The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive (Male Reader Insert)

4.7 Inner Conflict

The group were all in the S.T.A.R. Labs medical bay. Caitlin was lying down on a hospital bed with an IV bag attached to her arm. Y/N sat by her bed in a chair he'd pulled up. Cisco took her vitals, nodding at the results.

Cisco: Her vitals are normal. She should be fine. Just a little warm. She probably overextended herself. All she needs is a bit of rest.

Y/N: Good.

Y/N continued to just watch Caitlin, hoping she'd recover soon. Barry-1 looked to the side and noticed Dr. Wells standing furthest away from the group. Y/N looked up and noticed as well.

Y/N: You seem awfully quite, Dr. Wells.

Cisco: He's probably running theoretical calculations through his head, thinking about how much we may have screwed up our "dimensional destiny".

Wells: No, it's not that. I was thinking about something else. I was thinking about... how I was wrong.

The three men all looked at him, cocking their heads to the side. They stood up and walked over to Wells. The good doctor moved and sat down on a stool as he was talking.

Wells: You were right. You were all right. I do think too much in theoretical hypotheses and abstract ideas. I do tend to forget that, for all your extraordinary powers, you're all still human. And I do tend to focus too much on what could happen in a worst case scenario rather than trusting you all to show me the best case scenario.

He exhaled deeply before continuing.

Wells: Twenty years ago, I lost Tess in that car accident.

The others remained silent. Y/N and Cisco knew about Tess Morgan, Wells' fiancé. Although he never really talked about her, they all knew she meant dearly to him.

Wells: After the accident, my mind raced through every possibility that may have changed things. What if we left a little later? What if I drove just five miles slower? What if we had just stayed inside that evening? Any one of those and she would still be alive.

Wells began to tear up. He wiped his eyes and took a deep breath.

Wells: I continue to do so today, not in hope of regaining what I lost, but in fear of losing what I've gained. Y/N, Cisco, you two and Caitlin have all brought me something that I haven't experienced in a long time: a sense of belonging. And I cannot lose that. I cannot lose you. That's why I trust ideas more like laws, theories more like facts. I don't want to take the risk.

They all remained silent. After a moment, Wells got up and walked away. Y/N was about to follow him, but Barry-1 put up his hand. He'd go talk to him. Barry-1 followed Wells, finding him sitting down in one of the spare labs. 

Barry-1 noticed him looking at a ring he'd taken out of his pocket, the one he'd given to Tess all those years ago. He walked over and sat down next to the good doctor. The two just remained there in silence for the longest time before Barry-1 spoke.

Barry-1: I'm sorry for your loss. I'm sure she must have been a great woman.

Wells: She was phenomenal. Everyone seemed to be turned off by my mad ramblings. Not her. She saw something else, and showed me much more. Things worth more than science.

He took a moment to breath and sigh before continuing.

Wells: But it's all in the past. There's nothing that can be done about it now.

Barry nodded. After another moment of silence, he continued.

Barry-1: I met a version of you, you know? From Earth-2? He had a daughter. And he is just as protective of her as you are of your friends. He can be a bit of a pain, sometimes, but he means well.