Collateral Damage (snowbarry)

Growing up Well[s]

Harrison Wells walks in behind the paramedics while they wheel the injured little girl into the hospital. A nurse runs up to help and immediately recognizes the little girl as Dr. Tannhauser's daughter. 

"That's Carla's daughter!" The woman exclaims. She runs off to go find the girl's mother, only to return moments later without her. 

Wells approaches the nurse, "Ma'am I'd like to stay. I was in the wreck with the girl, and I'd like to make sure she's okay." 

The nurse nods, pointing him to the waiting room. He starts heading that direction when he remembers what he wanted to ask. 

"What's her name?" He calls back to the nurse. 

The woman turns around. "Caitlin Snow."

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Caitlin's mom never did forgive her for her father's death. 

Carla and Thomas, Caitlin's parents, had gotten in a huge fight when Thomas tried to defend his daughter. Carla had scolded Caitlin for failing her science project. She had tried to do something that was a little too ambitious and didn't want anyone to help her. It didn't end up working out. 

Caitlin ran to her room crying which only infuriated her mother more. Thomas came to the door and lightly knocked. "Caity, sweetheart?" he cooed. He slowly opened the door and went to sit on her bed. "How about we go for a drive?" 

Caitlin loved going for drives with her dad. They would sing, and he would tell her about his work which she didn't understand at all, but she was starting to and she loved hearing about it. It was such a beautifully clear night too. They drove for what felt like hours. Caitlin was hugging her seat belt to keep herself upright as she laughed uncontrollably at her dad's jokes. Thomas looked over at his daughter adoringly, taking his eyes off the road just long enough to regret it. He looked back to the road only to be blinded by oncoming headlights. 

Caitlin stopped laughing when she heard her father curse loudly and looked up in enough time to see bright headlights and feel the car swerve and stop abruptly. She woke up to find her father, unconscious, next to her. He was bleeding. She shook him, trying to wake him up. She began screaming for him to wake up. He never did. 

Her mother wouldn't let her forget that. It was her incessant laughing and joking around that distracted him. It was her crying that made him take her on a drive. It was her failure that made them argue. As much as she hated her mother for pointing it out, she agreed. 

Her mother got worse over the years. At first it was aggressive. She would yell at her. Her already high expectations for Caitlin had skyrocketed. During this time, Caitlin took refuge at the house of the man who saved her, Dr. Harrison Wells. 

Wells was her best friend growing up. He would tell her about his plans for S.T.A.R. Labs and all the things he wanted to accomplish. She would just stare at him in awe. When she was 14, she asked him if he thought she would ever be smart enough to work there someday. 

"What do you think?" He answered with a mischievous smile. 

Her eyes lit up like she had just formulated a plan. He loved that look. She always got so excited when she had an idea. 

Caitlin would go to Wells' house after school and he would help her on her homework. He gave her new books to read about different subjects until he realized she particularly liked the biology and medicine books, then he only bought her those. She was way ahead of everyone else in her grade because of Dr. Wells. Due to this, she was able to graduate early, completing a large amount of college credits before graduating high school.