Within Seconds // Barry Allen

Proud Family

By listening in on the conversation between Dr.Wells and Hartley Rathaway, all four adults were exposed to the mystery that was Dr.Wells.

Three out of four chose to ignore the suspicion.

The lucky fourth member was forced to hide her smugness.

Dr.Wells came around the corner and stopped in front of the circle. He folded his hands in his lap, taking the time to look at every one of his workers.

"I assume you were all listening.. Well, Hartley was telling the truth. I have not been honest with you. Any of you.
The Accelerator. Hartley warned me that there was indeed a chance the Accelerator could blow.
His data did not show one hundred percent certainty, just that there was a risk, but it was a real risk.
And yet, I made the decision that the reward, that.. Everything we could learn; everything we could achieve, that all of that.. Simply outweighed that risk. I'm sorry."

His three loyal workers were obviously heartbroken upon hearing this news.

Parker hadn't found the information surprising. As you all know, she had an ongoing list of questionable things Harrison Wells had done.

His admitted action was predictable, but that didn't lessen the sadness Parker experienced after it was confirmed.

Her grief wasn't as strong as Cisco's and Caitlin's, who had both lost great things from the failure, but it was present in her heart.

"Next time you choose to put our lives, and the lives of the people that we love at risk, I'll expect a heads-up," Caitlin seethed.

She glared at Dr.Wells, making him shamefully avert his eyes, and left the Cortex.

Cisco followed her like a little puppy and a moment after, so did Parker.

Parker sat around the corner. Her feet were planted on the ground, keeping her back firmly pressed on the wall. She played with the elastic hair band around her wrist.

She wasn't directly affected by the incident. Well, maybe with deeper thought, she could have been indirectly affected.

Without the explosion, Parker wouldn't have half of her Central City family, or Barry as her other half.

Parker was grateful for her position in life, even though it only happened at the expense of others.

She chose to believe she was repaying those who were harmed that night, by helping the Flash find, and catch, those negatively influenced by the explosion.

Scientists were very dedicated to their work, as most people who do what they love, but Dr.Wells loved it enough to potentially harm people. 

Dr.Wells was warned, and he chose to risk the lives of people, he chose to endanger everyone -- a decision that was not his.

Silence from the Cortex drew Parker back in.

Dr.Wells and Barry were both gone.

Caitlin was looking at an old picture of her and her fiancée.

Cisco stared off into space, his thoughts loud enough to miss Parker's entrance.

Parker took her seat at the row of computers, hiking her legs on the chair beside her and tilting her head back, using the back of her seat as a pillow.

Her nap lasted a short hour before a shadow darkened the light shining through her eyelids.

Parker popped one eye open and saw Cisco.

On the computer in front of her, he flipped through the security cameras in the pipeline.

Cisco's hand slammed down on the red emergency button on the other side of the desks, illuminating the Cortex with a blinking red light and screeching alarm.