Hey everyone, I know this chapter is long overdue, but I hope it doesn't disappoint. I'm on Summer Vacation (:D) as of today so I promise to stay dedicated to my stories!
Thank you XxDeathStarxX, and IronAmerica for reviewing last chapter!
I do not own The Cape.
Secrets- Chapter Two: Partnership
Rain, sleet, hail or snow, none of it could stop the daily and nightly work that went on in Palm City. There were no exceptions- especially for Daniel Chase. The spy knew that Peter Fleming waited for no one. He was a busy man who knew exactly what he wanted. Daniel admired the man but in retrospect, he couldn't stand him. He had him traveling- on foot that it- in the blistering cold of the night.
The spy cursed everyone who was not him. Reason being, the streets of Palm City were stranded. Everyone was probably relaxing in the heat of their own homes. He would be doing the same had he not needed to tell Fleming what he found out about The Cape.
Daniel dug his hands further into his pocket as he continued to walk his way to the destination at hand.
By the time he got there, Fleming stood waiting with a scowl on his face.
Daniel approached him with wariness, as he knew it was a bit late.
"Nice of you to join me Mr. Chase," Fleming said sarcastically.
"This place a long ways away from where The Cape lives. I would have gotten here sooner if-"
"No one likes excuses," Fleming started. He saw the spy take a deep breath to which the mastermind continued; "So tell me what do we know about this Cape?"
"He seems to be hiding from something or someone. He lives in a secluded area, it was hard for me to find him," Daniel said.
"But you did find him, didn't you?" Fleming asked.
"That I did. I know he has a lady friend who he seems to have be accustomed to," Daniel said.
"Well what else did you find out? Who is this secret girl?" Fleming asked.
"The girl didn't say much about herself, even to The Cape. She made him tell the stories and she would comment on them, not add to it like most people do," Daniel paused; "The Cape talked about having a wife and a son. I've got a plan to learn more about them, shouldn't be hard to find out."
"Well get to work then. The clock is ticking," Peter said in a 'I'm above you so do as I say' tone.
The spy then turned around on his heels and headed out to the cold winter weather.
*The Cape*
"Orwell have you ever heard of a thing called rest?" Vince asked his partner.
They stood at the entrance of Vince's hideout. Not even five minutes ago, The Cape got a phone call from the blogger, telling him to let her inside. Normally he would have no problem with welcoming her into his home away from home, but at this time (at four in the morning) it was ridiculous.
Orwell smirked at him; "I have, I just don't get it much."
Vince sighed, tilted his head to rest it against the door for a moment to look at her once more, then he let his partner in.
When she walked in, Vince closed the door back and said; "You should really look into the whole sleeping thing. It's a great invention."
"Ha ha, you're so funny," Orwell said.
Orwell walked up to Vince and patted the side of his face playfully; "I'll see what I can do." She then walked away from him and sat down across from where her friend was standing. She crossed her legs and put her hands in her lap.
"So what is so important that you have to tell me at 4 in the morning?" Vince asked.
"We have a dinner date," Orwell said.
"I- you- what?" Vince asked.
Orwell rolled her eyes; "Not like that. You remember that latest person that Fleming is using to try and 'stop the Cape?'" she air quoted the last bit.
"Yeah, what was his name- Daniel something?" Vince asked.
"Daniel Chase- and yeah, we're going to meet him later," Orwell said.
"Why have dinner with the enemy?" Vince questioned.
"Ever heard of getting to know your opponent?" Orwell spoke.
Vince went to sit down next to the blogger; "Who are we going as?"
"He thinks we are a British couple who are good friends with Fleming," Orwell noticed the look Vince was giving her; "Believe me, I wouldn't have tied that to us unless I had to. Chase wouldn't have done this without us knowing Fleming somehow. He has a vice grip on this guy for sure."
"What if Fleming finds out that he is having a visit from his supposed good friends?" Vince asked.
"If he does, we'll deal with it then. Would you rather hide away from this guy or know him better than he knows us?" Orwell answered with a question of her own, her eyes were glowing back at him with hidden emotion.
Vince stared back at her silently for a moment more. He then nodded and said; "Alright Orwell you're right."
The blogger turned her head and bit her bottom lip. She hated this; anytime she talked about her father, she always got overemotional. Orwell was battling her inner demons, this time her demons were winning.
"Hey," Vince started in a whisper, trying to gain attention. When she looked over at him, he asked; "You alright?"
"I'm fine. I think the lack of sleep has finally caught up with me," Orwell lied coolly.
"You're afraid of something, I can tell it in your eyes," Vince prompted.
"I'm not afraid," Orwell dismissed.
"Something's bugging you though," Vince mentioned to the brunette blogger.
"Yeah well that's something for me to worry about Vince," Orwell said, trying to keep her eyes away from The Cape's.
Vince tilted his head and looked at his partner to which she finally gave up looking away from him.
"Can you talk to me about it?" Vince asked.
"About what?" Orwell asked.
Vince gave her a pointed look; "About whatever's on your mind."
"I'll be ok Vince," Orwell said, trying to pick up her stronger tone so Vince would drop the subject.
"I don't believe you," Vince said in a tone that still said he cared.
That's it. Now Orwell was getting irritated.
"How in the hell am I supposed to keep myself from telling him everything? He's sweet and only wants to make sure I'm ok, but I don't know if I'm ready to tell him who I am," Orwell thought to herself.
"Vince," Orwell started, her voice began to crackle; "Just drop this for now. I promise I'll tell you… tell you everything, just please give me time."
The Cape was tired of hearing this but he just nodded to which the blogger got up from where she had sat down next to Vince; "Where are you going?"
Orwell turned around to face Vince. Her shield had gone down noticeably; "I'm going home."
The Cape too got up and walked up to Orwell. He stared down at her, she just stared back, once again trying to keep her emotions from caving in. When she looked away from him, he took her chin and looked her square in the eyes.
"I just want to go home, ok?" Orwell said.
Vince slowly let go of Orwell's chin and smiled apologetically.
"I'm sorry Vince, it's not your fault," Orwell said to which she turned away from The Cape to walk out.
She watched Vince from the corner of her eyes as she turned once more to head back to her home. Her head swirled with thoughts, including this one; "How can I get him to understand why I haven't told him who I am yet?" How can she get him to understand that Fleming was a wonderful father up until the point he and his wife Jordan began to have marriage problems? Fleming had troubles with keeping Chess under control (and as everyone can see, he still hasn't kept him under control.) This made his wife second guess their relationship. After about another year of trying to make it work, Jordan took their 15 year old son, Gabriel with her when she moved to New York to start a new life. This left 10 year old Jaime living with her father. Jordan left a night after she tucked in her daughter and kissed her goodnight. Orwell hadn't seen her mother since. Even with all the turmoil that had happened, Fleming had tried to be a great father, but due to the amount of stress their family was going through, Chess came around a lot. He never had anything nice to say about his daughter. Jaime tried to get his father to see his physiologist, but Chess wouldn't allow it. Orwell was left with a father who had two sides to his name. Peter Fleming- was the father she loved so much. She was always a Daddy's girl- up until the point Chess voiced his full opinion about his "precious" Jamie. That was the day Orwell lost all respect for her father- schizophrenia or not. Jamie was twelve at the time; by the time she turned eighteen, the blogger left her father for good.
When the blogger got back to her home, she set up her security alarm and went into her bathroom to change. The brunette slipped her favorite green tank top and a pink and green striped pajama pants. She made her way to her mirror and retrieved her toothbrush and toothpaste from the cabinet to the right of her. She put on an ample amount on the bristles and began to brush her teeth. Orwell stared back at her reflection as she did so, the eyes that stared back at her were questioning her sanity. How long could she keep from meeting with her father? How could she keep her inner battles at bay when she was around Vince? He was the only one who she had been this way around for a long time. Whenever he gave her that caring look, all the blogger wanted to do was hang onto him and tell him everything he wanted to know. Now with each passing day, she has no idea how he will react seeing how long she has hidden this from him. She is afraid of losing him, losing her touch to reality.
With that passing thought, Orwell rinsed her mouth of toothpaste and headed to her bedroom. The blogger laid her head down on the pillow and tugged her bed sheets around her comfortably. Pretty soon she closed her eyes and drifted off to get the little sleep she could have.
*The Cape*
7 hours later, Orwell woke to her phone ringing in the room. The brunette sprang a hand out to retrieve her cell phone from her end table next to her bed.
She lifted her phone and brought it to her lazy figure. The blogger looked at her phone to reveal the sound was a text message from Vince. A smile etched onto her features as she replied back. She cared a bit more for Vince than she initially led on. He always was a good friend from the start, but now he was becoming something else all together. She just hoped that maybe someday he could feel it too.
After she showered and looked decent enough to walk out of the house, she packed a bag of things to change into for later on that night. She then grabbed the bag, her phone, and headed out to Vince's hideout.
When she was let inside, the first words out of her mouth were; "You wanted to see me?"
A smile widened onto Vince's face; "What no 'Hey Vince how are you?' or 'Hey Vince it's great to see you?"
Orwell returned the smile; "I was getting around to that."
"Sure you were," Vince teased.
A wider smile from the blogger caused Vince to speak again; "And yes I wanted to see you."
"Ok, what's going on?" Orwell asked.
"I just wanted to get our characters down for later tonight," Vince said.
"Oh you know you just wanted to see me," Orwell said as she patted Vince's chest.
"So sue me if I did," Vince grinned and then added; "But I did want to talk to you about tonight as well."
"Okay so ask away," Orwell said with an irresistible smirk in place.
"What's our story?" Vince asked.
"Story?" Orwell repeated.
"Yeah. You say a couple. Are we a married couple, engaged, dating?" Vince asked.
"Oh, as far as I've planned it we're married," Orwell said.
"Okay," Vince started; "Is there anything else you told Daniel that I should know?"
"No, I don't think so. Just go along with anything else he asks us," Orwell said.
Vince nodded to which Orwell spoke; "I'm going to need all of you in with me, okay? Is this going to be too hard for you?"
"I'll do whatever it takes," Vince said.
Orwell smiled; "Good."
They met each other in a stare for what seemed like eternity.
After that moment ended, Vince and Orwell just began to talk and pass the time by smoothly.
*The Cape*
With an hour to go before they leave for their "dinner date," Vince and Orwell started to get ready.
Orwell didn't take long. She already had a little bit of makeup on, all she had to do was slip on her very satin-textured pink knee length dress with a white long-sleeved cover up- and work on her hair. Vince however, had issues. Whilst the blogger was standing at a mirror straightening her hair, The Cape came up to her as he fiddled with his tie.
Orwell turned to him; "Are you fighting with that thing?"
"Yeah, and it's winning."
The blogger rolled her eyes a bit and turned off her Straightener to help her friend out. She took the tie in her hands and helped tighten it around his neck.
Vince stared down at her to which she tried not to blush. She looked into his eyes for a moment; "What?" she asked.
"Nothing, just looking at you," Vince said.
"I know that, but why like that?" Orwell asked.
Vince noticed that even though she had the tie corrected, she still had her hands on his chest. He sighed and started with; "I'm a man of honesty, it may be wrong of me to say this but I am looking at the beautiful woman in front of me."
That was enough to make Orwell blush, and she did; "Thank you Vince."
They hovered over each other and they both had to catch their breath that neither knew they were holding. The blogger pursed her lips as she looked up at him with what she expected as longing. The closer he and Orwell got, the more Vince thought about his family. As of this moment however, he put everything aside and he closed their proximity.
"What are you doing?" Orwell asked.
"Getting into character," Vince said as he bent his head to kiss his partner.
Orwell put her arms around Vince's neck and deepened the kiss.
When they broke apart, they stared back at each other, wide-eyed.
"I'm sorry Orwell, I don't know where that came from-"
"Are you seriously apologizing for doing something I've wanted you to do for a while now?" Orwell asked.
"I just don't want you to think I'm some horrible person," Vince said.
"You are going through a hard time, you needed someone to lean onto," Orwell said.
"But I'm married. You don't think-"
Orwell executed the next move and this time she kissed Vince harder than before. She was desperate and didn't want to lose him; "What do you think now?" the blogger asked as she rested her forehead against his.
"I think you mean something special to me but I don't know how that will work," Vince said taking her chin into his palm.
"We can find out together," Orwell said quietly; "Just please," she pleaded as she threaded their fingers together; "Don't give up on me."
"Why would I?" Vince asked.
Orwell sighed; "Just don't give up on me," she repeated.
*The Cape*
Vince and Orwell arrived at the restaurant the blogger had told Chase to meet them at. He was told not to mention their little meeting to Fleming, that the last time the couple talked to the CEO, it ended on a bad note. According to what Chase knew, the couple was just checking on their old friend- indirectly.
The Cape and his sidekick- now posing as Malcolm and Savannah Thompson- stepped out of their form of transportation and walked into the expensive and extravagant looking restaurant. The inside was painted white and had a swirl design etched onto said walls. The booths had a matching white table cloth and at each table sat a single candle. The rest of the place was dimly lit.
Vince had Orwell's arm linked through his as they walked to their selected table.
"Nicely planned," Vince whispered into his date's ear.
"You know I wouldn't have us in a brightly lit place," Orwell paused as she sat down; "Plus I wouldn't want people to know I went on a date with you," she said sarcastically.
Vince sat down next to his partner and replied; "Ouch. Even after this great evening? How can you say that?" His face then lifted into a grin.
Orwell returned a bright smile and patted Vince's leg; "It'll be ok dear."
A few minutes later, a well dressed man approached the table. He had a short and wavy auburn hairstyle along with brown eyes. The man looked down at the couple and asked; "Are you the Thompsons?"
"We are," Orwell answered; "Are you Mr. Chase?" The brunette blogger asked.
"I am," The man said sitting down across from Vince and Orwell.
The Cape looked over at his friend and she gave him the ghost of a smirk.
"So you want to know more about your friend?" Daniel asked.
The blogger nodded; "It's been too long since we've seen him."
Both Vince and his partner were shocked at just how well she could speak in a British accent.
"Well, I haven't known him that long myself," Daniel said.
"Oh? How did you meet him?" Orwell asked.
"I'm working for him actually," Chase said.
"What kind of job does he have you doing?" Orwell questioned.
"I have a target to annihilate. Maybe you've heard of him. He goes by The Cape?" Daniel mentioned.
"I know who you're talking about," Orwell spoke.
"Yeah. He has a partner of some kind. She seems familiar," his eyes trailed over Orwell; "Maybe it'll be a two for one if I kill her as well."
Vince stretched an arm across the back of the booth and scooted closer to his partner.
"One can only be so lucky," Orwell said.
Vince then asked the spy; "So what do you know about these people?"
"Not much, they seem to have their own spin on the world," The spy said.
"Fleming has been after them for some time now," Orwell said.
"I know. Fleming is getting rather impatient. He would probably kill me if he knew I was off the job for now," Chase said.
"Well we won't keep you long," Orwell paused; "We wouldn't want to anger that man. He tends to have a bit of a temper," she added.
"That he does. Which reminds me… why is it important that he doesn't know we spoke?" Chase asked in a skeptical tone.
Vince looked over at Orwell to which she replied as if she was explaining something real to her; "Because, the last time my husband and I spoke with him it didn't end well. If he knew we asked of him- he wouldn't be very happy."
"The last thing you need to be is caught up in Fleming's rage," Vince started in his own false accent; "We're just looking after you my friend," he added.
"So, about this Cape guy, what are you planning on doing to him?" Orwell asked.
"Well, my sister is a serious tech freak; I am going to get one of her tracking devices to see where they are all the time," Chase said.
"Then what?" Orwell asked.
"The tracking device will do my job for me," Chase said.
"Meaning?" The blogger asked.
Orwell knew she had to watch herself with how many questions she asked, but the guy really didn't seem to care.
"The tracking device serves as a silent killing machine. When it is implanted on your skin, it dissolves into the subject more and more everyday. As the days go by, the subject's bloodstream will become poisoned with a toxin from the dissolving tracking device," Chase explained; "By three days, they both will be dead."
"Fleming will be proud. He's been looking forever for someone with a bullet-proof plan," Orwell said.
Chase nodded to which something occurred to him; "Which reminds me, I have to go have a word with my sister," he got up from his side of the booth and looked over at his dinner guests; "It was nice meeting you. I'll be sure to keep in touch when something happens worth telling."
"Thanks," Orwell said.
Daniel waved them goodbye and then left Vince and Orwell at their table, staring at each other.
Okay, so I know this was a long one. Please review!