eye-roll. Patience is a virtue. One…two…three… She turned the seat to face him, and it was spine-straightening to see that icy look on Barry's face. No scars, one blue eye, dark clothes—somehow he looked less like Barry now that the damage was hidden, and it probably had something to do with the constant shadow in his expression. She was still trying to find that perfect in-between place when it came to how often she was looking at him now, and her eyes flicked from his gaze to his arms, crossed tight over his chest, to his jawline and back to his mismatched irises.

Sometimes it was like he knew how hard it was for her to watch him with the transmogrifier's effects. It was something smug in the way he held himself, in the shape of his mouth and the way he'd lean slightly toward her now instead of away. Smug and expectant. She really, really hated it.

"I need his help if I'm going to cure Clarissa Stein," Caitlin explained calmly, but inside she was tightened.

Savitar's head wagged again, but it was halfway this time. "No you don't."

"I do."

"You can do everything you need to do all on your own," Savitar told her with irritating confidence. "Cerebral inhibitor." He held up the wrist that wore the Hammond Cuff in a demonstration. "Velocity 6."

Caitlin shut her eyes for a second. That last one was a wretched example, and it made her stomach curdle.

"You've got the skill, Caitlin, you can do it without him." Savitar let his arms hang over his knees lazily and leaned ever forward. "You just want Stein here so you can strap him to S.T.A.R. Labs and start your little Flash 2.0 fan club, and everything will be just like it is over on your Earth." A sarcastic grin sprang to his face and he gestured to the building with raised hands. "Home sweet home, Team Flash at it again. Well," he added, squinting at the ceiling briefly, "almost."

Six…seven…eight. "I don't understand," Caitlin replied, exasperated. "Why don't you want that? Why don't you want a team? How many times do I have to…prove to you, what do I have to say, to get you to see you can't be a hero by yourself? You need—"

"—your friends," Savitar spoke at the same time she did. "You need your family, you're never alone." He rubbed an eye, as if she were just too much to deal with right now. "Don't you have any new material for me?"

"You're not answering me," Caitlin intoned, turning her seat away again. "It's his wife, and he has every right to come and help save her, much more right than I do. I know you don't want any help, and I know you don't trust anyone, but I told you—you're never going to start over if you don't start somewhere."

He was laughing. He was snickering at her under his breath, light and quiet. One…two… Finally, she turned back around, taking her hand off the monitor's trackpad.

"What?" Caitlin huffed. How was she supposed to get anything done when he was here, actively against her, in one of his moods? Barry was determined to have his way too, yes, but it was never quite this obnoxious, whatever she ranted to Cisco when the Flash had sped off to some danger despite her warnings.

"You know for a genius, you sure miss a lot," Savitar informed her carelessly. Caitlin gave him a strained, sharp look, waiting, and he added, "I already started somewhere, Doctor Snow."

Tired of his games, Caitlin let out a tiny snort, reaching for the trackpad again.

"I kept you around, didn't I?"

That made her whip back toward him, indignant. Talking about her as if she were a pet he'd given a week to settle in, to get used to, and that she had passed some kind of test to be able to stay in his house. Her mouth open, gaping like a fish, trying to get out the hundreds of stinging retorts that flew through her mind.

Then she realized, in a stupidly late fashion, that he had just complimented her. Sort of.

She closed her mouth, and he sat there, eyes glittering at her, with that smug expression still painted on. Something in her heart grew a little warmer in his direction. Barry had a poetic way of telling people how much they meant, or what was nice about them. Savitar was simultaneously blunt and tucked away when he did it, and it sent her analytic brain tapping away at its keyboard, trying to solve him and this new personality tied to a familiar face.

And then the really Caitlin part of her kicked in, and she saw a way to make her point clearer, however warm she was feeling. "And how did that go?"

Savitar had the heel of one shoe up against the winding white desk and was turning his seat to the left and right, just barely, watching her. Here, the bottoms of his eyes were scrunched a little, though a smile didn't actually form. "So far so good."

She smiled for him. "See? If it worked with me, it can work with Professor Stein." She shrugged. "And he's already invited. Having Central City's big hero himself kicking him out tomorrow would be a little awkward, wouldn't it?"

Savitar's mouth twitched. "It's not gonna work," he told her quietly, almost amusedly. "He won't stay."

Caitlin pursed her lips at him. "We'll see."

Savitar was trying to get used to walking around without the suit, without the scars. There was a security in his metal armor—he moved faster in it, hit harder, and even his voice was disguised. There was some security in the Flash suit now, too, after having left the armor back on Earth-1. No one knew him; most of the population had no real confirmation that he existed. Only the words of the news and a handful of witnesses. And really, who believed the news nowadays? He was invisible.

But not plain, not in casual clothing and zero facial wounds. He was invisible in a way—in that no one looked at him more often than they looked at any of the other strangers on the street. In that no one really had time for anything but themselves, so one other human being was less to care about than the amount of steps it would take to get to work that day.

It wasn't enough. It wasn't enough of a disguise, being just another pedestrian. He still felt exposed, still felt the scars beneath the mask the transmogrifier had supplied him with. One or two children glanced at him on their way out of Jitters, probably because he was dressed in all black and mommy said don't talk to strangers. The barista gave him the usual wary glances while she was pouring his coffee, but only the looks that came with someone waiting on her to be able to leave the establishment. All of it made him uncomfortable. All the attention. Once upon a time he'd craved it, craved their stares and their worship when he'd tried becoming a god.

As the city's hero now, the meta taking down the baddies, he craved their gratitude and admiration. He didn't crave casual glances and the average notice. It felt incorrect smacking against him as they went by. There wasn't enough awe in it. He was out of his element.

Upon obtaining his coffee, Savitar chose a booth in the back corner to drink it. No book to read, nothing terribly interesting outside the window, not even a phone to waste time on. He just sat and thought and thought. Brooding. He did that a lot, far more than Barry did. It looked better on him, anyway. Went with the black jacket and the darker hair.

A voice suddenly rose in excitement near the table closest to Jitters' entrance. "Seriously? No way—I mean—yes, yes sir, thank you. Thank you so much, that's—" then it trailed off as if interrupted, listening.

Recognizing the voice, Savitar craned his neck just a little, just enough to see Wally West seated across from a stern-looking man in a monkey suit. Wally was shaking the man's hand, and Savitar strained to pick up what the business type was saying as he passed a clipped bunch of papers to the college student.

"…need these to get into the building, do not lose them under any circumstances. They're easily replaced," the man was informing Wally stiffly, "but that's not the overall problem. Should anyone find these documents, they'd have access to information given to employees only, and that's on you. If you lose it, I'm afraid your career's over before it begins. Got it?"

Wally was nodding a little too eagerly to be professional. "Absolutely, yes sir."

"Good. We'll be in touch, young man." The man shook Wally's hand one more time, standing.

Wally, still sitting, watched the guy leave the café, looking drunk with triumph. He was wearing a pale orange shirt and dark jeans, hardly the attire one would don when going to an important interview, which was obviously what the meeting had been.

Then West's head jerked away from the direction out the window that the businessman had taken, down the opposite end of the street outside. He scrambled from his chair and out the door with the usual jingle that erupted when someone came in and out of Jitters.

Savitar stood, meandering over to the window, bored, to see what the fuss was about.

Wally was outside, helping an elderly man up off the sidewalk. Around the two, a bouquet of lilies was being quickly destroyed by the people pushing by, and Wally was picking up each flower he could manage to gain whole, putting them back into their holder with care. Clearly it would look nothing like it probably had before the man had tripped, but Wally looked determined to salvage what he could. So did the crushed-looking elder crouching beside him and reaching for the broken petals. Most likely a gift for his wife—an anniversary or something. A familiar twinge, something like what Barry had felt when Earth-1's Wally had successfully mastered some lesson or other, erupted in the speedster's chest as he watched. Then it was gone, and he was cold again.

Wally waved away the man's thanks, beaming, and the two went their separate ways, West heading down the street and away from Jitters' wide window.

Savitar took a sip of his coffee, turning to go back to his booth. A flash of white caught his eye and he turned to see Wally's documents still sitting on the table where he'd left them, for the world to see.

Savitar's eyebrows rose, staring down at the papers. He felt the touch of a smirk on his face, but there wasn't enough emotion to bring it fully out. Of course the kid had forgotten them. Too bad it was in favor of helping an old man and some flowers. Well, that was what came of wasting time with small, lost causes. Sucked for Wally.

And then the papers were in his hand and he was headed outside, taking the steps two at a time and walking quicker than the average person in a hurry down the street after West.

Why? He wasn't sure. He'd stood there looking at the documents indifferently, when something flickered behind his eyes—the white of a bioengineering lab coat, the smell of a subtle perfume. A familiar quirk of a nervous smile, a voice that sounded suspiciously like the ones bossing him in his comms daily. It was as if she were standing next to him, innocently watching him, and he couldn't turn and leave the stupid papers on the stupid table with those brown eyes boring a hole in his profile. Caitlin Snow was in him somewhere, and he wasn't entirely certain when it had happened or how he'd allowed it, but he was regretting it already. It was wasting his time. It also felt warm.

Wally was crossing the street and had just reached the opposite curb when Savitar caught up to him.

The speedster used the back of the hand holding the documents to touch West on the shoulder, gaining his attention. "You forgetting something?"

Wally turned, confused and his eyes landed on the papers before they landed on Savitar. A large smile bloomed and he chuckled out, "Oh—dude—thank you!" He grabbed the documents, slinging off his backpack and unzipping it to deposit them. "I can't believe I forgot, that woulda been—"

As Wally spoke, Savitar glanced at the nearest building distractedly, not wanting to look at the kid, not wanting to recognize him and think of that wheelchair and the disowning and the silence. "Okay. Okay, great." He took one step to get around the boy, but Wally straightened up, blocking his exit.

"Seriously, I owe you. I'm Wally." He stuck out a hand.

Savitar didn't shake it.

Wally paused a moment, making sure Savitar wouldn't accept his gesture, and offered a slightly awkward smile. "What's your name?" he tried again.

Savitar almost rolled his eyes, but realized that would be a confusing response. What was his name? The God of Speed title wasn't exactly on the list of 1989's Most Popular Baby Names. And Barry Allen was out of the question completely. There was no way. Every time he thought of himself as Barry, however natural it felt, all he could do was picture Team Flash 2024's faces, one by one, and the name flew from his mind as if running from him, the one thing he couldn't catch up with. He couldn't be Barry. He wasn't allowed. For so long he'd wanted to be, wanted them to see him as Barry, but he had been forcing those wants down with an acrid taste in his mouth—especially since he'd come to Earth-66, and Snow had decided they were friends—to the point where they were just a nagging in the back of his head at every touch and glance. Now he wasn't sure who he wanted her to see him as. What he wanted anyone to call him.

"Uh—no worries, man." Wally took the silence like a champ, and gingerly added, "Hey, where you headed?"

Savitar gestured to the end of the street, to the next intersection. West was talking enough for the both of them, no words necessary.

"Bus stop?" Wally's smile grew. "Cool, me too. I'll walk with you."

Savitar wanted to let the air hiss out of his lungs, wanted to speed out of this, run past Wally and back to S.T.A.R. Labs. He should never have touched those papers. But now there they were, and speeding away would be a little revealing—yes, it was he, the jerk who had kicked the kid out of the Labs and saved him from the EXPO. Secret identities were irritating things.

But in spite of himself, falling into step behind the younger man, Savitar heard himself ask in a rasp, "Was that an interview?"

"Oh, yeah," Wally glanced back in Jitters' direction excitedly. "I got it. My last job—uh—I was kinda out for too long—didn't show up to work cuz…it's a long story."

Savitar pictured the burn marks that had caked the kid's back a month or so ago. Long story.

"Anyway, I lost that one, so now I'm with Mercury Labs." There was an obvious note of pride in his voice. "Just hired. I've been through some stuff lately—I was thinking…" He sounded a little embarrassed, and glanced at Savitar, who was expressionless. "I wanna help people. You know? Like, more than just an engineering internship. That's what I did before. Now I'm gonna be an understudy—gonna build things for the company and all that, but I'll learn some doctor stuff too." Wally rubbed his nose as they reached the light. "What about you?"

Savitar grunted. "I'm—kind of a freelance operation."

"Freelance what? Like a writer or something?" Wally leaned against the bus sign, hands in his pockets. "That's what my sister wanted to do before she became a cop."

Savitar tried to keep his eyes level. Wally's sister. His gaze twitched to the view around them again. "Yeah. Something like that." Something like a cop, anyway. Surprisingly, casual conversation with Caitlin Snow was easier than this. Though they both talked around the same amount. "So you're, what? Gonna be a doctor engineer?" It was a real hassle to keep the sneer out of his voice. He just couldn't feel any of the fondness he'd once had as Barry for Wally. Instead, just like at S.T.A.R. Labs, all he could see were West's bad points.

But Wally seemed oblivious to Savitar's bite. He laughed. The bus rolled up, and Wally spoke over its engine to be heard, heaving his backpack up higher onto his shoulders. "Yeah, I guess. I'm working with the head engineer and then the rest of the time I'm with their main doctor—you know, if somebody gets burned working on an experiment or something—Henry Allen, he's like their bigshot PHD, I think."

Savitar nearly staggered on the spot. Nothing online had alluded to what this Earth's Henry Allen had moved on to after his wife and child had died on the same night. Hearing the name made the blood run colder in his wrists and fingertips. He was still in the city. He hadn't disappeared, he was here. There was something cruel about it, and resentment welled up inside him.

Wally was glancing back at him from the first step into the bus. "You gettin' on?"

Savitar slid his own hands into his pockets. "I'll pass."

Wally looked confused. "You sure?" He glanced down the street. "What're you gonna do instead?"

Savitar grinned then. "Oh, I'll think of something. It's a good day for a run."