The Verse of Time

Chapter Four

That night

"I figured out a way to track Captain Cold." Cisco says, coming into the Cortex where the rest of us are. "You gotta stop naming these guys." Cait says. "Barry, listen to him." Dr. Wells says. Begrudgingly Barry turns to face Cisco. "How?" he asks. "The cold gun is powered by an engine control unit. A microcomputer that regulates air to fuel ratio, so the sub-cooled fluis in the chambers don't overflow and..." Cisco starts. "Explode." Felicity finishes. "Right. This ECU was receiving updates wirelessly from my tablet. If I boost the signal and send a false update we'll get a ping back and then..." Cisco says. "We can locate Snart." Dr. Wells says. "How long will it take?" Barry asks. "Well first I have to hack into the city's network, so maybe 30 minutes." Cisco says. "I can do it in les than one. When it comes to hacking I'm the fastest woman alive." Felicity says, sitting down to start hacking. "Ah! That was not as badass as I pictured." she says. A few seconds later she says "All right, I'm in." "Are you kidding?" Caitlin asks, shocked. "No she isn't. Felicity is the best hacker I've ever met." I say. "All right. I'm sending the updates. We're connected." Cisco says. "Network is triangulating the location." Felicity says. "We got him. He's heading west on Nelson toward the train station." Cait says. "If he's leaving, it appears Mr. Snart may have gotten what the came for." Dr. Wells says. Barry flashes out of the room and then back into the room wearing his suit. "When we put out minds to it, dude, nothing can stop us." Cisco says, smiling. Barry turns his comms off. "Oh, you turned your earpiece off. How are we gonna talk to each other?" Cisco asks, confused. "I don't feel like talking right now." Barry says, and then speeds away. "You should go after Barry." Felicity says. "You heard him, Felicity." Caitlin says.  "He wants to do this alone." Cisco says. "Exactly." I say, agreeing. "Of course he said that. He's hurt. You're his team, friends, and even family. If I had a nickel for every time the Arrow told me to back off, I'd be as rich as Oliver Queen. Who I mention because he's the richest person I know, or used to be." Felicity says. Let me tell you that it is taking everything in me to not laugh at everything she just said considering I've experienced it all first hand multiple times, but also she's almost as bad as Barry slipping up with details. "The point is... you have your partner's back. No matter what." she finishes. We all sit there and think about what she said for a moment. Then Cisco smiles and says "I have something that might help." "You enjoy that, but I'm going to stay here with Dr. Wells the three of you have got it." I say, and with that the two of us are left alone. "Why'd you really choose to stay back Ms. Allen?" he asks, moving closer to where I'm sitting than he was before. I think for a moment on how to answer that and take a deep breath before responding. "I'm curious about your thoughts of why." I say. "I have my theories, y/n. I was hoping you would either confirm or deny their plausibility with your answer." he says. "Did I not give a good enough answer, Dr. Wells?" I tease. "No, but please call me Harrison." he says. I look at him shocked considering not even Caitlin and Cisco are allowed to call him that. "You seem to be taken aback by that." he states. "I- I am." I stutter out. He just laughs lightly at that. "You don't have to be." he says, putting his hand on mine that was resting on the table still. I just sit there in silence partially because I stop breathing as he does that and also I have no idea what to say. "Um, Dr- Harrison I um..." I attempt to say something, but can't as soon as we make eye contact. God his eyes are a stunning bright blue that is so mesmerizing I don't dare look away. "I've been wanting to be alone with you for a while, y/n." he says, gently still not breaking eye contact. "I can't do this. Not right now. I'm sorry." I say, pulling my hand away from his as I break eye contact looking down away from him. "Don't be. I shouldn't have pushed this." he says, and he goes back to the other side of the room. I don't know why I said that considering I've liked him for months. Especially once I started to really get to know him for him and not what was able to read about or seen online. I am seriously so stupid, and as much as I want to walk over to him right now I don't do that. Instead I patiently wait for everyone to return by reading on my tablet. 

Later on

"We've been trying to track Snart... but he must've disconnected the signal somehow." Cisco says. "We'll find him, Cisco. Together." Barry says, and both him and Cisco smile. "You have a great team here, Barry. Speaking of teams I should probably get back to mine." Felicity says, walking into the doorway of the Cortex. "It was nice meeting you, Miss Smoak. Please extend a hello to the Arrow for us." Harrison says. "I will." she says. "Bye Felicity." Barry says. "Bye Barry." she says, and then leaves. "Remarkable young woman." Harrison says. "Yah she is." Barry says, now leaving as well. At the same time Caitlin goes into another room to work on something. Leaving me, Cisco, and Harrison alone in the Cortex. I try to ignore them as I pack up to go home just needing to leave, but can't help overhear their conversation instead. "Cisco... don't you ever... do anything like that again. Do you understand me?" Harrison asks, sternly. "Yes, sir." Cisco says, clearly unnerved. With that I leave for the night not daring to look back, but I was very tempted to see Harrison one last time before the day ends. In fact he's all I think about until I fall asleep. I'm in trouble. I just am not completely aware of that yet. 

A/n: 1068 words. Okay two more chapters finally out. That will probably be how I release (two at a time). I know this chapter was much shorter than the last, but it's starting to get into their relationship. Much more to come. Hope this was still enjoyable!

Comment if you prefer shorter or longer chapters as well. Feedback helps although I don't know if I'll entirely change the length drastically considering I personally love writing and reading longer chapters.

Original publication: December 3, 2022