The explanation Cisco provided was probably as close to a logical one as Caitlin or anyone would get about this place. Considering they had the ability to exist both here and back home at the same time, it felt more like a parallel, but not so parallel universe of sorts? For one, it was a completely different environment and for another, there didn't seem to be a real way to keep track of time here. There was no timeline, no seeming start of how or when they place began because the residents of the island had the habit of changing over so frequently. Plus, there was the fact that people left and sometimes returned, not remembering they had ever been to paradise island in the first place. All in all, it left a lot of gaps, but she guessed much of this place was not about the science variety. It was about more the creation aspect. Again, science, but not and how was she capable of rambling absentmindly in her head as well as she was when she talked sometimes?
"I don't think you ever could. I mean it exists outside of any known timeline I think and people come and go..." Caitlin trailed off, gaze turning to the ocean and the range of waves lapping at the shore. "One thing for fact is it is paradise," she finished, a small smile on her lips. The feel of the young man's fingers wrapping around her own, offering a comforting squeeze brought the smile to its full potential and she nodded. "Thanks Cisco, but you know me. You're my friend. I would never want you to be alone anywhere," she replied, offering a squeeze of the fingers back. Somehow just the reassuring touch of a close friend made her relax some and stop contemplating all the science stuff regarding a place that obviously existed outside the realm of any true explanation. "I don't know how anyone would want to. Considering where we are from, what we've lived through, and the pain...why would you want to face it again? Maybe it would be much worse..."
The smile wavered on her lips and Caitlin gaze dropped to the sandy beach. If she could have avoided going to Earth 2, being kidnapped by Jay-no Hunter-she would have in an instant. What she endured at his hands, what she saw him do to others, was unspeakable and disgusting. It left her with nightmares, a sense of fear, that she was unable to shake even after a decent amount of time passed. Watching him hurt Barry destroyed Caitlin and being forced to use her influence to save him was twisted in itself. Hunter wanted Caitlin for himself because she was the sole purpose that kept that monster in check somehow. What else made it worse? He was the first person she loved after Ronnie passed, a hard position for anyone to fill, and he'd lied to her and to all their friends. Could she ever trust anyone in such a way again? Sometimes, Caitlin didn't think it would ever happen and maybe that was alright. Killer Frost, her Earth 2 counterpart, was alone too.
Cisco's voice pulled her from her melancholic reminiscing and she blinked, trying to recall the last bit of conversation before she'd drifted into her own memories and nightmares. "Multiverse. That's right. It's the only explanation really and yes, totally takes adjusting," Caitlin replied, perhaps too quickly, and she forced a smile in hopes of disarming any doubts about where she'd been for a few seconds there. Cisco didn't know what happened yet and maybe it was for the best that he never did.