Harrison sat tinkering with something. A tiny metal devise that he intently prodded with an even small screw driver. He'd been working on it for several days, now. An old project he'd unearthed from the bowels of the lab. Something had been off for a while, but it was hard to put his finger on exactly. It started with a feeling, a hunch. That itch at the back of his mind telling him something wasn't right.
He'd watched and observed to see what was off. But his team wasn't any different than it had ever been. Cisco cracking jokes about the newest Meta they were hunting. Caitlin being a bit too serious. Barry bouncing in and out and fretting over something new. Gabe slacking off and poking at everyone.
It had taken him several days to see it, because it wasn't anything to be seen. It was a memory. A memory that shouldn't exist. That couldn't exist. A memory of Tess, warm and smiling, introducing the bright young Gabe to him. A budding mentorship that sprang from that one event. But that was impossible. He'd only known that woman for a few brief moments of her life. So when he was alone, truly alone, he'd slipped into the time vault to consult Gideon, to dig up all he could on Gabe Goodman.
There wasn't much to find. A young man lost to history. No record of him working with Harrison Wells or Tess Morgan. No achievements or contributions. No records of him having gone to college. Nothing but an obituary of a Diane Goodman, mentioning her son by name.
That was all he needed to know. Something to hold on to, to keep himself grounded. He needed Gabe to think everything was fine, which meant continuing to subject himself to whatever the boy was actually doing. But from that point forward, he'd dedicated every moment to perfecting something very important.
"What I'm working on, Gabriel, isn't really any of your concern." He didn't even bother looking up, pulling a magnifying glass over his workspace to better see what he was doing. "I'll be here a while yet, go on ahead and get some rest. We've got a big day tomorrow."
no subject
He'd watched and observed to see what was off. But his team wasn't any different than it had ever been. Cisco cracking jokes about the newest Meta they were hunting. Caitlin being a bit too serious. Barry bouncing in and out and fretting over something new. Gabe slacking off and poking at everyone.
It had taken him several days to see it, because it wasn't anything to be seen. It was a memory. A memory that shouldn't exist. That couldn't exist. A memory of Tess, warm and smiling, introducing the bright young Gabe to him. A budding mentorship that sprang from that one event. But that was impossible. He'd only known that woman for a few brief moments of her life. So when he was alone, truly alone, he'd slipped into the time vault to consult Gideon, to dig up all he could on Gabe Goodman.
There wasn't much to find. A young man lost to history. No record of him working with Harrison Wells or Tess Morgan. No achievements or contributions. No records of him having gone to college. Nothing but an obituary of a Diane Goodman, mentioning her son by name.
That was all he needed to know. Something to hold on to, to keep himself grounded. He needed Gabe to think everything was fine, which meant continuing to subject himself to whatever the boy was actually doing. But from that point forward, he'd dedicated every moment to perfecting something very important.
"What I'm working on, Gabriel, isn't really any of your concern." He didn't even bother looking up, pulling a magnifying glass over his workspace to better see what he was doing. "I'll be here a while yet, go on ahead and get some rest. We've got a big day tomorrow."