I Want Your Revenge

"Okay, in hindsight, walking the tightrope between those two buildings was probably not the smartest thing to do," Vince conceded. "Nevertheless, I wasn't doing it for him! I was doing it because… of what you said. Uh, if he dies, my name can't be cleared."

"But if you died saving him, your name still wouldn't have been cleared. Not to mention the fact you wouldn't be able to go home if you were dead. I know it's difficult for you to accept, but the fact is-"

"Sorry to interrupt," Peter strolled into the room, "but Dana Faraday called again. She wants to speak with you."

"Tell her I'll meet her-"

"You'll meet her in one of the tower's offices. I'll have it ready for you. You're not leaving this building until we sort out our cover story."

"Did you forget who you're talking to? I'm the Cape. I can disappear anytime I want."

"And yet, you're still here. Go talk to your wife; I'll work on our cover."

"Here's a crazy idea: how about we go with the truth?"

"You won't make it as a comedian. Don't quit your day job. Oh, that's right. You no longer have a job at ARK Corporation. Now, if I don't decide to turn you over to my men, I'll have to announce that you aren't Chess. We'll have to pin this on someone else."

"YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" Vince cried. He couldn't let Fleming frame another innocent man.

"I can if I have to."

Pity there's no way the public would buy Raoul was me. He's already rotting in prison anyway… We'll think of something.

VFVFVFVFVFVFVFVFVFVF

"So, you'll help me with the annulment or does it even need to be annulled?"

"Vince-"

"Didn't you tell me once about not needing an annulment in a case like this?" Dana sighed.

"A bigamous marriage is void as opposed to voidable-" Great, legalese, Vince thought. Void had to be a good thing though, right?

"So that's it then!"

"Unfortunately for you, there is a legal presumption that the more recent marriage is valid. The first spouse, that would be me, would have to rebut that presumption by proving that your marriage to me never ended."

"Really? Well, that sounds backwards, but that shouldn't be a problem."

"Vince, you need to find yourself another lawyer," Dana said, her face so expressionless it might have been carved from stone.

"What are you talking about?"

"I can't represent you. There might be a conflict of interest."

"What conflict?"

"I might file for divorce."

"Dana-"

"I certainly have grounds to, Vince. Besides irreconcilable differences, there's abandonment-"

"That's bull! I was gone for less than a year!" And if you weren't caught, how long would you have been gone? Dana wondered. She would never know now and neither would he.

"And there's adultery," she continued. Vince winced.

"That's…you don't…I never said," he babbled.

"I think that says it all, actually."

"You would put down in court papers that me and Fleming…"

"I think that everyone in Palm City assumes you did."

"Crap. Dana, please, don't do this! I love you."

"That just adds insult to injury. I believe you, Vince, but you have a funny way of showing it. You let me believe you were dead. You left me and our son. And the only reason you're here with me now is because the press got wind about your trip to Ochun with Fleming. You're not even talking to me husband-to-wife. You want to talk to me client-to-lawyer. I can't be that lawyer for you, Vince.

"While you were drugged, I went out on a date. Did you know that, Vince? I thought my husband was dead and I was trying to move on with my life. And you know what? For the few moments that I wasn't being consumed by guilt, I was having a good time.

"I love you, Vince. But I'm not ready to work on a marriage that you walked away from," she dried a tear. "Look on the bright side," she said, cracking a watery smile, "if I do file for divorce, I'm sure Fleming will get you the best divorce attorney money can buy."

"Screw him and his money!"

"Now, now. Just remember that if we get divorced, there's no way you're getting spousal maintenance from me. Not when you're married to the richest guy in the state."

"How can you even joke about this?"

"Sorry. Vince, I read Orwell's blog. She wrote about this drug called 'Revenge,' about how it works. Now you're telling me that you were drugged when you were running away with Fleming. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that you were high on Revenge and that means that you…" she trailed off.

"You're the one I'm attracted to, Dana."

"Oh, honey. The problem is you're attracted to both of us." Dana stood to leave.

"Wait! How is Trip?"

"He's suspended. Travis is watching him."

"Suspended?"

"In retrospect, I probably should have known better than to send him into school right after the news broke. It didn't take long for him to get into a fight. Physically, he's fine. The other students…not so much. Were you teaching him to fight?"

"I told him not to fight." Dana noticed that didn't exactly answer her question, but let it pass.

"So he's not listening to you, either. I've told him to take a break from Facebook. I doubt he'd have many real friends on there now."

"I want to see him."

"I don't think that's a good idea right now."

"Dana-"

"You're not his favorite person in the world at the moment, you know? First, you let him think you were dead-"

"Actually, I…got word to him that I was still alive."

"I see. You couldn't be bothered to get word to me, though. Why would I count? I'm just your wife."

"Dana, it wasn't like that! I wanted to tell you I was alive. It was just too dangerous for you to know that."

"Let me get this straight: you're saying it was too dangerous to know you were alive, so you went ahead and told our ten-year-old son?"

"Well, when you put it like that…"

PFPFPFPFPFPFPFPFPFPF

"What do you think you're doing?" Orwell demanded.

"Trying to get a hold of Miranda so I can order a new batch of Revenge," Peter replied without looking up.

You were supposed to be trying to find a new scapegoat. Damn, can't use Miranda. She was in prison while I was making a name for myself.

"You can't do that!"

"I can. I just have to track her down first. Apparently the mishap scared her away."

"Dad! You can't manipulate people's feelings!"

"As I understand it, Revenge doesn't actually manipulate feelings-"

I hate to point this out, Peter, but you could probably achieve the same results with alcohol.

"You know what I mean! Listen, whatever's bothering you, Revenge isn't the answer. I'm surprised you would even want more of the stuff after what it did to you…oh. Oh, Dad. What you're feeling for him, it's just lust. It'll pass."

"No. What I felt for Dice was just lust. This… I haven't felt like this about anyone since your mother."

"So I should expect Vince to wind up in the river."

"I did not kill your mother."

"But you didn't save her."

"You're right. I didn't. Fortunately, Faraday doesn't need saving. I know. I'm fully aware of how absurd it is. The idea that Chess could… fall in love and with the Cape, of all people…"

"Dad, you're not in love with him. You're confused because of the perfume, that's all. I've been confused too, even without being subjected to some pheromone laced-"

"I know about your feelings for him, Jamie. I saw the proof of that last week, didn't I?"

"No, that wasn't me." It was the Jamie Fleming of another universe that had married Vince Faraday.

"It could have been, though. Thank heaven we weren't stuck there! How would I have explained sleeping with my son-in-law?"

"Ew! Dad!"

"My apologies. Anyhow, I won't tell him about your…confusion if you don't want me to.

"Look, I'm not trying to steal him from you or from Mrs. Faraday. I didn't ask to feel this way! I don't want to feel this way- whatever this is- not about him. But I'd be lying to myself if I blamed it on the perfume. And you might say I promised not to keep any more secrets from myself."

You wouldn't have been able to keep this from me, Peter. Although, I do wish you'd have kept this to yourself. Falling for the Cape, of all people? Alright, shagging him was one thing, but I should be disposing of a body right now.

Peter clenched his jaw. Chess was not going to kill Vince.

Vince now, is it? I suppose he wouldn't be as much fun dead, but you get my point. You're handling this poorly. If you'd just let me take over…

No.

Killjoy.

Author's Note: This chapter beta'd by IronAmerica. :)

By show of reviews, is there anyone reading this story that has not read "In-Laws"? There are references to that story here, as this is technically the sequel to that fic.

Well, go on. I'm not psychic. What did you think of the chapter?

Thank you, IronAmerica and Orwell, for reviewing!