Tannhauser-Snow Origins (The Flash Fanfiction)

2: Welcome Cooper

Cooper Snow was keeping a secret of his own. He wasn't normal like he believed his sister to be. He was different from anyone else, in a very scary way. He couldn't let his secret get out, it was far too private. He believed that it'd put him in great danger, and that may as well be true.

Caitlin sighed after parking her Fiat 500. She looked at her brother with a sympathetic look. "My friends are really cool. I think you're really going to like them."

Cooper gave her a grateful, yet unsure, smile. "Thanks. I didn't make many long-lasting friends, so it's always good to meet new people." Like you, he added in his head.

Caitlin nodded. Taking a deep breath, she says, "Okay. Come on, Coop." She opened her door, which Cooper followed with his own. 

They both get out of the car. Caitlin leads her stranger-brother inside the big science building that acted as a hideout.

"And you work here?" Cooper asks dumbfounded, to which Caitlin nodded with a small smile in response. The place was huge, and inside it looked even grander. The white steel walls are exactly what he'd expect to see in a huge science-based building. Even the elevator was just so technology based. If he was amused by just that, the cortex would blow him away.

Once out of the elevator, Caitlin stopped her brother. "Actually, you can't really come in here just yet." She bit her lip after she spoke. "Wait here." And Caitlin went off into the Cortex to warn Barry and even Ralph.

Cooper stood there looking around. Why hadn't they passed any other people? Cooper wasn't really caught up to the whole Particle Accelerator explosion from a half a decade ago. Since he lived in National City, which was in a near state and had problems of its own, he never heard of S.T.A.R. Labs or its Particle Accelerator. Really, the only lab he was interested in was Tannhauser Industries. That's why he expected to see many more workers in the building, but so far the only one he'd come across was his sister. He didn't even know if Caitlin's 'friends' were employees.

Caitlin arrived soon after. 

"Hey, you can come in." She smiled. "After you," she mumbled when Cooper began to walk forward again.

Within a few seconds, he was standing in the cortex. He took in the white room that was filled with technology. There was a door that must've led to something even more technological based, as there was a slight humming coming from it. Then there was a mini lab, and on the other side was a sort of smaller doctor's room. There was a gurney there and that's what mostly gave it away. Without it, Cooper probably wouldn't know what the small room was.

A gasp accidentally escaped his mouth and he smiled slightly at his own actions. 

"Cooper?" He looked at the direction of his name being called. It came from a tall, skinny, man with an undercut hairstyle, Barry. "Welcome to STAR Labs. I'm Barry. This is Cisco, Iris, Ralph, and we all sort of work here." He gestured to everyone and their respective names. 

Cooper nodded with gratitude. "I'm Cooper Snow!" Then he chuckled to himself. "But I'm sure my sister already told you that." He didn't notice, but Caitlin slightly flinched at him calling her that. "It's great to meet you all!" He smiled wide and furrowed his brows.

"Woah! Caitlin has another brother," an un-wed Iris began. "And he's just as hot!" She whispered the other part in a hushed tone to Ralph, who she happened to be standing next to. It was only meant for Ralph to hear, and he's the only one who did.

Ralph chuckled quietly. "You do know that Collin is only 23 years old, right?" He laughed to the 29-year-old who was soon to be 30.

Iris shrugged with a smile at her friend's words. 

Cooper looked confused. Another brother? "Wait-- I have a brother?" He looked at Caitlin.

Caitlin pulled him over to her workroom, the small lab, not wanting everyone to know her and her brother's business. "Mom didn't tell you?" She asked.

Cooper shook his head with a frown, but then stopped frowning as to not get forehead crinkles. 

Caitlin exhaled slowly, frustrated at her mother. Even with the news she'd just received about her father being alive, she didn't change her attitude towards her mother. "His name is Collin. He's our little brother." She said quietly. Collin wasn't the son of Thomas, but of Richard. Caitlin wasn't sure if she should tell her brother that though. 

"Am I going to meet him? Can I?" Cooper shook off the thought that Collin had been kept from him and tried to lighten up at the idea of meeting his brother.

"Well, he lives near mom, in Bestowed City," she explained. Cooper clearly didn't catch on. "Mom and I don't have..." the best, she should say. But she doesn't. "...a good relationship. I wouldn't want to visit her." She said truthfully.

Cooper's expression saddened because of this. "We just met a week ago, I know. But maybe we could all just spend one dinner together?"

That was too much to ask of Caitlin. She pursed her lips to the side, at an angle. "Cooper, there's no way we would survive a night together." She sadly referred to her and her mother. 

"Okay. Not dinner. Let's go out somewhere and have fun. How old is Collin, anyway?" Cooper said with an idea in his head.

"23..." Caitlin answered skeptically. She was unsure of what he was thinking but did not catch on. 

"Good. Then he's old enough to drink."

Caitlin widened her eyes. "Okay Cooper, but he'd probably bring his girlfriend."

"My little brother has a girlfriend before I even have one?" He laughed out. "Okay, then it's set. He can bring her along if he wants to. Leave everything to me, oh tonight by the way." He said happily.

Caitlin rose an eyebrow, doubting the man could do it. She reluctantly says yes though, caving in.

"How are you so cheerful after everything you've been through?" Caitlin asks him, surprising herself.

Cooper doesn't hesitate before answering though. "Caitlin, I haven't been through a lot."

Caitlin does the same thing with her mouth that she usually does. "Okay," she says, backing off. "Hey, I'm just going to tell my friends that I won't be here tonight." Caitlin stood up to frustratedly tell them about the new plans.

Cooper stared at her with a happy face. He did feel a bit sad though. He knew she wasn't as happy or excited as he was. There were many reasons, but the one that made him the saddest was that she felt strange being around him. He ran his hands through his hair as he took out his phone. He opened his contacts to 'Carla T.'. She answered the phone.

"Hey, Cooper." She said. Cooper didn't understand why Caitlin and his mom had issues. Over the phone right now, Carla didn't sound busy. She felt genuinely happy to be speaking to her son. Why- how- could she be any different with Caitlin?

"Hey, mom." He said with a happy smile. It was nice to be able to have a mom again. Carla was off in a deep part of his memory, but even for 29 years he never fully forgot about his mother. "Do you have a minute?" he asked, his voice going high. That was something he did when he was unsure of something. Or, especially, in this case, it was because he knew he was about to ask a lot out of someone and didn't know how they'd take it. Fear of being called out for it, or yelled at. He was 32 years old but was a bit young at heart.

"However long you need." She said with a smile, even though Cooper couldn't see it.

 "Hey, so I was wondering..." and that's how the plans were set for that night. No one had any idea about what was to follow that night.