"Excuse me?" asked a young girl, knocking on the door to Joe's office. She had long, straight blonde hair, piercing blue eyes and was dressed in a violet blouse and white skirt. "Are you detective Joe West?" When he nodded she took a step closer to the desk and fiddled with the silver ring on her right hand. "I need to speak to you in private." She saw him frown and look at the pile of paperwork in front of him and clarified, "it's about Harrison Wells."
Joe led the girl through to an empty interrogation room. She closed the door, not taking her eyes off him, and leant on it. "My name is Claudia Wells, Harrison is my uncle," she said.
Joe looked at her in surprise. "I don't know him too well, but he's never mentioned any family."
She glanced momentarily at the floor before speaking. "That's because we've never met. However...I do know he hasn't been entirely honest with you."
If Joe had been surprised before, he was flabbergasted now. His mouth fell open and he closed it before asking, "how much do you know?"
Claudia took a step forward and looked him in the eye. "His wife, Tess Morgan, died in a car accident, he isn't really paralysed and he's a metahuman." Her pronunciation of 'metahuman' was a little uncertain but apart from that she knew what she was talking about.
Joe gripped the back of a chair.
"I thought it was horrible when I found out, and decided to come to you, Bartholomew Allen's foster dad, to try and help," she explained.
Joe was taken aback by how much she knew. However, he was against interrogating young girls with evil uncles upon first meeting them. "We call him Barry," he said.
"Barry," smiled Claudia. Quickly getting back to business she clasped het hands together. "I've arranged for my brother Jem to drive us to S.T.A.R. labs to speak to Caitlin, Cisco and Barry, if that's ok?"
Joe let out a slow breath, "you don't waste time, do you?"
Claudia smiled, and Joe indicated for her to lead the way. "I just need to let Captain Singh know where I'm going then I'll be right with you," said Joe.
Claudia nodded, "I'll meet you by the elevator."
Jem Denisoff was waiting for her in front of the CCPD coat of arms.
"Did you find Joe West?" he signed to his sister.
"Yes, he's on his way here," she signed back. They saw Joe leave the office and walk towards them.
"I'm Jem, nice to meet you," he said, signing as he spoke. Joe looked to Claudia, "is he...?"
She shook her head, "no, I am."
Joe tried to keep his expression unreadable, the way he had been trained to over his career, but neither Claudia nor Jem seemed to much care what his reaction was.
"The car is out front," Jem said and signed.
They followed him to a spacious pale blue Ford Fiesta parked on the curb. Jem slid into the driver's seat, Claudia rode shotgun and Joe was exiled to the back behind Jem. The ride to the lab was short, and nobody felt like conversation. Once they got there, Claudia asked Jem to wait in the car, "because Harrison is my uncle."
"Of course," smiled Jem, nodding.
While they walked in, Joe asked, "so Wells isn't his uncle?"
"He's adopted."
By then they had reached the main lab where Barry, Cisco and Caitlin were working on something sciency.
"Hey Joe and..." Barry trailed off, unsure of who the girl was.
"Claudia," she supplied. "Harrison Wells is my uncle."
Joe looked questioningly at Claudia to see if he could explain. She motioned for him to go ahead.
"She knows about the fake paralysis and that he is the Reverse-Flash," explained Joe. A stunned silence fell across the room.
"He's the reverse-what?" asked Claudia.
"Flash," repeated Caitlin.
"Flash," repeated Joe when he saw Claudia hadn't heard or seen Caitlin speak.
"Is that what you call him?" she asked. They all nodded.
"So, here's the deal," explained Claudia. "I know about the Accelerator and metahumans, and I want to work with you to stop my evil uncle. My name is Claudia Wells. Also, just so you know, I'm deaf," she said.
"You're deaf?" asked Caitlin.
"That's right," she smiled.
"So you read our lips?" the doctor asked.
"Yes. And, you don't have to learn sign language for me, just face me when you talk, speak normally and clue me in if there's anything I miss," she said.
"Will do," said Caitlin.
Claudia's phone buzzed in her pocket and she got it out. "A text from Jem, asking if he can come in."
She looked questioningly at them and Joe nodded, "send him in."
A tall, dark-haired lad of about 25 walked in. He had a short, scruffy beard and wore glasses.
"Jem, were you waiting in the corridor?" asked Claudia, eyebrows raised.
He desperately tried to not look guilty. His sister jokingly punched his arm and laughed.
Cisco immediately liked Jem, especially because his shirt said 'bow ties are cool'. Pop culture for the win! The computer pinged, and Cisco, who had been watching from the lab, rode his swivel chair down the ramp and checked it out.
Jem began signing to her, telling her what was happening. She then filled him in on what she had found, Joe was Barry's foster dad, they called Harrison the Reverse-Flash etc.
"I want to work with them," Claudia signed. "To right Harrison's wrongs."
Jem was horrified. His little sister, his deaf sister, in unimaginable danger from a psychopath with superpowers she'd never met. They got into an argument, Jem trying to dissuade her and his sister accusing him of saying she couldn't do it because of her disability.
"Jem!" she signed angrily, "I believe I told you to wait in the car."
He looked at her coldly. "Whatever, Claudia," he signed on his way out.
Suddenly aware she was in a lab with total strangers after a fight with her brother, Claudia collapsed against the wall.
"Hey," whispered Cisco, touching her shoulder, "are you ok?"
She turned to him in order to read his lips. "Yeah. Jem and I fought. He doesn't want me to work with you."
"Do you?" he asked.
Claudia nodded, biting her lip.