"Umm..."
Caitlin walked over carrying a syringe, a collection tube, and a small medical kit.
Daniel looked at the equipment before raising an eyebrow. "I honestly don't know how to react." He pointed at the syringe. "Do you always carry a blood collection kit around with you?"
A faint smile appeared on her face. "I work in a research lab. After everything we've dealt with, I've learned it's better to be prepared."
Cisco looked at her with disbelief. "You've been waiting for a chance to do this, haven't you?"
Caitlin didn't deny it. "Your biology is unlike anything we've encountered. As a scientist, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious."
Daniel laughed. "Curiosity is part of the job." He rolled up his sleeve and extended his arm. "Go ahead."
Caitlin disinfected the area and carefully positioned the needle against his skin. "This won't take long."
She applied gentle pressure.
Crack.
The needle bent sideways without piercing his skin.
Caitlin stared at it in silence.
Daniel glanced at it. "Yeah. My skin is tougher than iron."
Without a word, she picked up another sterile needle and examined the first one to make sure it wasn't defective. Finding nothing wrong, she tried again.
The second needle met the same fate, folding against his arm as though it had struck solid metal.
Daniel gave her an apologetic smile. "I did warn you."
Caitlin lowered the syringe and looked at his arm. Not even the faintest mark where the needle had touched. "...That's incredible."
Cisco leaned over to look at the bent needles. "I don't even know what to say anymore."
Daniel shrugged. "Welcome to my daily life."
***
The Cortex doors slid open and Barry Allen walked inside. The moment he saw Daniel waiting, confusion crossed his face. "Daniel? What are you doing here?"
"I've been waiting for you. We should talk. Alone."
Barry could tell from his tone it was serious. He nodded and followed Daniel into one of the empty testing rooms. Once the door slid shut, Daniel turned to face him.
"Did you time travel?"
Barry froze.
"And I don't mean running fast," Daniel continued before he could answer. "I mean did you run so fast that you ended up in the past?"
Barry stared at him. "How did you know that?"
"I'm sensitive to disturbances in time. I could tell something wasn't right. The timeline has changed."
Barry let out a slow sigh before nodding. "...Yeah. It was an accident. I was trying to stop the tidal wave and I just kept running faster than I ever had before."
"The next thing I knew, everything around me had changed. At first I didn't understand what had happened, but then everyone started repeating the same conversations. That's when I realized I'd gone back one day."
Daniel listened quietly. "That's actually good."
Barry looked at him. "Good?"
"It means you weren't trying to change history on purpose." Daniel folded his arms.
"Trust me, Barry, you should never think of time travel as an answer. Time is incredibly fragile."
"Even the smallest change can split a universe in two, creating entirely new possibilities and unpredictable variables. Once that happens, there's no way to know what consequences will follow."
Barry listened carefully.
Daniel's expression became more serious.
"I've seen people convince themselves that changing the past would give them a better future. They believed they could fix every mistake and save everyone they loved." A brief pause.
"In the end, they lost both. The future they wanted disappeared, and the past they tried to protect was never truly theirs again."
Barry was quiet for a long moment.
"And Barry..." Daniel said as Barry reached the door. "There's one more thing you need to know. The man you've been searching for all these years... he's been standing right beside you."
Barry stopped. "What are you talking about?"
"Dr. Harrison Wells."
Barry's face twisted with disbelief. "That's ridiculous. Dr. Wells can't even walk. You're telling me he's the Reverse-Flash? The man who killed my mother?"
Daniel gave a small shrug. "Looks can be deceiving. If there's one thing I've learned, it's never to judge someone by what they want you to see."
Barry remained unconvinced. "There has to be some mistake."
"I don't make claims without a reason. I'm not asking you to believe me blindly. Just stop looking at him as your mentor for a second and start looking at him as a suspect. Ask yourself one question."
Barry frowned. "What question?"
"Who benefits the most from everything that's happened since the particle accelerator exploded?"
Silence filled the room.
Daniel stepped forward and lightly patted Barry's shoulder. "Don't confront him. Don't let him know you're suspicious. If I'm right, he'll already have a dozen backup plans waiting for the moment someone figures him out."
Barry slowly nodded, doubt still written across his face. "I'll... keep an eye on him."
"Good. Because that man is far more dangerous than he lets on. He's patient enough to spend years building a plan, and people like that are always the hardest to deal with."
The conversation ended there and they walked back toward the Cortex.
Daniel's gaze swept across the laboratory instinctively.
No Harrison Wells. His office was empty, the wheelchair nowhere to be seen.
A faint smile tugged at the corner of Daniel's lips.
So he's avoiding me. Smart. If I were in his position, I'd do the same. There was no point meeting someone who already knew exactly who he was.
*****
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