Last Edited On: 15/02/19 (Currently still under changes, but feel free to read! xoxo)

Abbreviated A/N:

I honestly didn't think I would be busting out another chapter (this soon anyways), but 1x12 kinda really annoyed me (don't get me wrong, I still liked the episode, but there were just moments that made me go wtf), and most importantly, it kinda made what I wrote last chapter slightly contradicting what was shown on the show; if you know anything about me, you'd know I hate contradicting canon (the show), but luckily, judging from both 1x13 and 1x14, Caitlin's reaction in 1x12 seemed salvageable, which is why I decided to write down my take on what was going on. Also, I might do an Extended A/N in a NON-actual-chapter "Chapter", like I did with two other stories. I know most likely nobody reads that sh*t, but there's just too much to talk about, so.

Warning (of sorts):

I also didn't see the piece getting archived in a [SnowBarry] community; it was a honor and a pleasant surprise, BUT! (That's a big BUT so be ready.) As much as I personally ship them, in this chapter, it is not happening. There's a big chance that this chapter would upset the [SnowBarry] fans. And if you are all for [FireFrost] (call it SnowStorm all you want, I think FireFrost is much hotter/cooler so I'm promoting it even if nobody other than myself uses it) , then I guess good for you? What I'm trying to say is, I don't mind reading people writing about them at this point, but for me, doing so in this specific piece, it will really shatter my image of both Barry and Caitlin. So yeah, it's not happening right now as long as I'm in charge of this fic, and I am. If you want promises... All I can say is... Right now we are at season 1... I'll probably make it happen like season 4 or 5.

Dr. Caitlin Snow felt bad. She rarely felt bad.

In some sense she understood why Hartley thought she was 'cool': she really did have a high tolerance with facing situations; she might have had a stuck-up attitude, but she'd actually gotten along with all of her co-workers back then... If breaking it down and analyzing it, the truth was, most of the time she was mainly indifferent about what was happening around her or to her; that, or just being really calm and mature about what was given, adapting, and simply going with the flow. In her opinion, there really was no use crying over spilt milk. Unless it was an on-going situation where voicing suggestions might have changed the tide, feeling sorry for oneself or getting angry at the circumstances would not do much help. Life was precious and short; she didn't want to waste time on feeling bad, therefore, she rarely did.

She wasn't lying when she told Barry that... Before being in a relationship with Ronnie, her life was just routines of routines; 'predictable' was really a very polite way of saying 'hella boring.' It was very hard to have highs and lows when pretty much all she did was the same things everyday, and the fact was she was fine with that... Then Ronnie came into her life. Needless to say, he became the brightest highlights of her days and nights, which was why his supposed 'death' was the only time she truly felt devastated... Like she had forever lost the shine of happiness. Like her life had gone back to the time where there were no ups and downs. Like dead water. Like a considerably smooth surface of a frozen lake. Like the pain and agony of the loss had numbed her so much to feel anything else, good or bad.

Like she was alive but she wasn't living. But hey, she could adapt, right?

What came close to the said devastation, was then finding out her fiancé was actually quite alive, yet changed and wanted nothing to do with her. She had tried to play it cool over the past weeks or so, trying not to think about it, but it was really starting to get to her as of late... Barry's injuries (more like his adorable actions of foolishness that caused them) had gotten her worried, frustrated, and scared (a lot; like a lot, lot, lot), but she hadn't felt bad; she'd gotten used to it and learned to dealt with it. Ronnie? Oh, she really didn't want to think about him at the moment.

So why was Caitlin feeling bad? Because she let what was getting to her reflected on her behavior, and Cisco... God knows, even Hartley didn't deserve it. Her friend was just trying to help, he even came clean about what he learned from the Piper... And what did she do? She told him to stop trying; she made the young Rathaway's claim out as some sort of nonsense. She lied right in her friend's face, one that he easily saw through, and like the good friend he was, he gave some honest comments about it in return. She didn't want to think about that right now, either.

Caitlin pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. What was worse, was that she now had to go do the daily check up with Hartley, who most probably heard how she had ridiculed him minutes ago. Just great.

The process started out very similar to her usual visits, only that after a few seconds, Hartley opened his mouth and scoffed "Here I thought we were bonding a little... What was it you said? Hartley Rathaway, who was going psycho with sound waves."

Caitlin had her eyes downcast. To be honest, that remark really was mean, and she admitted it wholeheartedly.

"Caitlin, maybe this time you could enlighten me; why are you still here?"

She just looked at him dumbly and took a breath, thinking that he was questioning Team Flash's agenda again, "I told you last time: we are just trying to do good! The damage the particle accelerator, our particle accelerator turned some people into metahumans! And some of them aren't very nice! If I can help this team, I will, and that's why I am."

"Yet, when you learned that the fiancé you claimed to love so deeply also happened to be one of those turned metahuman, and you now know it from Cisco that I know what really happened to him, and where to find him; you still chose to do nothing. You did not answer my question, why are you still here? Why aren't you pouring down hundreds of questions on me already?"

With that, Caitlin could only just stare at her former co-worker. Hartley really was smart; he had easily pinpointed the inconsistency in her reply.

That gave Hartley the cue to continue.

"You were cool, but you weren't cold. Right now I'm seeing a whole new level of unfazed... and if you want to know what is unsettling, that is. How can you not wonder about what happened to him? How does it not kill you to not know? You were so in love... Unless..." Hartley eyes shot straight at Caitlin's bare left hand... The ring he remembered seeing, the one blinding him once upon a time (... before his position at S.T.A.R. Labs was terminated) was now nowhere to be seen. Come to think of it, he didn't remember seeing it at all after he was first captured and then recaptured again. That was even more alarming than the calm demeanor in front of him...

The young Rathaway might not have been close to Caitlin or Ronnie, but he understood what love is; make no mistake, he himself had been quite adored by his parents, well, up until he came out; nonetheless, the point was he did understand, and even though he had taunted her (well, he was Hartley Rathaway, he taunted EVERYBODY), he knew if any two people deserved each other, it was them. They were crazily in love, and as much as he hated to acknowledge, the pair really looked stupidly cute together... What he was processing agitated him, so he figured he would just give a piece of his mind, which came out quite hostilely, more so he meant it to be "Okay, so what is your deal with the Flash!?"

"... What?" Caitlin was not prepared for the turn of the conversation; she thought they were talking about Ronnie? Now she was genuinely confused. "What about the Flash?" Those types of conversations seemed to be happening a lot lately.

"One of the reasons I knew the Flash was working with you guys, was indeed like what I told Harrison: I did some calculations and found out he was always heading to the labs after incidents. But, I also got eyes and they are working just fine (unlike his ears that previously needed hearing aids)! Like, I'm sure most if not all, the citizens in Central City that day, I saw a woman being kidnapped by two armed men to lure out the Flash, and I happened to recognize the woman held on screen was my former longtime co-worker, you! Is he the reason you are abandoning your old lover!?" God help him, if so, he'd have another great reason to loathe the Flash! Family-wrecker! (Hartley had no idea how insane he sounded in his mind... Technically, what was between Ronnie and Caitlin was not set in stone yet. But he chose to ignore the fact.)

"Don't be absurd! I am not abandoning Ronnie! And the Flash is just a friend!"

"You have a funny way of showing it!"

"I don't have to explain myself to you!"

"No, you don't; but I can go on wondering why you aren't doing what seems more logical all I want. Why aren't you bombarding me with questions?"

"Because I don't trust you." It was harsh, but it was the truth. One of the truths, at least. Caitlin took a deep breath, "You are right, we are getting to know each other, at least more so than we did back when we actually worked together; but this bonding-process, it takes time, Hartley."

Hartley just stared at her. If he had to admit to himself, he felt a little hurt by that statement... Had it been Cisco here having this talk, Hartley would not delude himself, of course there would be no trust between both men (and amusingly, just as he predicted, when the situation did happen eventually, Cisco almost said the exact words that just came out of Caitlin's mouth.) But Caitlin? Pied Piper could never picture her acting like this; she was always the most rational... What did she have to loose to simply ask questions?

"If you think I would lie about this, subject me to a polygraph; I'm sure you guys got connections with the CCPD."

Caitlin remained silent, averting her eyes. That was when it hit Hartley.

"But that's not really the problem, is it! I am right here, and if it's not about trust issues, what's stopping you from getting answers?"

"BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO!" She bellowed. Dr. Caitlin Snow lost it.

The Piper was taken aback, he leaned backwards a little, sitting up straight, watching the all-time-cool-and-calm Dr. Snow trying to regain her cool and calm.

"There are a few things, Hartley. No, I don't think you'd have a reason to lie about Ronnie; you were unpleasant, but you weren't cruel to play a prank on a subject like that. However, like I told you before, I'm still trying to figure you out."

Hartley arched one of his eyebrows to indicate her to continue.

"I still haven't figured you out. What is your endgame? How would giving out information about Ronnie help to achieve your goal? In short, why would you even want to help us on finding out about what really happened to Ronnie? Is this something for a bigger picture?"

Hartley again just stared at her; Dr. Snow made some fair points, but he wasn't stupid, there was most definitely more than that. It simply did not add up to him.

"And why does it matter, why I do this and why I do that? If anything, I imagine you a person to get down to it for your loved ones, just as he undoubtedly would you. So I'll ask again, what's stopping you from getting answers?" Hartley Rathaway meant every single word he just spoke. He couldn't understand why a person that was only ever so feisty about the ones she cared would not take actions.

"I told you, because I don't want to." She did vaguely answer him. It wasn't 'what' that was stopping her; 'she' was stopping herself from getting explanations and solutions.

"Humor me then, why (the hell) not?"

Caitlin had her now-bare-left-hand rubbing her forehead, breathing in and out, trying very hard to maintain her posture, whatever that was left of it. She didn't want to have a breakdown again, like the one she had had in front of Cisco, right before Christmas; how much, how terrifyingly much, would she give, to not ever finding out what had really happened to Ronnie, of what had become of him.

"It's silly, really; I don't know why I'm telling you this..." She tried to put humor in her voice, but it wasn't working, "It's... like Pandora's box..."

She now had her left hand covering her mouth, and Hartley saw her eyes reddening... So Dr. Caitlin Snow WASN'T as unaffected as she pretended to be after all. In fact, from the looks of it, the issue had been eating her up from the inside for quite some time.

Caitlin didn't want to spend another second, another millisecond thinking about the 'what if's... It was undoing her, and she was barely keeping herself together.

"... I don't want to open the box." It was selfish of her, she knew.

"Except, dear Caitlin, you already had." And he was right, right now, it wasn't the 'what if's anymore. It wasn't her imagining about Ronnie being back, it was the fact that apparently he was never really gone, and it broke her heart even more when her brain came to realization... That Ronnie had been out there this whole time, alone, probably confused... And becoming someone, or something else, than who he once were. It was selfish of her, she knew, but she just didn't think she could take another heart-break... For having silly hopes about being able to somehow fix him, only to then find out it wasn't possible. It would just hurt too bad. It would just ache so terribly bad.

"He told me to not look for him... You would think the least I can do is to honor his request? He didn't ask for any of this to happen to him... Maybe he just needed to sort things ou..."

"The door is that way." Hartley cut in coldly. He restrained himself from yelling at her something like 'Do you even hear yourself, woman? How ridiculous you sound? It had been over a year, Ronnie had all the time and space to sort things out! And obviously it wasn't working!' No, yelling wouldn't do; right now, Dr. Caitlin Snow wasn't the strong-willed woman Hartley had always known, she was a little girl in an emotional mess. He didn't do well with people in an emotional mess; no, Hartley Rathaway made people go into emotional mess, not dealing with them. This was untested waters, and he was not comfortable with it at all.

Caitlin looked up, confused as ever.

"For once, I am in complete agreement with Cisquito; what do you think you are doing? This isn't moving on, this is pretending to move on. Whether you like it or not, Ronnie is out there, no matter how hard you tried to ignore or pretend otherwise. I would have never associated you with the word 'denial', but this? This is truly pathetic. Until you get over your self-pitying, I think this conversation is over."

She just stared at him; there it was, the infamous Hartley-Bluntness. It was like a bitter medicine, but one she needed to take in order to get better.

"Ronnie needs help, be it from me, you, Cisco, or I don't know, the Flash, since he loves helping people so much; Ronnie Raymond needs help. Period. When you get your head straight, you know where to find me, but don't say I didn't warn you: don't make me wait too long."

Caitlin studied the young Rathaway... There was something about how he phrased it... Like he was taking actions soon, but how could he, when he was stuck in this makeshift cell?

"... I just wished I could believe you." Despite of what they had talked about, this did hold some grain of truths... Caitlin did not know if she should trust Hartley, so she didn't; not yet, not completely.

"You and I both."

"I'm sorry."

"... I'm sorry, too." And Hartley meant it. Sometimes he would wonder... Had he not faced Harrison Wells like the way he did, had he gone to someone else, multiple someone else... to convince them that the accelerator had a high chance to malfunction... Would any of them have believed him? The answer was quite simple, really; his spectacular personality and social skills had ruined that possibility from the start. BUT, that was all water under the bridge, hence why he was trying to make a change.

"I hope someday you will be able to have faith in me."

"Guess only time will tell then." Caitlin quoted him from one of their previous talks.

"Guess so." Hartley quoted her in response.

Caitlin had the entire night to think about her conversation with Hartley; she knew she was just running away from the problem; she knew she was only avoiding to do anything more about the situation because she was afraid of getting hurt, she was afraid of feeling what was worse than bad. And she really did know it was selfish. But... she was just human.

And, just what she needed to distract herself from those depressing thoughts (aka running away from the problem, again), she was told the next day in the early morning that evidently, another metahuman incident took place the night before (possibly right around the time she was having the serious talk with Pied Piper); this time involving jail-breaking and teleporting. She told herself (more like lied to herself, again) that the case was more important and she needed to just focus on that; she even felt a tiny glee when she came up with the name 'Peek-a-Boo.'

Then, as day progressed into night, as Barry suggested hitting the bars himself to see if he could get some intell... Caitlin told herself (okay, the advice given to her the past day was true), in order to move on, one had to actually do 'the moving on.' Even if it wasn't the best decision (from BOTH Cisco and Hartley's point of views anyway), she was well aware that she would never stop fantasizing the option until she acted on it for once. Caitlin told herself, that this would be the last time she lied to herself, but she had to know for sure, how it would feel like to, for the lack of better words, move on.

So she tried. And she did enjoy the night, she learned a few things: she learned that Barry could sing like a pro; she learned that she really wasn't much of a drinker (and the statement was putting it mildly). She had fun, lots of it, but... most importantly, she learned... She just couldn't lie to herself anymore... As pleasant as the night was, Caitlin was afraid that... She might never be as happy as she once was, not without Ronnie, not without her Ronnie. No, it wasn't like her life was doomed from now on, in fact, comparing to half a year ago, she definitely felt more content and that she was doing something meaningful. She was no longer a walking shell, one that busied herself checking over a comatosed person just to wash away the sorrow she constantly felt; she actually enjoyed what she was doing, and she truly believed what she was doing was for the good. But Ronnie? Oh, Ronnie... This was just one of those things... When one had their best thing in their lives, they tend to hold on tight and not let go, or if they did, they sure as hell would want it back. And... That was where Caitlin was... She wasn't unhappy per se, but she wanted the best thing in her life, well, back in her life.

Dr. Caitlin Snow woke up the day after the karaoke night with a maddening headache, only to learn from Cisco that apparently she made Hartley wait too long, and true to her intuition two nights ago, he had taken action and was now gone to who-knows-where.

She also felt like a super poor friend for not at least noticing how much guilt Cisco was carrying all this time.

'I'm so sorry.'

The sentence broke the scale Caitlin had for feeling bad. Her heart cried a little for her friend.

Caitlin could never be mad at him, not for this. It was not his fault for doing the right thing... as for letting Hartley getting away? Well, Caitlin secretly knew that, it was really only a matter of time for that to happen... It was very likely that she would have been the one setting the Piper free had Cisco not beaten her to it.

Then crisis happened, and crisis ended. Team Flash once again successfully added a new inmate to the Pipeline.

'You know the crazy thing is? I still love him.'

She felt for the girl... Shawna... In this madness, even when there was only so mere of a chance for her to reunite with her Ronnie, Caitlin was still... Crazy for her fiancé; she really could not fake it any longer.

The funny thing was, although she no longer could kid herself (and yes, she knew this sentence or its variation was getting a bit old now), seeing Barry taking the step to move on from Iris, and actually looking happy and accepting about it; she decided it wouldn't do harm to lie to him. Just a little white lie, to give him another push to pursue his happiness, be it from this chic girl from the bar, or the next lucky one. Caitlin spew out some crap (literally, she was kicking herself inside for not being able to come up with something better) about Ronnie merging with Professor Stein meant that her fiancé was no longer alive; for a second, Barry looked like he had seen through the ludicrousy, but thankfully he let it slide and agreed with the rest of her statement.

As Barry walked away, Caitlin felt good and her smile was a true one. No more running. Or delaying the inevitable. It was time to get back on her feet, give it her best to mend the broken family... The one her Ronnie had been a part of. She would do it in time.

(In the back of her head, she slightly prayed for the young Rathaway to not do something as reckless as what landed him in their cell. She hoped that whatever it was that Hartley was trying to achieve, bless him, that he would find his way, and hopefully not an awful one.)

Later that afternoon found Cisco with a serious expression looking fiercely at his tablet. Caitlin wasn't sure if she should keep up the pretense (her giving up on Ronnie) in front of him; Barry, yeah, she already did, and she had the feeling it was best for her to do the same with Dr. Wells... But Cisco... Like he said so himself, he had all the reasons for wanting to figure out what had transpired. Deciding to observe before making a move, Dr. Caitlin Snow soundlessly approached him and peered over his shoulder to make out what he was reading, only to find out it wasn't about F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M. at all.

"Looking up Thai restaurants? I guess eating tacos all the time finally made you sick?" She teased, but as soon as the words left her mouth, Cisco stiffened, and then sighed.

"Tacos are fine, and I don't want Thai food." He put the tablet aside and turned to face her, a gloomy and resigned pout on his face.

Feeling that there was more to it, Caitlin guided him to sit down face-to-face and waited patiently for him to continue.

Continue he did, Cisco told her the full story of what happened with Hartley and him, not the 'he's gone; I let him out' short version. Reaching to the part about the fight, Caitlin's eyebrows raised so high that she could feel the creases on her forehead (and she would later have to use extra facial product because of this... age was not a friend to women), she just found it very hard to believe that Hartley and Cisco had fought physically... They were always like cats and dogs, always going at each other, having verbal spars... But what real harm could the two most brilliant nerds of S.T.A.R. Labs possibly do to each other, physically?

"What?" Cisco finally noticed the incredulous look on Caitlin's face.

"I... can't get the image out of my head, one of an American Cocker Spaniel puppy and a pug fighting." Cats and dogs they might have acted, but if it were a dog, scratch that, puppy fight, this would be it. Caitlin mentally awwwwed at the picture she conjured.

"What, you don't think we can brawl?" He sounded so offended.

"From the way you guys dress and act, can you blame me?" Eye-rolls for you, sir. They were both brains, not brawn.

"Hey, I have an older brother, of course I know how to hold my own ground! For Hartley, his parents would be brain-dead if they hadn't made him take some sort of self-defense class. Bodyguards can only do so much, but a kid from a rich family is always an obvious kidnapping choice... I mean, the kidnappers probably won't be receiving a single dime if they choose to target Hartley now, disowned by the Rathaways and all, but... Okay why is this relevant?"

Caitlin found it very amusing that he would defend Hartley's self-preservation skills... Though she had a feeling it was more like defending their fight and how legit it was, but she still doubted it was as epic as he made it out to be. Come on, he said Hartley had his hands cuffed! But owells, moving on.

"You rigged his earpiece?"

Cisco looked ashamed but replied nonetheless.

"It would be foolish not to, wouldn't it? And I was right, he did try to make a run for it; yo, I mean, I would have been hella suspicious if he hadn't tried."

"I know it was immoral and all, but he was our only lead to Ronnie; I couldn't let him get away! But...in the end he still did... I messed up again." Feeling super self-conscious, Cisco rambled, only to feel much worse as he went on.

"Hey, none of that. Remember? Not your fault." She squeezed his hand. "I know you don't torture people for fun... I mean, I'm pretty sure you do fancy strangling Hartley, but not hurting him permanently... It was a last resort, right? Like you said, you couldn't let him on the loose, and once he was again compromised, you turned off the device. I'm not saying it wasn't cruel, but it was efficient for the time being and a logical thing to do. Think, if Dr. Wells were the Big Bad, wouldn't we naturally go for fixing his wheel-chair?" They both chuckled, because, with no disrespect, Dr. Wells would be pretty much restricted without the access of his wheel-chair, no? Oh, little did they know, in the coming weeks, they would find out just how wrong they were.

"Anyways, um... What does all this have to do with Thai food?"

Cisco looked uncomfortable and embarrassed.

"I know this is ridiculous, I really do, but Hartley did mention he had the biggest craving for Thai food... I just thought... Look, I know it'd be just too easy if we actually caught him in a Thai restaurant... and I started thinking maybe this is reverse psychology, like he knew I would go for it and like, I don't know, plant a bomb at the place he knew I would pick... but then maybe it is the reverse of reverse psychology, like he knew I would know it was too obvious of a clue, so I wouldn't go for it at all because he knew I'm smart just that it physically hurts him to admit it... What?"

Caitlin was grinning wildly and shaking her head, and even laughed out loud a little bit.

Because.

Awwwww.

Cisco was trying SO hard to make it right.

"First off, worst idea to put Hartley and reverse psychology in the same thought process. It'd drive you crazy."

"I think Hartley alone is capable of driving me nuts, but I get what you're saying." He sighed.

"Right, and don't forget, Hartley's not evil."

"I must have missed that memo." Cisco muttered under his breath.

Oh, no; not Cisco, too? Caitlin remembered the extended talk she had with Barry... Come to think of it, her work that night may all be undone because of Hartley's escape! Just wonderful.

"Hey, throwing a bunch of cars with people in them off of a highway doesn't convince me about him not being evil, in fact, it does the exact opposite job."

"You know he did that because he knew the Flash would manage to save them all..."

"Oh, do I, now?"

"It was all a distraction, the people, the cars, they weren't the point; the point was to catch the Flash off guard."

"I think you are trying too hard to come up with a reason for him to not be evil. Like you said, the people in the cars didn't matter, not to him anyways, so how can you argue that he might give a fuck if they died, maybe he really doesn't!"

"I think you are trying too hard, forcing yourself into thinking him as evil. Just listen to yourself! How can you say Hartley wouldn't care? If he didn't care about people, he wouldn't have warned Dr. Wells about the accelerator, going against someone he had admired and trusted, and look what that had got him in return!"

Cisco frowned, taking his time to digest every word Caitlin had just said. Caitlin knew she managed to knock some sense back to him; she wasn't justifying what Hartley did, on no circumstances could one make what he did as something righteous; but using it to accuse him of being uncaring was uncalled for and illogical. The one person who sort of fitted this description, sadly, was Dr. Wells; Caitlin knew it, Cisco knew it... They could practically hear the words collateral damage coming out of their boss's mouth.

"Anyways, just scrap the bomb idea, alright? He would have to assume that you are letting the Flash in on this, which you aren't, so that the Flash could rush in to get everyone out on time, that's just too much work, besides, explosives just seems like poor taste for Hartley." Caitlin decided to just push the 'evil-or-not' debate to the side.

"Fine, maybe not a bomb to blow up the whole restaurant, what about something subtle, like bribing someone to poison my food or my drink... I bet it won't be those that kills me immediately, but the kind that does it slowly and painfully... "

This time Dr. Caitlin Snow snorted, then laughed shamelessly.

"Just stop right there, Cisco." She had to pause for a few seconds because this was beyond comical. "Now you're just paranoid for no reason. Why would Hartley want to kill you?"

"Because he hates me."

"Aww, Cisco, Hartley doesn't hate you."

"Now you're just barking mad." That sobered Caitlin when she realized Cisco was being serious: he really, genuinely, thought the young Rathaway hated him.

Caitlin rubbed her forehead with her hand. The past was catching up. The one gigantic misunderstanding no one bothered to sort out was now showing its consequences.

"Cisco, I honestly think you are just feeling guilty over hurting Hartley with his earpiece, and that makes you think he would want to take some revenge; but didn't you say he already told you you guys were even? Like right before he got away? You're overthinking this, Cisco." She took both of his hands and held them.

"And no, I'm not crazy. Look, I never said anything because I didn't feel like it was my place to do so, but seriously, Cisco, Hartley so does not hate you."

"... What are you on about? He was always out to get me!"

"He may hate your guts, but he most definitely does not hate you as a person, or hate you as in want-you-dead, hate you, because where would all the fun be? Okay, that came out wrong." She tried to explained more. "Cisco, does Hartley make you feel incompetent? Like you have to prove yourself?"

"Duh! Whatever I did or said, he always found something to pick on, like I was always wrong or not good enough!"

"See, that's why this is messed up. Cisco, you are good enough. You are so much better than just good enough. It was never about one-upping you. My dear friend, if Hartley didn't think you as a worthy opponent, he wouldn't have wasted his time and breath on you. For all I know, Hartley saw, if not most, half of the people in S.T.A.R. Labs as Neanderthals; that's saying something considering S.T.A.R. Labs was the best of the best. His intelligence was on a complete different level, but then you came along, recruited and praised by the legendary Dr. Harrison Wells himself."

"And what, I threatened him so much that he had to try and humiliate me whenever he got the chance?"

"Not exactly. Cisco, Hartley made the typical mistake of judging a book by its cover. Literally, he judged you too quick based on what you were wearing, and yes, I remember because it was rather hard to forget about someone wearing a statement-T on their first day to work. He tried to test you right away but you exceeded his expectation. You and I both know besides wit, Hartley had the most pride; there was simply no way he was going to turn around and admit he was wrong, or apologizing for trying to embarrass you. I intervened because I felt you guys seemingly already had a bad start." She looked at him full on, willing him to understand she was completely serious about this.

"I meant it when I said Hartley had met his opponent; he knew it and acknowledged it, too. He was impressed and it showed. I didn't want his stubbornness to make things uglier than it had to be, especially not when he actually looked like he was interested, I mean, NO, not romantically interested, but more like intrigued? I thought... I actually thought there was a chance you guys would become friends. I have no idea what went wrong after I left, did he immediately start belittling you or something?"

"... No, he just told me I would only last for a week, max." He said, absentmindedly, looking dumbfounded by what he just heard.

FIN?