Collateral Damage (snowbarry)

Sides of a Story

 Caitlin walks into S.T.A.R. Labs, still fuming. She throws a pile of newspapers on the ground and sits down. She lets out a heavy sigh and lays her head over her arms on the desk.

"Do I wanna know?" Cisco asks.

Caitlin grunts and points to the newspapers with her foot.

Cisco walks over to the stack of papers and begins reading.

"Is this for real?" He whispers.

Caitlin grunts an "uh huh" into her arms.

Cisco walks over to her and sits down next to her. He moves his face really close to her head.

"What happened?" He asks loudly.

She turns her head to look up at him through one eye.

"Hartley. Wells. Iris. Mason Bridge," Caitlin says. "In that order."

 She turns her head back down as if that explanation answered all the questions Cisco could have.

"What does that mean?" Cisco asks, now resting his head on her arm.

"I think I can explain." Wells says, wheeling into the cortex.

Wells begins to tell Cisco what he told Caitlin the day before and Caitlin grunts every so often when Cisco asks her if it's true.

"The question then is how it wound up in the paper?" Wells says.

"Iris was at Jitters." Caitlin answered, raising her head. "I saw her when I left yesterday. She must've overheard our conversation and told Mason. She didn't deny it when I confronted her about it this morning."

"You confronted her?" Cisco asks.

"Well I went to CCPN to confront Mason thinking he had no way of knowing any of this. He told me Iris was his source and she just said 'people deserve to know'," Caitlin says in an annoyed mocking tone.

Barry walks in. He looks at the stack of papers on the ground. "What happened here?"

"I started grabbing every paper I walked by. Then I realized that was a lot and stopped." Caitlin says.

"Guys, I'm so sorry. I never thought she would," he starts before Wells raises his hand.

"You are not responsible for Miss West's actions. Besides," Wells continues, "the story is already out. The only thing left to do is to figure out how to handle it.

"So it's true?" Barry asks, sounding disappointed.

"Yes, Barry. It's true." Wells answers.

They all sit in silence for a few moments.

"I need more coffee." Caitlin says, standing up and walking out.

"Didn't you get some this morning?" Cisco asks.

"I threw it away when I went after Mason." Caitlin admits.

"I'll come. I could use some java." Cisco says, grabbing his stuff and walking toward her.

"Mind if I join you?" Barry asks.

They both shake their heads and the three of them head to Jitters. Wells sits there and sighs, staring at the front page of the paper.

******************************************

So, you ended up calling that girl?" Caitlin asks as her, Cisco, and Barry walk into Jitters.

"Yeah, I did," Barry says, smiling slightly. "We had a date the other night."