Disclaimer: I don't own the DC verse or JLU.

Shades of Avarice

Chapter 2: The Discovery

"So you're telling me that you don't feel the least bit guilty?" Helena asked dryly.

"Perhaps a little," Vic admitted quietly. He was in the basement of St. Catherine's Catholic Orphanage, busily thumbing through their records.

"Ever hear of asking for them?"

Vic Sage chose not to respond as he flipped through the orphanage's records, looking for his own file. It had taken some convincing on his part to even set foot in the orphanage again. The strict discipline of the nuns and the memory of bitter loneliness had left him reluctant to return.

"Was it really that bad Q?" Helena asked quietly. Vic paused as he finally came across the record marked 'Charles Victor Szasz'. Fortunately, the sisters kept their files in immaculate order.

"Not all the time," Vic admitted. "They meant well, however, Sister Theresa was the only one I ever got along with." He opened up the folder.

Name: Charles Victor Szasz
Date of admission: September 5, 1976

Vic's eyes scanned down the list. So far, he had seen nothing that he already didn't know.

Gender: Male
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Red
Age: Appears to be about 6 months old
Family: Unknown except for one older brother, Edward Nicholas Szasz. The older brother appears to be about two years old. The only information given was an attached note giving the names of the brothers.

Vic froze as he reread the last part.

"Family: Unknown except for one older brother, Edward Nicholas Szasz. The older brother appears to be about two years old. The only information given was an attached note giving the names of the brothers."

Brother? But they had told him that they didn't know anything! They had said that he was the only one dropped off at the orphanage!

Vic also mentally punched himself. He of all people should have known not to take anything at face value. Why had he waited so many years to look at his own file?

"Q?" Helena asked cautiously. Even over the radiolink she had caught his change of mood. "What is it?"

The Question flipped quickly through the slim file, trying to find the note that had been left with him…them. To his growing dismay, there was neither the note nor any other information on his apparent older brother.

"Why?" he muttered out loud. Why would they not tell him? Had something happened to his brother? Had he been adopted? Vic Sage had to restrain himself from tearing the drawer apart as he searched for a file marked 'Edward Nicholas Szasz'.

There wasn't one.

"Vic?" Helena asked again, this time more urgently. "What is…"

Vic didn't answer as he quickly photographed the contents in the file before replacing everything as it was. He now had more questions than before, with various possible theories running through his brain.

Why? Why had they never told him? Why wasn't there a file? Vic found himself shaking with sudden anger. Damn them! He had a brother and they never told him? Why?

He felt betrayed.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"Will the arms shipment be on schedule Pride?"

"Yes, Comrade Envy."

Envy smirked underneath his mask. Pride gave no other answer as they looked out over the Hub City skyline. He couldn't judge the other man's mood. Like each member of The Seven Sins, Pride wore a white, demonic mask.

None of them knew who every member of the group was. Greed, as the leader, knew each of their true identities. However the rest of them: Pride, Lust, Gluttony, Wrath, Sloth and himself, did not. As a rule, they only knew the true identity of one other member in the group.

Pride happened to be the one he was familiar with, at which the man never ceased to express his displeasure in some usually creative fashion. His and Pride's relationship was tenuous at best.

"When will you be returning to Shanghai?" Envy asked carefully. As a rule, they met at least once a month, usually in Hub City.

"Soon," Pride answered shortly. Envy shrugged his shoulders. That was usually all he ever got out of the Communist official. The American turned to go, pausing at the doorway.

"Pride," Envy said. "Greed wants to speak privately with you before you leave."

Greed gave a small nod of acknowledgement.

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

Helena stared at him in surprise. She had been keeping an eye on the dead City Council member's house for Vic. The Question had installed a wiretap on the phone of her surviving husband that hadn't yet been discovered by the police.

"You…have a brother?" she asked. The faceless man next to her shrugged uncomfortably beneath his fedora.

"I should have looked at my file a long time ago," Vic muttered, criticizing himself yet again. The truth was, he hadn't looked at his file because he hadn't cared to go back to the orphanage. The sisters had told him that they had known nothing about his past. Like the young fool he had been at the time, he hadn't questioned them.

Now he wished he'd had.

"You couldn't find any information on him?" Helena asked. Vic shook his head. The Huntress sighed internally. As if Vic didn't have enough problems already: the murdered woman, his past, his conspiracy theories, his interrogation by Cadmus…and now this.

"I'm going to go talk to them," Vic said. "I'm going to ask them and see if they show me the file. I want to see if they're purposely trying to hide something from me."

Helena pursed her lips thoughtfully. That made sense. If Charles Victor Szasz asked to see his file and they don't show him what the Question had found….

Or if they did show it him, but not…

Damn, Helena thought. I'm getting as bad as Vic. One thought and she was already coming up with 'theories'.

"I'll come with you," Helena volunteered. Vic turned his blank face to look at her and Helena corrected herself.

"I'm going with you," she said firmly. "You don't have a choice." The Huntress wasn't sure, but she thought she heard a chuckle underneath the fedora

…………………………………………………………………………………………

Greed looked up from the blurry photograph in front of him. The picture was dark, but he could make out the blue trench coat.

"The Question could become a problem if he's investigating Bradvn's murder," Lust said. She watched as the man behind the desk laced his fingers together thoughtfully.

"Keep an eye on him if possible," Greed finally said. "We've kept everything clean. There shouldn't be a trail that he can follow."

"You're not worried?" Lust asked in surprise. "He's brought down others before, including a major crime ring. He's also a member of the Justice League."

"Not from what I hear," Greed answered. He sensed her puzzlement beneath the demonic mask and continued.

"The Question had a bit of a falling out with the Justice League after the Cadmus fiasco, if I remember correctly," Greed answered. "As far as the Question, the fools he brought down were pebbles compared to us. If we're careful, he won't find anything."

Lust closed her mouth before she could ask the next question. Greed's patience only lasted so long. Even so, she couldn't help but wonder how he had gotten that kind of information on the League.

"By the way," Greed said dryly. "Give my regards to Senator Greer."