Open Mind For A Different View

Chapter 2: Couldn't Be Much More From the Heart

Her brows scrunched as she turned her head, "The satellite crash? But that doesn't make any sense. We've both been exposed to dark matter multiple times and it's never affected us before. You don't have any abilities and we know now that Frost came from my dad's cryogenic ALS cure experiments when I was a child, not from dark matter. I mean, Jesse has abilities but that could be her mother's DNA in her that reacted to the dark matter."

"There's no other explanation, at least not one that I can think of. Now, granted, I'm not the intellect I used to be, but just hear me out--" He ran his hand over his head, and Caitlin found herself wondering what it would feel like to have him play with her hair. He visibly shuddered, dropping his fumbling hands. "Yes, I think it's quite clear there's something different."

A stroke of heat gathered low in her stomach, and Caitlin shifted on her heels as the heat rose upward toward her chest and down from her waist at the same time. There was a passing whisper of a thought, of an image of herself half-asleep entangled with someone oddly familiar while that someone kissed his way up and down her neck and bare torso - all while his fingers wove tenderly around tendrils of her hair. She looked up at Harry, his dark, hooded eyes mirroring her own. "O-oh...." She stumbled back as the heat within only grew, her steps uneven. She could barely breathe through the thick, warm, fog around them, much less think. "So the dark matter is making us attracted to each other? Creating fantasies in our heads? Making us feel what the other feels?"

Harry drew nearer to her, shaking his head. With each step that brought him closer to her, the fuzzier her thoughts became. "I don't think it created anything at all, Snow. Dark matter reacts to the chemicals already in our bodies and our environments. I think it only amplified what was already there. You'd know the proper medical terms for such chemicals better than I," He turned away, "I know for myself, I've always been fond of you, how special you are. Even when the thinking cap scrambled my intelligence, the emotions were still there. But I can't explain how you..." He trailed off as their eyes met again.

"I...." She stopped, frowning. Harry tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and she leaned into his touch, sighing. His hand remained on her shoulder, fingers delicately finding the skin of her neck just below the hairline. "I care about you, Harry. You're my friend, and you're a part of this crazy, messed-up Team Flash family. You've been there for me when no one else was, especially with all this Frost stuff. But..."

He retracted his hand from her shoulder, his smile fading. He moved to step back but Caitlin followed him.

She grabbed hold of his hand with both of hers, holding it against her chest over her heart. "I've always had a bit of a crush on you from afar, admiring you for what you've accomplished, the intelligence you displayed."

He looked away from her, pulling his hand away but she wouldn't let go. "Snow, we both know I'm not that man anymore. Nor am I the Wells who betrayed you."

She squeezed his hand, "No, you're not that pretend-Wells or any other Wells for that matter. You're Harry, the same Harry you've always been." She paused, frowning at the sight of disbelief on his face. "You are, just different. Because what I really grew to admire was your compassion." He scoffed and she only beamed up at him, now bringing his hand up to her lips. They both sighed at the feeling of her lips on his skin. "When you care, when you love, you do it so deeply you'll do anything for that person. You traveled across the dimension and back for your daughter. You always joke about never having friends but it's not true. You have all of us, we're your friends. Your family. You've saved all of us, time and again. Harry, you jumped in front of Amunet at Jitters even though I'm the one with the active meta powers. And we all - I'd - do the same for you without question. So what if you can't do all of the math and science you used to be able to. You still care the same, and that's what matters to me. I just never thought you would feel the same as I did, so I never..."