Harrison Wells didn't believe Barry Allen had actually seen his mother's killer—because Wells himself was that man. But he did believe Barry might have encountered another speedster, and that made things more complicated.
Who was this mysterious speedster? Did he gain his powers through the particle accelerator explosion, just like Barry? Could this newcomer be an ally, or was he destined to become an enemy?
Wells pressed Barry with questions, carefully dissecting every detail of his account. He even pulled up the surveillance footage from that part of Central City, hoping to catch a glimpse of the figure Barry had described. Unfortunately, whether by chance or deliberate sabotage, the footage from that precise moment was corrupted. Nothing useful could be recovered.
Without any solid leads, Barry had no choice but to leave S.T.A.R. Labs and wait.
Caitlin Snow left soon after.
Her thoughts, however, were tangled. Based on Barry's description, she couldn't help but suspect that the speedster might be Jack Kadere. Jack had never once displayed anything like super speed before, but the timing felt too coincidental. Jack appears out of nowhere, then suddenly a speedster surfaces in Central City? And on top of that, Jack seemed to know far too much about Barry's situation already.
He had manipulated her before—once for a sonic device, another time when his schemes pulled her into danger—but Caitlin didn't truly believe Jack was a villain. Barry's mother had been killed more than a decade ago. Jack couldn't have been involved in that. He hadn't even been old enough back then.
Still, the suspicion gnawed at her.
...
Back at her apartment, Caitlin found herself restless. She tried to settle down with a muted TV show, but her eyes kept flicking toward the door. The hours crawled by until night deepened. Before she realized it, it was past nine o'clock.
Then—
Bang. Bang. Bang.
The knock at her door startled her so badly she nearly dropped the glass of water she'd been holding. She rushed to the entrance and pulled the door open.
"You're finally here," she exhaled, relief flooding her features.
Jack Kadere stood there, relaxed as ever, holding up a bottle of red wine with a crooked grin. "Took me a while to find the right vintage."
"You can't drink when you're scheduled for a medical examination," Caitlin scolded automatically, though her tone softened.
"You can drink after the examination," Jack countered with a wink, stepping inside.
Caitlin's apartment was a curious mix of home and workplace. Though it only had one bedroom, the living room was spacious and lined with equipment: a lab bench, diagnostic machines, and scattered research notes. It was unmistakably the home of a scientist.
"You live alone?" Jack asked casually, glancing around.
"Didn't you say I was better suited for being single?" Caitlin shot back, folding her arms.
Jack laughed under his breath. He noticed, with some interest, that she didn't seem weighed down by grief. "There's someone named Ronnie Raymond at S.T.A.R. Labs, right?"
The question caught Caitlin off guard. "Why do you know so much about S.T.A.R. Labs?" she asked, suspicion flickering in her eyes. She hesitated, then continued. "Ronnie did work there. The night the particle accelerator went critical, he went down into the tunnels to stabilize the system. He… he saved us all, but… he didn't make it out."
Her voice tightened.
"He's a hero," she finished firmly.
Jack tilted his head. "So… you and he weren't involved? Not the way people might assume?"
In another timeline, Jack remembered, Ronnie Raymond had become Firestorm and had been Caitlin's fiancé. But here, things seemed… different.
"Our personalities didn't really match," Caitlin admitted quietly, shaking her head.
Jack nodded lightly. "Got it." He didn't press further. Instead, his expression shifted to something more playful. "So, about this examination… do I need to strip everything off, or just some of it?"
Flustered, Caitlin's cheeks pinkened. "No, you just… just need to wear shorts."
Jack grinned. "That's manageable."
Jack Kadere stripped down to just his shorts and began the routine tests under Caitlin Snow's direction. She did her best to stay professional, though her cheeks betrayed a faint blush. The tests dragged on for more than an hour before she finally set the last device aside.
"From what I can see so far, your body is in perfect condition. No abnormalities in your vitals. The DNA results will take longer to process, though."
Jack nodded, peeled off the remaining sensors, and casually walked over to the sofa.
"You're not going to put your clothes back on first?" Caitlin asked, her tone caught somewhere between professional and flustered.
Jack smirked. "Don't get shy on me now. A build like this isn't exactly common—you should count yourself lucky."
Caitlin rolled her eyes, trying to cover her embarrassment. "Honestly…" She paused, then asked more seriously, "Jack, do you… do you have super-speed? I saw Barry Allen earlier today, and something about him felt different too."
"Yeah," Jack replied without hesitation.
Her eyes widened. "Really?"
Jack leaned back, grinning. "Don't believe me?" In an instant, crimson lightning erupted around him. Caitlin gasped as the air crackled. Before she could blink, Jack was back in his seat, twirling something between his fingers.
Caitlin froze. It was her lab coat.
Instinctively, she looked down and realized her outer layer was missing. "Wait—what? When did you—how did you do that?"
Jack chuckled. "Relax. You're still dressed. But if I really wanted to see more, could you stop me? You wouldn't even feel it happen."
Caitlin's face turned crimson. "You're impossible! Using powers for something so childish—"
"Powers are meant to be used," Jack said casually, folding her coat and setting it aside. "Otherwise they're just decoration."
She crossed her arms tightly. "Then tell me—how did you even get super-speed? And…" She hesitated before voicing the thought. "Jack… did you have anything to do with Barry's mother's death?"
Jack arched a brow. "Because my lightning is red?"
Caitlin nodded reluctantly.
He laughed. "Relax. That wasn't me."
Her shoulders loosened with relief. "Good. You scared me for a second."
Jack poured himself a glass of red wine from the table nearby. "Funny thing—you asked about my powers without hesitation, but when it came to that question about Barry's mom, you looked like you were afraid of the answer. Almost like you trust me with the Speed Force more than with my morality."
Before Caitlin could answer, the machine beeped rapidly.
"The results are in." She hurried to the computer, eyes narrowing at the data on-screen.
Jack appeared beside her in a crimson streak. "Problem?"
"It's… strange." She scrolled through the files, frowning. "Your vitals, DNA, everything registers as completely normal. No mutations, no metahuman markers. But that doesn't make sense. You discharged electricity earlier, and you clearly have super-speed. Normally, those abilities would leave an obvious genetic footprint."
Jack tilted his head. "So I'm a mystery."
"More than a mystery," Caitlin muttered, still staring at the monitor.
...
PS: There's a theory about the Speed Force—that when someone uses it, they aren't just moving faster. They're slipping into a different frame of time. To the outside world, seconds pass. But to the speedster, those seconds stretch into minutes, hours, maybe even longer. That's why a run around the Earth in just a few moments doesn't feel like a few moments to the Flash. For him, the time it takes is far longer. It's also why he doesn't stay in that state constantly—because living like that would mean watching the world crawl by for what feels like an eternity.