Chapter Text
“Yeah, except he wasn't just an employee to you, was he?” Cisco asks pointedly.
“CISCO!” Caitlin chides. “That was an unfounded rumor and you know it!”
Cisco keeps his eyes on Wells though, not turning to Caitlin. He folds his arms across his chest.
“What?” Barry asks uncomfortably, looking between them.
“Cisco.....” Wells’s voice is soft. Softer than it should be. He can hear the request in it. But he remembers the devastation he had seen on Hartley's face that last day. And, while he had hated the guy, he knew that there really hadn't been anything appropriate about that relationship. Cisco doesn't look away and in the end, Wells gives in, seeming to know that if he didn't, he'd lose quite a bit of Cisco's respect.
The older man sighs sadly and tilts his head, addressing Caitlin. “Hartley sleeping his way into his position was a rumor, yes. Hartley and I.... Being together was not.”
Cisco can see Detective West look at the screen with Hartley's employee information again, frowning.
“And Hartley left.... When I broke it off over a disagreement.”
West gives him a disapproving look, “About what?”
Wells looks at him carefully. “That is..... Very personal, Detective.”
“I think the motive might come in handy to know how serious he is.”
Cisco clears his throat and Dr. Wells looks at him until Cisco shuffles on his feet uncomfortably. He doesn't back down, though, meeting the man's eyes head on. “I took Ronnie with me on a trip to CERN instead of him.”
“And that was enough to cause a break up bad enough that he's after you now?”
“Wait, that trip was a long time before Hartley left.”
Wells nods. “It was. But... Hartley had been looking forward to it. The possibility of networking with other physicists, of getting to see some of the more current work being done outside of the states. Getting to spend time away from STAR where we could relax... I took Ronnie because one of his projects needed more direct funding and interested parties. I thought Hartley would understand that... It was the more important aspect of the trip. He seemed to.” Wells shrugs softly.
“You took another man on a business trip instead of your boyfriend?” West sounds like he knows where this is going.
Dr. Wells winces. “I found out later, much later,” he looks back up at Caitlin to show he's still answering her even as he answers Joe. “That Hartley decided to....” He spreads his hands in a manner to say ‘there it is’. “Go out and party and... Sleep with someone.” He finally says, as if it's the hardest thing to say out of all of this. And Cisco supposes it might be, considering he's the one Hartley had slept with. And Dr. Wells knows it and is trying to spare him recriminations from the others.
“Revenge cheat.” West says, understanding the concept.
The man in the wheelchair nods, smiling sadly. “I did not handle it well when I found out.”
“You threatened his job, didn't you?”
Another wince. “You're a very good detective.” He comments, face still pained even as he nods. “If he had stayed after that, it would have been an HR nightmare. As it is, I'm lucky he didn't sue me. He left instead.”
“But now he's coming after you.”
“So it seems.”