Harrison Wells walks in behind the paramedics while they wheel the injured little girl into the hospital. A nurse runs up to help and immediately recognizes the little girl as Dr. Tannhauser's daughter. 

"That's Carla's daughter!" The woman exclaims. She runs off to go find the girl's mother, only to return moments later without her. 

Wells approaches the nurse, "Ma'am I'd like to stay. I was in the wreck with the girl, and I'd like to make sure she's okay." 

The nurse nods, pointing him to the waiting room. He starts heading that direction when he remembers what he wanted to ask. 

"What's her name?" He calls back to the nurse. 

The woman turns around. "Caitlin Snow."

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

Caitlin's mom never did forgive her for her father's death. 

Carla and Thomas, Caitlin's parents, had gotten in a huge fight when Thomas tried to defend his daughter. Carla had scolded Caitlin for failing her science project. She had tried to do something that was a little too ambitious and didn't want anyone to help her. It didn't end up working out. 

Caitlin ran to her room crying which only infuriated her mother more. Thomas came to the door and lightly knocked. "Caity, sweetheart?" he cooed. He slowly opened the door and went to sit on her bed. "How about we go for a drive?" 

Caitlin loved going for drives with her dad. They would sing, and he would tell her about his work which she didn't understand at all, but she was starting to and she loved hearing about it. It was such a beautifully clear night too. They drove for what felt like hours. Caitlin was hugging her seat belt to keep herself upright as she laughed uncontrollably at her dad's jokes. Thomas looked over at his daughter adoringly, taking his eyes off the road just long enough to regret it. He looked back to the road only to be blinded by oncoming headlights. 

Caitlin stopped laughing when she heard her father curse loudly and looked up in enough time to see bright headlights and feel the car swerve and stop abruptly. She woke up to find her father, unconscious, next to her. He was bleeding. She shook him, trying to wake him up. She began screaming for him to wake up. He never did. 

Her mother wouldn't let her forget that. It was her incessant laughing and joking around that distracted him. It was her crying that made him take her on a drive. It was her failure that made them argue. As much as she hated her mother for pointing it out, she agreed. 

Her mother got worse over the years. At first it was aggressive. She would yell at her. Her already high expectations for Caitlin had skyrocketed. During this time, Caitlin took refuge at the house of the man who saved her, Dr. Harrison Wells. 

Wells was her best friend growing up. He would tell her about his plans for S.T.A.R. Labs and all the things he wanted to accomplish. She would just stare at him in awe. When she was 14, she asked him if he thought she would ever be smart enough to work there someday. 

"What do you think?" He answered with a mischievous smile. 

Her eyes lit up like she had just formulated a plan. He loved that look. She always got so excited when she had an idea. 

Caitlin would go to Wells' house after school and he would help her on her homework. He gave her new books to read about different subjects until he realized she particularly liked the biology and medicine books, then he only bought her those. She was way ahead of everyone else in her grade because of Dr. Wells. Due to this, she was able to graduate early, completing a large amount of college credits before graduating high school. 

When she was 13, Caitlin had become all but non-existent to her mother. She no longer bought food for her. She didn't scold her. She didn't speak to her at all. Wells had noticed Caitlin losing weight and after discovering that her mother had stopped paying for her school lunches, he started covering them. He also made sure she stayed for dinner every evening when she came over to do homework, and he would sneak a granola bar or two in her book bag everyday before she left. 

It only took a year for Caitlin to decide to move in completely with Dr. Wells. Her mother didn't put up a fight, and Dr. Wells had been hoping she would move in since the day he discovered her mother wasn't feeding her anymore. He hated that woman. He considered asking to adopt Caitlin, but he figured her mother's lack of argument was enough of a win and he didn't want to push it. 

When Caitlin graduated high school, Wells was the only person who came to see her graduate. He moved her into her dorm when she started college. When she zoomed through her undergraduate degree in bioengineering, he helped her work on applications to get into Oxford to complete her doctorate. He flew there to move her in and introduce her to people he knew. He called her every other day to check on her, and she called him every time she had something excited to tell him. He was always happy to hear it. 

By the time she was 22, Caitlin had completed a dual PhD program at Oxford, during which she had attended an accelerated medical school program where she learned enough to help in her research in biophysics and neuroscience. When she was hooded for her PhDs, Wells flew to attend the ceremony. He took her out for dinner that night and handed her a large envelope. 

Inside, Caitlin found a stack of paperwork. The papers outlined a job at S.T.A.R. Labs for a full-time researcher in bioengineering and neuroscience. The salary was amazing. The job description was Caitlin's dream. Before she reached the last page which would allow her to sign on as a permanent employee, Dr. Wells stopped her. 

"Caity, there is no pressure here. I know you have job offers elsewhere and more schooling you could do if you wanted. I know you may not want to come back to Central City. Just know that if you want to come home, there is an opening for you at S.T.A.R. Labs. There always will be. You will be free to research anything you want and have access to all the best resources. But I also encourage you to chase anything you want, now before you decide to settle down." Wells explained. 

She smiled and tried hard to hold back the tears forming in her eyes. She wanted nothing more than to come home and work at S.T.A.R. Labs. Working with Wells was her dream. She had been there when he talked about building the labs. She always wanted to be a part of it, and that hadn't changed. 

"I've been chasing what I want for 8 years now. You've just handed it to me." She said, choking on her words a little. 

He smiled and looked down at the papers. She held her hand out asking for a pen and he handed her his nicest one. She looked down and flipped to the last page, signing her life away to Dr. Harrison Wells. The man she trusted most in the world. 

When she started her job at S.T.A.R. Labs, she was immediately part of the team working on the particle accelerator as well as working on her own research. While working on the accelerator, she met Ronnie. Wells immediately approved of him and Caitlin's relationship which moved along rather quickly. Caitlin had never really fallen for anyone, and she fell fast for Ronnie. After a couple months of dating, they moved in together. Caitlin still went over to Wells' once a week to have dinner with him. She often sat in his office at S.T.A.R. Labs to eat lunch on the off chance that he'd be there, not working on the accelerator, to eat and talk with her. 

Wells was worried that having her work there might cause some hitches in their relationship, but he couldn't have been more wrong. His respect and admiration for her only grew. He got to see her explore her interests and he was able to provide the resources for her to do so. He got debate with her on decisions with the particle accelerator and they were always civil and productive debates. He got to see her fall in love. And he was proud. 

Most people at S.T.A.R. Labs were aware of Caitlin and Wells' relationship. Cisco sometimes attended her weekly dinners with Wells, often turning it into a movie night. Ronnie helped her move out of Wells' house when they moved in together, and even asked Wells for his blessing before proposing to Caitlin. 

Caitlin's wedding was meant to be one week after the particle accelerator launch, where Wells was going to walk her down the aisle to her to-be husband. Now there was no to-be husband, and Wells couldn't walk her anywhere. 

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

Barry remained silent. He didn't really know what to say. He forgets sometimes that other people had rough childhoods. He had reached out for Caitlin's hand a while ago during her story, but he gave it another reassuring squeeze as he saw her sinking into a dark place after discussing the impact of the accelerator failure on her life and Wells'. 

"Just when I didn't think I could gain anymore respect for the two of you than I already have," Barry says looking up under Caitlin's face so she can see him smile. 

Caitlin returns the smile. Those kind green eyes snapping her back to reality. 

"Tomorrow?" She suggests. 

He looks at her confused. 

"For that drink. How about tomorrow?" 

He smiles at her. "Tomorrow sounds great."