18

Hannibal Bates. The man who could shape shift into anyone he desired. He was the most recent meta human that was on the chase. I had gotten dozens of calls from Iris, about issues with Eddie and the ccpd, about how he apparently shot two cops, which resulted in me on the phone with her for an hour, pacing around star labs, trying to comfort her.

A huff leaves my lips when the call ended, causing me to drop my phone onto the desk in front of me, running a hand through my hair stressfully.

I make my way into the cortex, Caitlin walking in as well as Barry, just as Iris walks in, my voice coming out very confused and somewhat high, "Didn't I just get off the phone with you?-"

She nods, starting to speak as I make my way over to her, as she spoke to Barry and Caitlin, "Look, whoever is framing Eddie, I got to thinking. What if they've done something like this before? I went through CCPN's crime archives, and in the last 11 months, there have been six crimes committed by people who later swore that they were innocent. None of them had priors, all of them had rock solid alibis."

Both Caitlin and I stayed silent, Barry being the only one that spoke, "Alright."

She nods, walking over, sitting down, typing away on one of the computers, as I follow behind her, my hands resting on her chair, as Barry stood behind me, Caitlin next to him. "So I hacked into my dad's CCPD account, and went through the footage of Eddie shooting those cops. Look." She pauses, playing the video on one of the computer screens, my hands on her chair, as I feel Barry standing directly behind me, lightly bending over me to see the footage himself. Caitlin seemed a little out of it.

When the footage stopped playing, Iris traded looks with all of us, but stopped at Caitlin, "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing- I didn't do anything." Was all Caitlin could muster out, before clearing her throat.

"I don't really see much of a difference, Iris." I say, staring at the footage, only seeing what I had already seen repeatedly.

"I don't know. Seems pretty convincing to me." Barry spoke from behind me, I held my breath, closing my eyes for a second, before opening them and letting the breath out, looking back at the footage. "Look again." She says, and plays the footage again. "Eddie is not left-handed." She continued, "Look, Eddie is being framed, and we need to figure out who is behind this. And believe me, when I get my hands on them, they are going to be-" she's cut off when Barry lets out a few sounds in pain, causing me to them and shriek lightly, backing into Iris, my eyes falling onto Dr. Harrison Wells, who had just tased Barry.

"Oh my god- what did you do?" Iris spoke, watching in horror.

"Your observations about the shooter were spot on, Miss West. He was indeed left-handed. As is this man. Our Barry is right-handed." He glanced between all of us.

I let out a breath before making my way out of the room, letting Iris, Caitlin, and Dr. Wells, make conversation of what they were going to do with Hannibal. Caitlin quickly jogs after me after talking to them, "Zee- could you go to Barry's and see if he's okay? I would go- but I need to go with Iris." I hesitate slightly, before nodding a little, grabbing my coat. She thanks me before leaving with Iris, as I leave by myself, going to the West household.

I take off my coat, dropping it on the couch and jog up the steps, looking in each room, then open a closet to find Barry on the ground, tied up and unconscious. Even if I was the slightest bit upset with him, regardlessly, I kneeled by him, putting a strand of my hair behind my ear, shaking him lightly in attempt to wake him up. When that doesn't work, I bring my hand up and slap him.

He gasps through the tape, my hands ripping it off his mouth right as I see his eyes snap open, "For real? Why did you slap me?"

"You were completely unconscious, Barry. I had to do something." I say quietly as continue to free his hands and legs. "Smelling salts works just as well." I awkwardly smile and shrug lightly in response.

"Are you okay?" I ask, my hand on his arm, squeezing it gently in a comforting manner as he sat up. He looks at me for a second, a small smile being painted on his lips, "I think so, yeah."

I blink, and nod, standing up, as he does so too, but he continues to speak, "Wait- Bates. He was here."

"I figured, I don't really know anyone else that'd tie you up and impersonate you." I say, walking down the steps as he follows, grabbing my coat, "But yes, we all know."

He nods, as he grabs his own jacket, slipping it on as I slip my coat on. I push my upset feelings to the side, deciding that I was going to act like nothing happened for the day. As if finding out he's the Flash didn't matter to me.

-

Hannibal had been caught successfully, and Eddie was proven innocent.

That left Barry, Caitlin and I in the labs, just doing a few things around the cortex. That was up until Dr. Wells came in, stopping, staring directly at me. "Is there something you aren't telling us, Ms. Young?" He cuts right to the chase, as the three of us halt to look at him.

"What're you talking about?" I question, feeling confusion pick up inside of me, as I see Barry glance between us both.

"I will be honest with all of you when I say that I haven't trusted you since you stepped foot into this laboratory, Ms. Young, and now I know why." Dr. Wells speaks sternly, as he sits up in his seat, staring between the three of us. My eyes slightly widen as so as Barry's, as he jumps to my defense, "What do you did a whole background check on her? She has been nothing, but kind to you, Dr. Wells. You were wrong about Oliver when he first got here, and you're wrong about her."

Dr. Wells pushes his glasses to the bridge of his nose, clearing his throat, staring at Barry, "Well, do you know anything about her past, Mr. Allen?"

Barry's hand reaches and touches the back of his own neck, as he rubs it lightly, while replying, "Yes, of course. I've known her for years, she told me." Caitlin's eyes glance between all of us, as she continued to stay silent.

"Is that true, Mr. Allen? Did you know that her father shot her mother when she was ten? And that she has a brother that she hasn't spoken to since that incident?" Dr. Wells' gaze darts to me, as he continues to speak, tears welling in my eyes, "How she was adopted by a foster family, that treated her horribly, which is the only particular reason Joe took her in for a few years?"

Barry goes silent, not knowing what to say. Maybe that fact that I didn't tell him or Iris about any of it. "So, do you really know her, Mr. Allen? Or has she been lying about who she is to you, to all of us. This entire time?" Dr. Wells taunts us, pushing his point out more, and before I could stop myself, I was walking over to him, my fist colliding with his jaw.

Barry immediately grabs onto my forearms, pulling me away, as Caitlin quietly rushes to his aid, as a small tear fell down my cheek, my fists clenched, along with my jaw, as I looked at Barry, trying to pull away from his grip lightly.

Barry stays silent, as he keeps me held back. I could see flashes of betrayal and hurt, and could feel a argument coming on later. Dr. Wells, gives me one last look before leaving the room, Caitlin following him.