Sorry for the long delay. Life went crazy on me. I'm doing my best to keep writing and editing but the editing gets left behind when things go nuts. Apologies. Big thanks to everyone who is still sticking with this. I've not dropped it, just jumping around working on multiple stories. Thanks! - Troll

Chapter 8: The Colonel

Science and medicine were her life, so it was easy for her to get lost in her work. The fact that her patient was Harrison Wells didn't bother her much. What bothered her was the fact that General Eiling insisted that the man was a speedster but everything she was looking at was normal human. Inquisitive by nature, the Colonel had of course taken the man's fingerprints and DNA and run them through all the databases to which she had access, but it took time to get those results. So, while the DNA tests ran, she worked on other things. The man had been in their company for over a day now and still showed no signs of rapid healing. Colonel Lawrence had been a little worried at first because of Dr. Wells's poor reaction to the tranquilizer dart. It had suppressed his breathing to such a high degree that she'd had to put him on a respirator for a period. Now that the drug had been metabolized by his system he was doing better, but if he'd been a speedster he shouldn't have reacted that way.

Absorbed in her work, she didn't hear the screaming, thuds of blows landing, and shouts coming from the other room, though her mind registered that Eiling seemed angrier than usual. She had just finished looking over the DNA results when the database kicked out some files. Curious she rolled her chair over to the computer, frowning at the information she was greeted with. "This can't be right," she muttered to herself. The door opened and Eiling entered, growling back towards his captive, and shaking his hand. The knuckles were raw and bloody. Groans of pain coming from the room caught her attention and Colonel Lawrence turned away from her computer, pressing print as she did.

"Fix him," Eiling demanded. "Make him use his healing and speed!" In the other room, their captive was shouting and screaming in pain.

"What the hell did you do?" Pushing past Eiling, the Colonel rushed in to check on her patient.

Strapped to the chair, Harry was screaming and thrashing, throwing his head from side to side with his eyes tightly closed. The skin around them was bright red and smoking, blood ran down his face and chest from small cuts, livid bruises marked most of his body, and he kept opening and closing his hands, straining to free them. Realizing that Eiling had thrown something in the man's face, the Colonel ran back into her lab, grabbed an eyewash bottle, and raced back to her patient. "Hold still," she ordered.

"Burns!" Harry shouted, his eyes clamped shut.

"Hold still and open your eyes," she ordered, grabbing the back of his head to control it while she pressed the wash bottle to his eyes and squeezed. Water rushed out and into Harry's eyes, easing the burning sensation and his cries of pain changed to whimpering. "Good, keep them open," the Colonel instructed.

"Like fire," Harry muttered, his throat raw from screaming. "Please, make him stop," he begged the woman. "Lib, please. I'm not Harrison Wells. My name is John Harold Chambers." He rattled off a series of numbers. "That's my service number. Please, Jesse needs me."

"Just keep your eyes open," she ordered, her gaze roving over his body, cataloging injuries. "What in the hell has he done to you?"

"I was just trying to motivate him to use his healing," Eiling said from the doorway. He was watching with a deep frown on his face and his arms crossed. "Drugs got us nowhere so I figured we would stimulate his healing abilities."

"He doesn't have rapid healing," the colonel shot back. "I ran his fingerprints and DNA." The entire time she spoke, she continued to use the wash bottle to flush the chemical from her patient's eyes.

"He's Harrison Wells," Eiling growled.

"My name is John Harold Chambers," Harry yelled, pulling his face away from the dying stream of water. "I don't have any powers. I'm not a meta-human."

"Liar," Eiling snarled. He strode forwards only to have the short Colonel block his path. For a moment they stood glaring at each other before the woman moved past him into her lab and returned with the paperwork she'd printed up.

"He's telling the truth," she said, roughly shoving the file into Eiling's hands. "His name is John Harold Chambers, retired Navy Commander. He was a Seal, damnit. Even if he was Harrison Wells, I cannot stand by and let you torture him!" Eiling glared down at the woman.

"Colonel, do I need to remind you that I am your superior officer and can have your rank in no time?" Eiling threatened. She didn't back down. "Or that I could break you with just a finger?"

"General Eiling, need I remind you that I am a scientist with access to chemicals that would kill you and you'd never know it was me?" Their gazes locked and Eiling was shocked to discover that the woman had no fear in her eyes.

"You wouldn't dare." Eiling figured she had to be bluffing.

"Lay a finger on even a hair of Commander Chambers and I will indeed dare," she spat back, her green eyes practically glowing with anger. Sneering, Eiling dropped the papers to the floor and launched himself at his prisoner. Something caught his fist, spun him around, swept his feet out from under him, and pinned him to the floor. "Warned you. Now, go to sleep. When you wake up, this torture and your career will be over." Something jabbed into the back of Eiling's neck and in a matter of moments he was drooling on the floor asleep.

"What's going on?" Harry demanded, blinking in an attempt to clear the darkness from his eyes.

"Doctor Chambers, I am so very sorry," her voice floated out of the dark, music to his ears. He felt air against his face. "Can you see me?" As she spoke, he could hear a strange sound down by his left hand and suddenly it was free. Gasping against the pain he groped in the darkness until he felt flesh. "I'll take that as a no," her concerned voice sounded as he followed the flesh on her neck up to her face.

"What the hell did he do to me?" Harry explored her face for a moment, before moving his hands to his own skin.

"He's exposed you to one of the chemicals. I'm not sure which. You should heal in time. I think we got your eyes flushed quickly enough. Come on, he'll be out long enough for me to drop you somewhere safe, write, and submit a scathing report of his abuse. Your daughter and coworkers have reported you missing."

"I do hope someone has told you that you're beautiful," he whispered. She didn't respond and he fought the urge to reach out and touch her once more. He already had the feel of her face memorized along with her voice. Instead, he focused on his surroundings. He could hear and feel the woman undoing the bonds and removing the sensors attached to his body.

"Not in a long time," she informed him. "Now, do you think you can walk?" With her help, he managed to get out of the chair and out of the building. "Easy, step up." Harry's bare feet were cold and almost numb, but he could feel the pavement as they stepped out into pouring rain. "I can't stay with you, but I'll make sure you get safely found," she assured him. He staggered some so that she had to slip under an arm, taking more and more of his weight as she led the way to a van. Luckily, they didn't encounter anyone. In the van he collapsed, having endured too much pain and trauma to remain conscious.

CCPD Precinct

At the precinct, Joe was glaring at his computer screen. He'd been at the station for a few hours and it was getting late. Harry had been missing for over a day, and Joe was really starting to worry. As he sighed and rubbed at an eye, Barry came over and leaned against Joe's desk. Looking up at his foster son, Joe shook his head. "It's no use. I can't find him anywhere and the Army isn't going to give us anything."

"West," Singh called from his office. "Get in here." A moment later Joe entered his boss's office, Barry waiting just outside the door.

"You wanted to see me Captain?" Joe hoped it wouldn't take long. He didn't want to be away from his desk for too long.

"Yeah. A man was found by some teens in the parking lot of their high school," Singh began. Joe's heart lept.

"Is it Johnny?" The words were out of his mouth before he had time to think, and at the look Singh gave him, Joe realized he should have thought them through.

"Johnny?" Singh arched an eyebrow. "Yeah, he matches the description Jesse Chambers gave us," he continued. "The hospital ran his prints and came back with some Navy Commander's name and face." Opening a file, he pushed it across the desk to Joe. Eyes flicking to the photograph, Harry in full dress uniform, Joe nodded.

"Yeah, that's Doctor John Chambers," Joe agreed.

"Come on, Joe. Anyone can see that is Harrison Wells!" Singh exploded out of his seat and glowered at his detective.

"I know, that's what we thought at first," Joe agreed. "But, we ran his fingerprints and DNA and found out the truth. Apparently he and Dr. Wells were identical twins,"

"Really? I don't suppose you have fingerprints on Wells," Singh said.

"No." Joe shook his head. "You could try asking at S.T.A.R. labs," Joe suggested. He didn't know if they had anything, but he hoped that it would be enough. "You can also try talking to Johnny. Where is he?"

"He was badly injured," Singh supplied, watching Joe frown as Singh pushed another set of photos across the desk. "An ambulance transported him to Central City Memorial hospital. I understand he's stable but unconscious."

"His daughter will want to see him," Joe informed Singh.

"You can contact her," Singh agreed. "But I'm taking you off this case. Allen as well. Until I can confirm that he's John Chamber and not Harrison Wells, I don't want either one of you two near this." He narrowed his eyes as he watched Joe react.

"Yes sir," Joe finally agreed.

"Good. Oh, Joe, no warning Ramon I'm coming. I have another officer waiting to sit with you while I finish carrying out this investigation."

"Yes sir." At Singh's nod, Joe knew he was done and left the office. Barry was still waiting but now there was another officer there as well. They could only hope that S.T.A.R. labs could come up with something to convince the Captain of Harry's innocence.