Chapter Text
STAR Labs is a welcoming sight to Wells. The scientist had to sneak through alleyways and hide from anyone on the streets. The face of the "other Wells" had been broadcasted on TV and he couldn't run the risk of someone getting him arrested.
Or worse, incur the wrath of someone who hated the other man.
Cisco Ramon greets him in the hallway of the building.
"Harry!" the young genius pulls the scientist into a hug. "You're alive! Frost got you out safe?" Ramon lets go of Wells to look around for the Meta. "Where is she?"
Wells shakes his head, chest aching with more than the pain from his bruises.
Ramon understands the wordless answer and frowns.
The scientist hisses as he looks carefully at Wells, noticing the brace and seeing the bruises still big and obvious on Wells' neck. "Zoom really did a number on you."
"Where's Jesse?" Wells asks, not wanting to recount what he went through with the monster. It would be a waste of time anyway.
"Oh, uh," Ramon's face twitches nervously. "Don't panic! She's fine, but..."
The genius hesitates and dread ices the blood in the scientist's veins.
"But what, Ramon?" he growls, towering over the nervous younger man.
"She's in a coma," Ramon says quickly, hands going up to defend himself as if the scientist were going to hit him for saying it. "Caitlin and Henry are taking care of her. She appears to be in the same condition Barry was in after he got hit with the accelerator explosion."
"She was here?" Wells nearly shouts, pushing passed Ramon to find his daughter. "Why was she here, Ramon?"
"Did you honestly think she would stay away after seeing that Zoom had you?" the genius jogs to keep up with the other man's longer strides. "She helped us recreate the explosion. We might not have been able to do it without her."
Jesse was here. She came back to try to help him and got herself hurt doing what he suggested. Wells threw Barry into the Speedforce and put his own daughter in a coma.
When was he going to stop making so many horrible mistakes?
Wells finds his daughter in the medical bed and the world around him fades away. The scientist can hear people talking to him, but he ignores them.
Jesse had a small cut over her left eyebrow and Wells' hand hovered over it before going for her hand instead. He sits on the edge of the bed, knees too weak to hold him anymore as he stares at his daughter.
'My brilliant, beautiful Jesse.' Wells eyes water, but he doesn't let the tears fall. 'What have I done to you?'
There's a hand on his shoulder and he jumps, turning his eyes to see Dr. Snow looking at him with sympathetic eyes, the scientist's glasses in her hand.
Wells takes them and puts them on.
"She's okay," the scientist smiles a little in an attempt to make him feel better. It doesn't work at all. "There doesn't seem to be any damage done to her other than a small cut."
"Then why isn't she waking up, Snow?" Wells grounds out. The scientist knows he's talking harsher than he should, but he's trying to keep his emotions at bay and it's making it difficult to control his tone.
"We don't know," Snow doesn't let Wells' anger affect her. "Cisco is going to go find the other Wel-" the scientist stops herself and corrects, "Eobard's medical notes from when he treated Barry."
"Not by myself I'm not," the genius immediately refuses, earning a few glares. "It's crazy scary down there."
"Oh, please," Iris pulls Cisco by the arm so he can direct her to where they need to go.
Wells looks around and notices Detective West and another man who must be Henry Allen are in the room as well. The detective is worriedly looking at him.
"I'm fine," Wells puts a stop to any concerns directed at him. The scientist turns his attention back to his daughter, tightening his hold on her hand as if to tell her he was there. 'Please be okay, Jesse.'
A few minutes pass before Mr. Allen says to Wells, "You've got to go get Barry back from wherever you zapped him to."
"I don't know how," Wells tells him, eyes still trained on his daughter's even breathing.
"Well then you better figure out how!" the older Allen shouts. "It was your idea that put him there, so it's up to you to get him back!"
"Henry," Detective West interrupts the man's tirade. "Come here."
Mr. Allen walks to the detective and they whisper to each other.
But Wells ignores them. Nothing they have to say is important.
Wells eventually lets Dr. Snow check his injuries over, but he refuses to leave his daughter's side. The young scientist schools her expression when she removes his shirt and sees the rest of his bruises, but Wells doesn't bother to reassure her.
There's no point. She'll figure out for herself that he's fine.
'Jesse.' The scientist's heart hurts as he continues to watch his daughter. 'What am I going to do?'
Dr. Snow finishes in time for Ramon and Miss West to come barreling into the room, breathless and terrified. Detective West runs into the room to figure out what the commotion is about.
"Meta Zombies!" Ramon tells them when he gets his breath back. "The explosion re-animated one of the Metas in the morgue!"
"Who's the Meta?" Det. West asks.
"Tony Woodward," Miss West tells her father.
"The bully turned metal man?" the detective clarifies, getting two definite nods as an answer.
"History repeats itself." Wells remarks with anger as he cleans his glasses so he has something to do with his hands. "First it's tragedy, and then it's farce."
Their conversation dims as Wells' focus turns back to his daughter.
'Why won't she wake up?'
"Wells," Detective West is by the scientist's side, voice low but firm. "It's not that I'm unsympathetic to what you're going through, but Henry and Caitlin can take care of your daughter while Iris and I handle the Tony situation. You and Cisco need to get Barry back from wherever he is right now."
Wells runs his good hand through his hair. It's dirty and greasy and he wipes at his equally filthy pants.
"Listen to me carefully," the detective continues. "We've got a lot of fires burning at the same time, but if we all work together we just might be able to put them all out."
'You came here for a reason. To save Allen. To get the speedster back so that he can stop Zoom.'
Wells nods, rising to his feet as he puts his glasses back on, "Ramon, meet me in the Breach Room in ten minutes."
He might as well catch a quick shower before starting.
"Feedback Loop." Wells explains how he's going to bring Allen back to the confused Ramon who is more worried about the 'electrical stimulation' than whether or not it will work.
"Do you want to bring Barry back or not?" Wells asks the other man.
The scientist can't bring Allen back by himself. He needs Ramon's powers to do it.
The younger scientist sighs, readying himself for the attempt and Wells feels a wave of relief. He didn't even know he was worried.
It's working. They're almost there. If only Ramon can grab onto Barry and bring him back to them. But Miss West runs into the room shouting, "Hey, you're killing him!"
Wells pulls the wires, stopping the machine. He grasps his aching arm and growls at himself for failing yet again.
So close. He knows they were so close!
Wells goes back to his daughter's side while Ramon messes with the MRI machines to make some sort of magnet to stop the reanimated Metahuman.
Both Wests lure Girder to STAR Labs when Ramon is finished with his contraption and Wells returns to hoping their newest setback will be over quickly so they can get back to work saving Allen.
Hope doesn't do Wells any good.
The magnets fail and now the Meta is on a rampage and after them. Henry Allen unhooks Jesse and Wells follows after him and Snow as they bring his daughter to the Breach Room where they think they will be safe.
Girder slams his fists against the door, denting it with one hit and the scientist knows it won't hold for long.
"Guys," Ramon suddenly has a thought, "I saw Barry, he had this look. What if we couldn't get him out of the Speedforce because he didn't want to come back?"
Who would want to be in a world doomed to be taken over by a monster?
But Wells never thought the young speedster would turn coward.
Miss West volunteers to join Ramon in his second attempt to reach Barry.
"Iris," Det. West says, but stops himself. What do you say in a situation like this?
Wells plugs in the wires and steps back as the two young people are enveloped in the vortex of the Speedforce.
The vortex dissipates and Wells unplugs the wires.
Barry's back, standing right there in front of the group for all to see.
A huge weight lifts off of Wells' chest.
The reunion is cut short, though, because Girder is still breaking into the room.
Ramon speed talks the situation to the speedster who manages to keep up well enough to know what to do when the door comes flying inward.
Allen grabs hold of Miss West and goes to the door.
"Hey Tony!" West shouts to get the Meta's attention. Then Allen flashes them away and Girder chases after them.
"They're taking-" Ramon starts as Wells realizes the speedster's plan.
"The long way," the scientist finishes.
Both scientists rush to the room where the magnets are as fast as they can, but it's not fast enough. Girder is there and they still haven't managed to figure out how to properly power the magnets.
The Meta throws Allen to the wall and Wells' gut clenches tightly.
'He's not dead. He's not dead.' The scientist reminds himself in a mantra as he watches the speedster get to his feet.
"You were never my favorite person," Allen tells Girder, "But let's end this. So you can finally rest."
The speedster starts running around the Meta, using spin to charge the magnets like an electric turbine.
The Meta goes down for his second defeat and everyone can breath a sigh of relief.
With the danger gone, Wells immediately goes back to his daughter's side.
The others will want to enjoy having their teammate back and the scientist isn't in the mood for their cheerful 'Welcome back!'s or giddy smiles.
Dr. Snow helps him get Jesse's bed back to the other room. The older scientist pulls a chair next to it and places his head on his good hand while the broken one rest against his leg.
Wells doesn't know how long he's in the room before there's a noise behind him and he turns to see Barry walk into the room dressed as The Flash, sans the gloves.
"Barry," Wells' voice is weak, and he clears his throat before continuing. "You should rest. You don't need to be here."
"That's just it." the speedster says softly, eyes on Jesse. "I think I do."
Barry takes Jesse's hand and it looks like a small trail of lighting leaves the speedster's hand and goes to Wells' daughter.
Jesse wakes up.
Wells feels as though his heart could burst.
"Hi," the scientist's daughter says softly, looking around. "How did I get here?"
Jesse rubs at her eyes and looks to her father. Her hand drops, "Dad!"
"Jesse," Wells leans down to wrap his arms around his daughter. "Oh, Jesse, I was so worried about you!"
The young lady cry-laughs, "Worried about me?"
"Of course," the scientist tightens his grip in his daughter. "Zoom was here, on this earth, where you were. He-"
Wells stops himself. There's no use hashing out old threats from the monster.
"I'm so glad you're okay," Wells says instead. "I love you so much, Jesse."
"I love you too, Dad," Jesse takes a deep, steadying breath, head resting against her father's chest.
"So," Ramon says quietly from nearby. "Are you like magic now?"
"What was that?" Det. West adds his own question.
Wells reluctantly pulls away from his daughter's hug to tell the two, "That, was the Speedforce."
Barry was back and he had his powers.
Jesse was safe. His daughter was alive.
Wells felt a new determination growing inside him as he held his daughter's hand.
Zoom and his Metas would not have this world.
The monster's reign will end.
Wells just had to figure out how.
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