You are my darkest fire
You warm my skin and scorch my soul
You are my one desire
I can't escape your dangerous glow
Dark fire
Dark Fire, Marc Rubino

Rachel wasn't sure whether it was the best or the worst time to take a small trip to Star City for a book event in which she was to read a part of her book and meet the fans who wanted their copies sign. It was good since she needed a little distance to gather her thoughts and her feelings and to think her entire relationship through. Then again, it was bad because maybe she shouldn't. Maybe she shouldn't run away from Harrison and face this head on instead, insisting they talk and solve things out.

In the end she didn't really have much of a choice in the matter. Partially because cancellation so close to the event itself would be very expensive and partially because she didn't really want to let her fans down. She needed them. They were essential to her survival on the market as she was still a new writer, still gaining her ground, therefore she wanted them to buy her next book – if she was ever going to write one as her mind so wasn't cooperating at the moment.

It was only when the event was over that she saw the horrible news straight from the city she'd left, Caitlin and Barry even playing their own parts in it! First kidnapped by two new villains in town and the second since he was forced to finally reveal himself to the city, to show the people that the Flash wasn't a myth, that he really existed. Otherwise Caitlin would've been killed.

At first Rachel was a bit confused to why she didn't have any weird premonitions about the bad guys, especially because there were two of them, but she quickly realized that they weren't really metas. They were only in possession of fancy guns – one a cold gun, the second a flaming one.

She was supposed to spend the night in Star City due to the late hour and much needed rest altogether with the time just for herself for her thoughts she needed, but she couldn't possibly do it now. She took the first train back instead.

They were still all there in the Labs when she arrived and thank goodness, they were all ok.

Captain Cold and Heatwave were in prison whereas the true identity of Barry was still a secret, the city only having proof now that the Flash was, indeed, real. Caitlin seemed a bit shaken up, but unscathed.

"Are you ok?!" Rachel still called out to them when running into the cortex. "I barely heard the news and I was immediately on my way back! Is everything ok?!" she repeated uregently.

Caitlin nodded at her, nursing a cup of hot tea in her hands.

"I'm ok. Don't worry. I had Joe and Cisco to save me and Barry took care of the bad guys. We're all good," she assured.

"Why didn't you call me?" Rachel then asked no one in particular, but eventually her gaze rested on Harrison.

"Why? So you'd run out of your fan meeting? There was no need for letting those people down since there was nothing you could've done to help anyway," he answered in his recent emotionless and annoyingly logical tone.

"Well, yes, but… but those are still my friends that I'm worried about," she followed with. "Besides… the meeting is long over and there was still no message. I had to find out from the news."

Suddenly, there was awkward silence and everyone beside Harrison seemed to be looking everywhere but at the couple.

"Its late…" Caitlin started just then.

"Of course! I'll take you home. You need rest!" Cisco quickly offered.

"I help!" Barry immediately followed and the two were left alone in the cortex.

"Harrison, why do you insist on keeping me at distance?" Rachel finally broke the silence. "I understand if you want to protect me, but you can't keep me in the dark. I promise I won't run face straight into danger."

He didn't answer at first. He didn't even look at her.

Eventually though, his blues met her greens.

"This is the place where I was supposed to achieve my life's greatest dream and it's also the place where I lost everything. All I have left now is memories of its grandeur. That and the mission to help as many people as I can to at least try to repent for what I've done since obviously, I can never even begin to fix it. You…" he stopped for a moment and looked aside, marring his forehead. "You don't belong here. You are just one more person on my conscience. Rachel," he met her eyes again, intensity reflecting in his, his hands closing into fists, "you're a meta because of me. You are suffering headaches and migraines because of me. So excuse me if seeing you here just makes me realize that more. Because that's not what I wanted for you. You were supposed to be my home, away from work, away from my mistakes."

Once he finished, she didn't say anything right away, processing his words, thinking of how to respond to them. Eventually, she came closer to him to squat in front of him and looked up at his face.

"You will never be able to separate everything so neatly by sharing a life with someone. Your mistakes can very easily become the other person's as well. But so can your triumphs. I don't blame you, Harrison. I'm sure Barry doesn't blame you either. He loves his powers. What happened, happened and yes, maybe we now have metahumans out there, but you are not responsible for them being evil. It's their choice. Barry and I… we choose to do good with what we've got. It will never blame you for other people misusing their powers. It's like saying that just because you give someone a gun, you are responsible for them using it and shooting someone."

Harrison was studying her face for a moment, taxing her with his radiant blue eyes before finally asking, "How did you get to be so smart?"

"I've always been smart," she teased him, feeling the weight falling off both her chest and heart, feeling like she could finally breathe again because they weren't over. No, they were just starting.

"And so modest," he teased right back and then she kissed him, landing in his lap, her arms wounded around his neck.

Having listened to Harrison's explanation, for the next few days Rachel wasn't such a frequent guest in the Labs. Not having any extra visions regarding metahumans helped as well. Their relationship was back on track and they were happy together. At least right up to a point in which Rachel heard glass shattering while she was on her way to his house one night.

She immediately grabbed her phone, coming a bit closer to see what happened, but once she spotted the huge hole in the glass roof, she stopped hesitating and called the police and right after that, Barry.

While waiting for them to arrive, she fought herself as not to just run in there to see what happened. If whoever had done the damage was still inside, she would only put herself at risk, which was the exact same thing Harrison wanted to avoid.

"What happened?!" she almost immediately heard Barry asking her and she released a breath a relief that he was there and they could check this out.

"I don't know. I was on my way to Harrison's house, heard glass shattering and then I spotted the roof!" She pointed at the damage. "Please, Barry, check if everything's ok and if whoever did this, is still in there."

The Flash didn't hesitate, doing an immediate check and coming back to her.

"It's ok. No one's in there except dr. Wells and he's fine. You can go in."

She didn't need more encouragement, running straight into the house while calling Harrison's name and even though she heard he was ok, she only calmed down when she spotted him in the door to his living room, looking alarmed but otherwise all right.

"What happened?! Have you seen the person who's done it?!" She was by his side in no time, the police sirens already heard in the distance, signaling that they would soon arrive at their destination. Barry must've left, she assumed, not wanting to be spotted on the site.

"You called the police?" Harrison asked and then sighed. "I wish you hadn't. I already know who did this."

"Then we can't let them go unpunished! You could've gotten hurt!" she protested, bending down to his level and taking his hands into hers.

"I believe I wasn't the target. He just wanted to make a point."

"Who?"

"…so the big plan of Hartley Rathaway was to push you to expose your biggest, dirtiest secret?!" Rachel raised her voice, having just heard the update from Harrison, having just heard that he'd confessed to the team that he'd known there might be a risk of the particle accelerator exploding because Hartley had warned him. And he'd launched it anyway.

To be honest, that didn't really surprise her. No, she hadn't heard this particular fact before, but hearing it didn't exactly come as a shock since deep down inside she knew Harrison was capable of taking small risks in order to move forward in science. While preparing for the launch of the accelerator, he had been set on his goal and one could tell he would see it through no matter what.

The problem was that even if she took the news so well, it didn't mean that team Flash would as well. From what Harrison told her, they were all either angry or disappointed with him. Rachel wanted to go and talk to them, but he asked her not to since he didn't need her to speak on his behalf and make excuses. They were beyond excuses. All he could do at the moment was to deal with the consequences and he had the perfect idea of how to do it. If Rathaway threatened to expose him, he would admit his guilt first.

"I'm calling for a press conference tomorrow morning and I am going to tell the city the truth. I'm a pariah anyway. What are they going to do to me? Arrest me? They all read the official report and there were no grounds for arrest. It was an accident even if I knew there was risk involved. There is always risk in science."

"Then I'm coming with you. I'm gonna stand by your side and show them my support of you."

"And commit career suicide?" he asked, raising his eyebrows at her. "No. You are not. It's not general knowledge that you and I are dating and I suggest we should keep it that way. Let the people focus on your books, the one you've already written and those you are going to write in the future."

"Well, then your confidence in me is much greater than my own. I still can't get over my writer's block. I may as well be known for the one and only book I've ever published."

"Nonsense. I'm pretty sure there's going to be more. Just trust me on this." After having said that, he winked at her.

"You can't possibly know that."

"I don't need to. I know you. You're going to do great!"

"Can I at least talk to the team on your behalf?" she tried again.

"Like I said, you don't need to fight my battles. And they don't need to be angry with you as well for standing by my side. I'm going to handle it. You, just please, wait it out."

Rachel screamed as waves of pleasure washer over her, rattling her entire body and rendering her completely powerless. She collapsed straight into Harrison's arms and rolled off of him just a few moments later when she decided she could finally move a bit. Just a bit, though, since her legs still felt numb. She wasn't sure whether he was such a skilled lover or maybe he just had this effect on her, but he'd never failed to make her feel good even after his accident. His legs might be useless, but the rest of him worked perfectly fine and that was enough for her.

He'd never tried talking to her about sex or his incapacitation since the accident and she still wasn't sure whether that was a good or a bad thing, but she wasn't about to push. He knew that if he wanted to, she was there for him, which she made clear, but that was just about it. He also must already know that if she was still by his side, it meant she was willing to adjust her life to his wheelchair and that seemed to be the end of the story. He wasn't very expressive or affectionate. Not a man to keep telling her how much he loved her, more a man of science, just assuming by her presence and interest as well as his own that it was working and there was no reason to talk about it.

And yes, it was working. And that was enough for her now.

Once her feeling returned, she needed to get up and take a shower since she promised to meet Caitlin for coffee. Harrison would probably stay in as it was Saturday and even though it wasn't unusual for him to go to work even during the weekend, there wasn't any emergency or anything requiring his attention at the moment.

Rachel hadn't been to the Labs since her boyfriend's press conference and she wasn't sure what to expect when she pushed the Jitters' door open. Then again, she should've known that with Caitlin she needn't worry.

"We don't see you that often anymore," was the first thing she heard from her friend. "We actually miss you. How are your… you know, powers," Cait lowered her voice while slightly leaning forward over the table.

Rachel quickly explained how she and Harrison had been doing better since he'd actually told her what lay on his heart and how that was connected to her often visits. Still, it didn't mean she would stop them altogether. She was just giving him some space, especially with her not having any visions recently. They were bound to come again and then she would most definitely need to visit the Labs.

"How are you doing?" she then asked Cait in return. "Any news about Ronnie?"

"I… I actually decided to let that go," Caitlin confessed and Rachel thought she heard her wrong. "He clearly doesn't want anything to do with me and he's not really Ronnie. I… I discovered this project…" she quickly summarized everything she'd found out about F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M. "Sooo… Ronnie isn't Ronnie anymore. It's professor Stein wearing his body… I decided to move on, find someone new to be crazy about. I even thought I could seduce Barry the other night, but…"

"WHAT?!" Rachel didn't mean to react so strongly, but hearing Cait talking so idly about her try at seducing Barry… that was so unlike her. Only then she thought again. Yes, Caitlin seemed a bit timid and awkward, but when she actually wanted something… In fact, she was the one to make the first move when the both of them were concerned in the past. Another thing… Rachel couldn't explain why, but the very thought of Caitlin and Barry together… it made her feel sick to her stomach.

"We went out the other day, hunting this meta and trying to put ourselves out there again… and I thought… but nothing. Barry was the perfect gentleman."

"Are you sure this is what you want?" Rachel asked, still not over the fact that her friend would so blatantly announce her moving on from Ronnie. "I mean, yes, we know that Martin Stein is currently occupying Ronnie's body, but… What kind of proof do we have that Ronnie is actually gone? We can't know that. He did come when you were in danger."

"Could be muscle memory or memories professor Stein saw in Ronnie's head."

"Or… maybe you're scared," Rachel blurted out and watched Caitlin's pupils dilate.

"What?! I… I am… most certainly… NOT!"

"Ronnie was the man you wanted to spend the rest of your life with. Your soulmate. Your meant to be and it just so happens he might not be as dead as you thought. Don't you want to find that out for real? I mean, if he's not there anymore, at least you're going to have closure, Caitlin. If you don't… you'll always wonder," Rachel advised.

The look on her friend's face told her that the doubts were successfully seeded in her mind and good. Rachel didn't buy Caitlin wanting to just move on like this. The other woman was clearly scared and tried to force something as a distraction.

As on clue, later on that day Rachel had a brief vision of a man bursting into flames while standing too close to someone, accompanied by a splitting headache. Even once the vision was over she could still hear the screams in her head, which was worse than the pain itself. As Harrison wasn't currently by her side, she immediately called the Labs and decided it was worth a trip there. She'd clearly seen Ronnie, therefore she was already involved.

Some time later she found herself horrified by what she heard.

They actually had Ronnie. Caitlin with the help of professor Stein's wife, Clarissa, had convinced him to come to S.T.A.R. Labs, but the tests she'd run only brought bad news. The fusion of the two men had become so unstable that they would soon quite literally blow up, creating a nuclear mushroom cloud and the team couldn't let that happen. Not in Central City. Not so close to so many people.

Harrison's solution was to kill the host, the only way he could think of to stop the explosion. If the body died before that, they would be safe.

"You cannot be serious!" Rachel immediately protested, so not wishing this end for both Ronnie who'd been forced to hide away and wander the streets while professor Stein had had the reigns over his body; and Caitlin who'd been through so much and would not come out all right from surviving his death twice. "There has to be another way! We can't just kill him!"

"I cannot think of anything that wouldn't be risky enough to jeopardize the safety of every single person in Central City. I cannot let that happen the second time," Harrison responded, his voice growing cold and calculated again.

"We at least have to try," Rachel insisted, glancing at a very disturbed Caitlin and then making her way to Harrison. "If that was you, I wouldn't give up till the very last possible second. There needs to be something that can help both Ronnie and professor Stein. You say those ideas are risky, but what if we brainstorm? Cisco? Barry?" She then turned to the two other men in the cortex, knowing she herself didn't have the required knowledge of physics, but hopefully they could help with that.

In the end, it was Harrison himself who came up with the right idea, though there was still high risk it wouldn't help and Cisco gave him a hand to build the needed device.

For a moment there they really thought all was lost while observing the monitors; Barry and Caitlin gone to meet Ronnie in the middle of a faraway field. They even spotted an explosion after Ronnie was handed the device and Rachel could only gasp and cover her mouth with her hand, regretting that it ended this way, regretting that they couldn't have done more, that both Ronnie and professor Stein were both gone now, leaving Caitlin and Clarissa alone just when they thought they got their men back.

Only then… it turned out the explosion wasn't nuclear at all and Barry with Caitlin brought both men to the Labs, healthy and sound.

It was truly an evening to celebrate and they would find themselves in quite a happy bubble for the next few days to come just until Barry called them all back to the Labs, informing that after Joe had officially reopened his father's case, both the policeman and Cisco had gone to Barry's childhood home, investigating; and they found something intriguing.

"There was blood on the wall," Barry told them, also including Rachel in this meeting since she was the one who'd had a vision of the Reverse Flash before, making her directly involved. "My blood. The thing is that I wasn't even there at the time and the blood belonged to an adult me." Rachel's head started to spin almost immediately, her hand squeezing Harrison's shoulder as she was standing directly behind his sitting form. Metahumans, superpowers… that alone was hard to get used to on a daily basis, but time travel? That actually took everything to a whole new level. "This means that, apparently, I will be able to run as fast as to actually run back into the past. At some point in the future, I will have a chance to save my mother and I already failed once. I cannot do it again. This time I actually have the advantage of knowing what not to do."

Like under the touch of a cursed wand, after that everything went downhill. The military was actively hunting Ronnie and professor Stein, almost getting to Barry and seriously harming him. They were glad that Caitlin, who was also present and not a metahuman, walked out of the attack without a scratch on her.

It all led to a hard but apparently inevitable decision Ronnie and Martin Stein needed to make – to leave, to hide and to train, to get to know the full extent of their powers, what they could do with them and how they could protect themselves. They were lucky to be alive, having managed to escape only thanks to the bond they still shared and to the Flash. Rachel saw the horrible wound on the side of Barry's chest, having walked in on Caitlin tending to it and even though she knew he healed faster than normal human beings… well, a normal human being would've already been dead.

Still, she didn't like how this story seemed to end. She didn't like to see Ronnie go because that would be hard on Caitlin. The doctor assured them all that she was all right, that she knew what needed to be done and was just happy Ronnie was himself again and alive. She didn't feel so much pain anymore and in fact was much lighter and ready to live her life, but… well, yeah…

"It's all a bunch of crap!" Rachel commented angrily when getting in bed in which Harrison was already lying, waiting for her.

"What do you mean?" He turned his head to the side to look at her.

"Caitlin and Ronnie! They love each other! They're engaged! They're supposed to figure things out and get married and be happy! It cannot end with him being gone just because he's a meta now and she can't mean it when she says she's all right with it! No one would be! Barry's a meta! I'm one! We don't need to skip town and go into hiding!"

"I think your situations are a bit different. You weren't a military project on the loose."

"Yeah, but still! I don't understand it and I don't like it! Love should always prevail! They should've found a way!"

"No one says they won't eventually," Harrison provided, clearly unhelpfully since Rachel shot him a look. "My darling, Rachel," he then started again, this time with more empathy in his voice, "sometimes love isn't enough and some people are simply not meant to be together. Not everything ends well like in your book."

"But that isn't the world I want to live in," she still argued. "I refuse to believe that. I will always believe in love. I will always believe that you can find a way." She moved closer to him, placing her head on his bare chest just above his heart, her hand stroking his skin. "Wait… you did actually read my book!"

"Well, of course I did."

She just kissed him, losing herself in his person and holding on to the love they had.