Thanks for the hilarious responses to the last chapter. I'll admit, cliffhangers are my guilty pleasure (except not that guilty).

Enjoy chapter 9!

Disclaimer: Questionable Science is going to be making a reappearance, so please cut me some slack.

"Don't be alarmed," Wells said, taking a step forward into the cortex. Caitlin stumbled backward on instinct, back into the darkness of the room, making contact with the desk behind her. While she'd seen his empty wheelchair, seen the evidence of his mobility left in that basement room, the image of Wells actually walking was enough to throw her into a panic. "It's not like this is the first time I've been around while you've been here. I've been watching you work the past few days. Impressive, that device you built with Ms. West to stop Mark Mardon."

"You're the Reverse Flash," Caitlin said breathlessly. "This whole time...it was you."

"Let's skip the dramatics, please," Wells said. "Frankly, I'm surprised you didn't piece it together earlier. You've always been a smart girl, Dr. Snow, which is why I haven't killed you these past three days."

Caitlin's heart flipped. "You killed Cisco."

"An unfortunate casualty," Wells said, continuing his leisurely walk forward. "I didn't anticipate that, either, but what's done is done." To Caitlin's horror, the slightest tug of a smile pulled up at Wells' lips. "I notice you haven't moved the body. You're a doctor—surely you know about the stages of decomposition."

Beneath the fear, hot anger bubbled out from her core. She met Wells in two quick strides, her fist flying toward his face. Before she could even blink, her wrist was in Wells' grip and she was pressed back against the edge of the table again.

"I'm fast, remember?" Wells said, his face inches from hers, his once-kind blue eyes alive with sick amusement. A cat toying with its prey. "Faster than you, faster than Cisco Ramon, and faster than Barry Allen."

"What do you want?" Caitlin choked. Wells' grip was like a vice on her wrist. She'd never known him to be physically strong.

"I want Barry Allen," Wells said. "And I want you to help me get him."

"Barry's dead," Caitlin said, and it took everything in her not to spit the words at him. "I don't know what you want with him, but he's gone. He was killed in that tidal wave. If you're so smart, maybe you would've figured that out by now."

"Barry Allen is very much alive," Wells said. "When he ran along that beach, he simply ran fast enough to create a time breach. What he's been wanting to do all along. Go back in time."

The news, paired with the concussion, sent Caitlin's head spinning. Back in time? Sure, they'd been entertaining possibilities of time travel, theorizing about the probabilities of Barry traveling back to save his mother, but all of it still seemed impossible.

But Barry...alive. The thought steadied her, made her heart flutter.

"It's impossible to say how far he went back, but my guess is no more than a few hours. A few days, at the most," Wells continued. "He's created a split timeline, something of an alternate universe, but I need him back in this one."

"You can't do that," Caitlin said. "It's impossible—messing with time like that—"

"What do you think I've been doing the past three days while you've been blubbering to your friends and building your toys?" Wells said. "I've been developing my own device, and believe me, my work goes much faster."

"You can't just bring someone back from a different timeline," Caitlin said, but even she could hear the uncertainty in her voice.

Wells grinned. "Watch me."

The clouds had dissipated, but dusk had cleared away any of the Central City citizens that may have wanted to use the beach. Caitlin doubted there would've been anyone there, anyway, but part of her fervently hoped for support when they reached their destination. Witnesses.

Once she'd gotten it into her head that she couldn't possibly outrun Wells, he'd let go of her wrist and let her walk freely. However, she felt his eyes on her as they walked down the rubble she'd stood on just a day before. His long strides were almost leisurely, but still purposeful. Caitlin swallowed, feeling as though she were being led to the firing squad.

In her arms, she held the piece of equipment that Wells had manufactured—a heavy, thick metallic disc edged with grooves. Behind her, Wells carried two more components, but Caitlin was too panicked to figure out how they would work together. A few steps into the walk, she'd considered dropping her piece, deliberately breaking it, but the thought had been quickly dashed. What good would that do her? She wasn't yet clear on how useful she was to Wells, and there was no guaranteeing that he wouldn't simply kill her if she rebelled. And if he truly was able to get Barry back, Caitlin would need to be there as a line of defense. Barry couldn't come back to an empty world.

"Right up here, if you please."

Caitlin stumbled over a rock, but Wells caught her arm to steady her. She jerked away and stomped through the sand to the place he'd indicated, depositing her equipment at his feet.

"You see, now, why it was so hard to find," Wells said, jerking his chin upward. "Quite a tricky thing to spot if you're not looking for it. Fortunately, I was looking."

For a moment, Caitlin didn't understand. Then she saw it, just above eye level, a suspension of particles, a shimmer in the air. He was right; if she wasn't looking for it, it was small enough to go unnoticed. But now that she did see it, she felt her skin prickle, felt the scientific curiosity inadvertently build.

"What is it?" she asked.

"The time breach," he said, setting his own equipment down in the sand. "The very spot where Barry Allen disappeared during his heroic jog."

Caitlin suddenly had the urge to reach out and touch it, to feel that space she had lost. Barry was here. However, just as she was giving into her impulse, she felt the telling wave of wind and energy behind her. She turned just in time to see Wells with his constructed device, all of the pieces put together in seconds to form a device that reminded Caitlin absurdly of a wireless router. Even though it was happening right before her eyes, her brain was still unable to register Wells' speed, the idea that he'd had it the entire time.

"Step back, please," Wells instructed, and Caitlin did so without a word. Wells moved the device into place just beneath the glimmer in the air and switched it on. For a moment, Caitlin considered picking up one of the rocks along the beach, hitting Wells over the head, attempting to overpower him.

Two things stopped her. One, she was uncertain that she could beat him with his unparalleled speed. He would see her coming a mile away.

Two, there was an overwhelming part of her that selfishly needed to see Barry alive again. No matter what Wells' purposes were.

She took a few more steps back as the device hummed to life, a single light on the top of the black disc growing in intensity. The two antennae that jutted out on either side began vibrating, crackling with electricity, entrapping the patch of sky in a cocoon of golden electricity. The patch pulsed, warped. Caitlin glanced back at the park. Nobody there to see. No witnesses to whatever was going to happen next.

She wished, stupidly, that Iris was there.

Everything went silent. Even the rush of the water was sucked out of existence, and Caitlin's own heartbeat silenced for a few precious seconds. Along the coastline, a wave crashed, then lifted into the sky and hung there, suspended.

Then the light pulsed brighter, and Barry Allen came tumbling out of thin air.

I told you I love cliffhangers!

Thank you so much for reading. Please, if you would be so kind to leave a review on your way out, I really appreciate it!

Till next time,

Penn