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It was a quiet, sinister night in Central City and the Pied Piper chose this particular night to get back into the game and do some serious damage. Only painful memories were born in this city, more accurately, in STAR labs. The Flash also didn't help Hartley's temper problem, on the contrary, he was planning on finally putting an end to that so called superhero. He figured out it was Barry Allen the first time he had an encounter with the Scarlet Speedster. Only fools couldn't recognize that face under the mask in Hartley's opinion. Officially he never met the guy, but he stumbled upon his profile whilst hacking into STAR labs' database, which was quite a frequent action in Hartley's life, after he was fired.
Barry and Joe's house seemed oddly quiet, they were usually at home by this time of the night. That didn't stop Piper, though. He had a plan B.
Soon Barry entered the house, completely exhausted, then threw himself down onto the couch, stretching himself out. By instinct he looked over at the coffee table and spotted a piece of paper he was sure he didn't put there. Wide-eyed, he read the words written down, saying: You are mine now.
Before he got to do anything, he was thrown across the room by an extremely strong force, knocking him into a corner. He hit his head pretty badly and was instantly dizzy, so he couldn't really move anywhere despite his efforts. A black blur made his way towards him walking slowly and gracefully.
"Pathetic," Barry heard a mocking voice he immediately recognized.
"W-what do you want, Rathaway?" He tried to use his cocky tone, but failed.
"Don't waste your breath, little boy," Hartley chuckled. "You've got a lot more coming."
With that, Piper grabbed Barry by the collar of his shirt and started to beat him, his gloves still on. He enjoyed the way the hard material of his gloves felt against the Flash's face, but he stopped himself after he saw Barry was going to pass out.
"Such a weak kid," he sighed as he let go of the other man, his hollow, bruised body falling onto the ground helplessly. "You're not even trying."
Hartley aimed to launch his final attack on Barry, when he saw a red lightning cross the house and stop right in front of him. He, then, realized his gloves had been taken off. Wide-eyed, he stared at the unexpected guest, who seemed way too hostile for his liking. Hartley took a step back, with that, the Reverse-Flash took one forward. They continued doing this until the Piper was up against a wall, the other man facing him.
"Come on then, big guy," his usually sassy voice failing him. "Kill me. Get on with it," he continued, turning his head away.
A leather covered hand gripped his jaw and forced him to look into Reverse-Flash's eyes. They silently stared at each other, Hartley seeing through the glowing redness of the other man's eyes, with that, realizing something. He slid a hand around the one still holding his jaw.
"Doctor," before Hartley could finish, he was lifted off his feet and was outside in the cold evening, on the roof of a high buliding. "Wells."
Reverse-Flash put him down carefully on the ground, then pulled off his mask. It was, indeed, Harrison Wells.
"Sorry I had to drag you out of there, but I couldn't let Barry find out about me," he said.
"What is so special about him? I really don't get it!" Hartley demanded an answer.
"Hartley, calm yourself," came the reply. "He's important."
"Oh, with that again," Hartley pursed his lips and turned his back to the man in the yellow suit.
"Hartley, I beg of you to understand. It's not what you'd think."
"Save it for someone who cares, Harrison," said the Piper, crossing his arms. "I'm so done with trying to understand this. Or forgive you for that matter," he huffed. "Get me down from here, so we could go our separate ways."
"Hartley," Harrison put a hand on the Piper's shoulder, to which he reacted with shrugging it off, taking a step away from his mentor.
Only he didn't realize he stepped onto the ledge. He slipped and fell from the building, facing Harrison. By the time the surprised gasp left his mouth, he was once again on solid ground, the Reverse-Flash's hand on his waist.
"Don't ever do that again. I get that you hate me, just," he sighed. "Please don't get yourself killed because of that."
Hartley wrapped his arms around Harrison's waist and sighed into his chest.
"I don't want to hate you," he started. "I really don't, because-"
"You have feelings for me," Harrison finished softly.
Piper snapped out of the bliss of having been saved and looked his mentor in the eye.
"How did you-"
"Even a blind man can see it, Hartley," he said with a warm smile.
To that came no reply, Hartley only pushed himself away from Harrison, then slowly put on his hood, shame settling upon his face.
"I'm sorry, I have to go," he murmured. "Please get me down?"
"Hey now," Dr.Wells grabbed the boy's shoulders. "Don't shut me out."
"Let's just forget this ever happened, okay? Please?" Hartley begged.
"Can't you understand?" Harrison asked. "You're not indifferent to me either."
Silence took over from then on, both men just looking at each other, speechless. Upon deciding the awkward silence needed to be broken, Dr.Wells with his super speed placed a quick kiss on Hartley's lips. That caught the kid off-guard. But there was no doubt he loved it.
"Well, that was unexpected, to say the least," he sighed, his usual cocky tone back in order.
"And here I thought we had a moment," Harrison laughed.
"Can we do it again?" Hartley smirked mischeviously. "Maybe this time I'll get it right."
Reverse-Flash picked the young criminal up once again, taking him off the rooftop, down to a dimly lit garden somewhere Hartley had never been before. Then, without further comments, Harrison leaned down and kissed the prodigy again, this time slowly and passionately, his hands resting on his waist to keep him close. When they parted, Hartley spoke:
"Wow," he smiled. "You never struck me as the romantic type."
"Then there are still some things you don't know about me, Mr.Rathaway," he replied, stealing one more kiss before running away in a flash.