#killervibeweek

He raised his brows. "What are we, reminiscing now? I'd think you'd want to reminisce about someone other than Hartley Rathaway."

She rolled her eyes. "You never take this seriously."

Pardon him? Take what seriously? He opened his mouth to ask just that when when she walked up and kissed him. 

His brain went ????!!!!! :D :D !!! ? :)

She pulled away. "What's wrong?"

"Uh," he said in a strangled voice. "What?"

She'd just laid a kiss on him that about boiled his brain out of his skull, and she was asking him what was wrong?

Actually, wrong wasn't the word, because there'd been nothing wrong with that kiss. It had been one of the better kisses he'd ever gotten. 

She stepped back from him a pace or two, her eyes narrowing. "Are you okay?"

"Just surprised."

"Surprised?" Her eyes flashed white and she flipped her hands up, a couple of ice daggers growing from her palms.

He scooted backwards hard, barely hearing her say, "My husband has no reason to be surprised when I kiss him. Who are you?”

"Your what?"

Abruptly, Cisco registered what he'd missed before. Her suit was all wrong. The star was a smidge smaller, the color a shade or two lighter, the boots only reaching her calf, not all the way to her knee. 

And of course, there was the faint off-ness of her, the indefinable difference that was the way she vibrated at a subtly different frequency than he did. 

"Well?" she demanded.

"Babe!" a voice called out, and they both whipped around. Somehow Cisco wasn't surprised to see his doppelganger standing in the doorway.

It was a little more of a surprise to see him clutching his nose as it dripped blood.

Another Caitlin hovered behind him, dressed in the Frost getup. His Caitlin - the star and the color and the boots and most importantly, her frequency were all correct. 

Other Caitlin said, "What happened?" She held up an ice dagger, but not in a threatening way. More like she'd forgotten she was holding it and was waving her hand. "Wait. What are you planning to name our dog?"

"James Tiberius Bark," Other Cisco said nasally. "And what happened is she punched me in the nose." He waved at Caitlin. 

"Well, I'm sorry, but you startled me," she said grumpily.

Other Caitlin crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes at her husband (oh boy, oh damn, Cisco didn’t even know how to process that). “Now you,” she said. “Confirm my identity.”

Other Cisco rolled his eyes. "Fine. What won't I let you frame and put up in the kitchen?"

She huffed. "A seventeenth century anatomical sketch of the gastrointestinal tract, and I don’t know what your problem is. It’s very interesting and artistic.”

"In the kitchen?" Cisco said. “Where people eat?”

Other Cisco pointed at him. "Right?"

"I really don't see the problem," said the Caitlin in the doorway. "But James Tiberius Bark is kind of long for a dog's name, isn't it? They don't even recognize words longer than a couple of syllables."

"Thank you," said the Caitlin next to Cisco. 

"We would call him Jimmy, it wouldn't be an issue!" Other Cisco said. 

Cisco held up both hands. "Okay! Okay. Identities established - "

"Not all of us," Other Caitlin said. 

She narrowed her eyes at Caitlin in the doorway, who said, "Me?" indignantly.

Other Caitlin nodded firmly. "We're chasing a shapeshifter. And you punched my husband in the nose." She reached out and nudged her husband's hand aside. "Let me see. Is it broken?"

"Your what," Caitlin said.

"Explanations in a minute, confirmations right now," Cisco said. "Uh - " He thought for a moment. "Caitlin, what did I call Frost at Barry and Iris's wedding?"

She made a face. "My mean roommate. Um." She frowned. "What treat of mine are you always eating?"

"Pizza pockets, are you ever going to let that go?" 

Other Caitlin, now calling up a chunk of ice out of thin air, said, "He eats your pizza pockets, too? Ugh, that's so annoying, isn't it?"

"Yes," Caitlin said, walking over to a drawer and handing her a towel to wrap around the ice.

"I buy you more," Other Cisco said, pressing the ice pack to his nose.

"I do too!" Cisco said. 

"Not the point," Caitlin said primly, joining Cisco at the work station. "Now that we're all slightly less confused, what's going on here?"

"Look, we come in peace," Other Cisco said. "We're just dipping in to nab a fugitive from our earth and we'll be out of your admittedly excellent hair."

“As soon as we figure out where he went,” Other Caitlin muttered. “And who he looks like now.”

Mollified somewhat - he did have excellent hair today - Cisco asked, "Did you drop in about ten minutes after him? Like say, half an hour ago? Our satellites picked up two breaches."

"Yep, that was us. Satellites?"

Caitlin leaned over. "You said a shapeshifter? Is it Hannibal Bates, by any chance?"

"Yeah, how'd you know? Is his doppelganger still around on this earth?"

Cisco avoided looking at Caitlin. "No, he's gone, but we had . . .  a few pretty bad experiences with him."

"Anything we can do to help you nab him," Caitlin said. "Let us know."

"That would be great," Other Caitlin said. "Four minds are better than two, right?"

Other Cisco pulled the ice pack away from his nose, which had stopped bleeding. "Especially when it's ours. You said you have satellites? That pick up breaches?"

"Hell, yeah, you wanna see?"

"Oh, do I ever."

A day later, they waved goodbye as their doubles, along with a firmly detained Hannibal Bates, jumped through a breach back to their earth.

Cisco flopped back into his usual chair. "That was something, wasn't it?"

"Definitely at least a seven on our weird scale," Caitlin said.

"I'd go with seven-point-five," Cisco said. "With the whole being married and stuff."

She went a little pink but said airily, "I guess that just goes to show how big the multiverse is."

"Uh-huh." He studied her. "So, uh, when they first got here . . ."

"Yes?"

"Why did you punch him in the nose?"

"I told you," she said, pulling open a drawer to re-fold gauze pads, which was something she did when she wanted to avoid a conversation. "He startled me."

"How?"

"Does it matter?"

"Well, it's just that I have this theory and I want to know if I'm right."

Her eyes slid his way. "What's that?"

"When she first walked in, your double kissed me hello."

This time her whole head whipped around. "Wait, she what? She did?"

"Yep. Which makes me think he might have said hello to you the same way."

She was completely red now, right up to the hairline. "He - he did, in fact."

"And you punched him?"

"He just up and kissed me without any warning!" she said. "Which, I understand now, is perfectly reasonable since he thought I was his wife, but . . ." She made a face. "Bad memories."

"Yeah, I get that, " Cisco said. Caitlin hadn't admitted it to him for years, but he'd finally heard all about how Bates-as-Barry had up and laid one on her without any warning, too. "So, uh - " He toyed with a stray pencil. "If I were to kiss you . . . would I get a sock in the schnoz?"

She turned and studied him for a long moment. He held his breath.

Not that he'd never had the thought before, but he'd always told himself that they were friends and they worked best that way. But seeing their married doppelgangers had given him a whole lot of food for thought over the past twenty-four hours and change.

He wondered if Caitlin had been thinking along the same lines.

"Well?" he said when she failed to answer.

"Not if you asked me first," she said. There was a challenge in her eyes.

He rolled his chair right up to hers. "Caitlin?"

"Yes?"

"Can I kiss you?"

She smiled at him. "Please do."

He leaned over and pressed his lips to hers. She leaned into him, returning the kiss. 

This time, his brain just went :D :D :D

She couldn’t shake the image from her mind. She was in Jitters, ordering the coffee to go, and she turned around and he was gone. Like that. The only thing left behind was his wheelchair. Dr. Wells has been paralyzed ever since the particle accelerator explosion. It just wasn’t possible. He couldn’t so much as stand without his wheelchair, and for him to have left Jitters in the few seconds it took for Caitlin to order the coffee… Forget just being able to walk. He would’ve had to have been a speedster.

Which means Cisco was right all along.

Dr. Wells isn’t just working with the Reverse-Flash.

He is the Reverse-Flash.

Their boss is the man who killed Barry’s mother.

All Caitlin could feel was the adrenaline. There were a million thoughts racing through her head. The only thing faster than them was her heartbeat, thumping in her chest at a thousand beats per second. She had looked up to Dr. Wells since the very first day she came to work for him. He wasn’t just her boss. He was her hero. He helped her, guided her, inspired her. He was her friend. He helped her cope with Ronnie’s death. A day ago, Caitlin would’ve vouched that Dr. Wells was one of the most compassionate men she knows. Now, Caitlin knows the truth.

He’s a murderer.

Her heartbeat froze in terror as a thought occurred to her.

Cisco’s in trouble.

Cisco was investigating Dr. Wells. If Dr. Wells knew he was in danger of being found out, who knows what awful things he could do to Cisco.

She ran into Star Labs calling Cisco’s name. Each time she spoke it, she became more frantic, her heartbeat raced a little faster. Her mind started to fill up with fears, the dread started to sink into her stomach. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself before continuing.

The basement.

Of course. Cisco said he was going to be in the basement.

Caitlin ran down the hallways, all the way to the Star Labs basement. The adrenaline made her run faster than she ever had before, but she didn’t care about how fast she was running. All she cared about was seeing Cisco again.

Finally, after what felt like centuries, the doors opened, letting Caitlin into the basement.

The sight sickened Caitlin so much she wished she had never stepped foot into the basement at all.

There he was. Cisco Ramon, her best friend in the whole wide world, the only person who truly knew how to make her laugh since Ronnie passed away, the guy who brought her chocolates and a movie when she was feeling down, the guy she had spent countless lunches at Big Belly Burger with, laughing endlessly at some joke. He was just a few yards away from her.

And he was dead.

She was too late.

Caitlin rushed forwards and kneeled by his side. There was a fresh wound right in the middle of his rib cage, directly where his heart is. Wet blood stained his shirt. His lifeless eyes were still wet with tears that hadn’t quite dried.

“No, no, NO!”

This was all her fault. If only she had stalled Dr. Wells for a bit longer. If only she had arrived sooner. If only she had been there. She’s a doctor, she could’ve done something, anything to save him, she would’ve given her own life in his place if she had to-

Caitlin couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t see, she couldn’t feel, she couldn’t hear her own pained screams. Tears trickled down her cheeks and she didn’t care enough to wipe them away. She felt lightheaded, but she didn’t care enough to do anything about it.

Her heart twang with regret. If only she had more time. She would’ve binged the Walking Dead with him no matter how confusing it was to her, she would’ve brought him Big Belly Burger to repay him for the time he bought her lunch, she would’ve treasured each and every moment they shared. She would’ve told him how much he meant to her.

Cisco’s laugh could light up a whole room. His eyes twinkled with enthusiasm whenever he spoke about his favorite classic movies. Caitlin always chastised him about his enormous sweet tooth, but sometimes he’d share his candy with her, even though he never shared with Barry. He ordered the same thing each time at Big Belly Burger, but every time without fail he’d study the menu for a few minutes as if he was going to change it up this time. He never did.

Caitlin grasped Cisco’s hand in hers as she sobbed.

Now she’d never experience any of that again.

Her best friend was gone. The person who knew her best, the person who could make her laugh when she was feeling down, the person who stood by her side no matter what… gone.

Caitlin’s tears felt heavy against her cheeks.

The lump in her throat only intensified, making it harder to swallow or breathe. She clutched Cisco’s shirt in her fists, holding onto him even though she knew he would never respond, even though it hurt her more to hold him and not feel a heartbeat.

This was all Wells.

He killed Cisco.

Caitlin didn’t know how, but… she was gonna make him pay.