Well what d'ya know? It's an update! I'd like you all to say thank you to Spring Break, 'kay?
And reviews, how I love them so! Many thanks go out to IronAmerica, XxDeathStarxX, and I Prefer Magneto for their reviews last chapter.
I do not own The Cape, or Trauma Team.
Second Chance: Chapter Three- Kozmo: Beginning
Little Rosalia tossed her body onto the opposite side of her bed and let out a whine. She had been having terrible nightmares for about a week. They were all different, but there were some alarming similarities.
Rose's dream most recently started up with her turning down a hallway in ARK. From the looks of it, she was heading for the lab in the basement area of the huge building. The doctors there were really nice, but she didn't like what they had to say about her health. The little blonde knew that she was sick. There was something living inside of her that was really bad, but her blood could be the cure to all diseases. The doctors took samples of her blood and ran numerous tests on them. Rosalia was worried that her blood would get the doctors, and even Mr. Fleming, sick.
As the eight-year-old padded into the lab, she came up on a mess of bodies toppled onto the floor. In a panic, the pig-tailed blonde rushed over to the body of her head doctor and made an effort to flip her over.
The doctor's raven hair stuck to the side of her face with the sticky blood that she vomited and coughed up. She murmured underneath her breath, which the child could barely hear.
Rosalia picked her head up and looked over at one of the other doctors, who had started to cough up blood himself. He tried to elevate his body but was too weak to keep anything but his head up. The little blonde watched as the male doctor began to bleed from his eyes and nose. Within a moment, his eyes were completely black. Before Rose could take another breath, his head crashed back down to the ground.
At that moment, the pig-tailed blonde couldn't think of anything. "What's going on?" she whispered to herself.
The little blonde hoped to God that Mr. Fleming could shed some light on things. She got up from the ground and hurried out of the room, her heartbeat pounding in her chest.
Rosalia got about halfway down the hall before she was stopped by the sound of her own voice. Her voice was hushed; it fluttered around the room with an eerie feeling that gave the blonde chills.
"Beginning…"
When the eight-year-old woke up from that particular nightmare, she had sweat beading at the crown of her head, practically hyperventilating.
Whatever that reoccurring dream meant, Rosalia knew that it couldn't be a very good thing.
-0-
In the outskirts of Palm City, Vince Faraday was still being his blockhead self. He came up with the genius idea to threaten an ARK trooper named Philips by hanging his body over a bridge above a busy roadway. The vigilante wanted nothing more than to get this little weasel to talk, that way, it would be easier for the both of them. However, Vince seemed to be irrational these days…
Orwell was listening in through the headset that she and her partner communicated through. She could also see him through her holographic monitor, which only got Vince into deeper water with the brunette.
The Cape, after being fed up with Philips, dropped him off the bridge. The ARK employee was lucky that a Mack truck had come by when it did. The trailer of the truck cushioning his fall averted Philips' impact with the ground.
The blogger fumed at this. Why was Vince so reckless? "I thought you just said that you were just going to talk to him!" she began.
"I didn't like what he had to say," Vince deadpanned, looking up into the camera that his partner hacked into. "Take me home now."
Orwell rolled her eyes. "Take Sycamore Boulevard for about a half mile; it should give you a straight shot to the hideout."
"Well, I can't just walk there, what if someone sees me?" Vince asked.
"Just who do you think you're friends with?" the blogger smirked smugly. "I'm blocking all camera activity from here to there. Hurry, though, there isn't much time."
The vigilante started to hurry down the road, his cape flowing behind him at the swift movements.
When Vince got back to the hideout that he and Orwell shared, he could tell that something was off. The lights began to blink repeatedly, as if the wiring just decided to give up out of random. Before he could go any further from the front entrance, the vigilante was grabbed by the neck of his cape.
Orwell stared back at him with an intense expression in place. Something told Vince that he needed to shut up and listen to his partner. She silently gestured with her head for him to follow her out of the hideout. The brunette had a bag in tow, but not much else.
"What the hell is going on?" The vigilante asked himself.
-0-
The blogger waited until they got to Trolley Park before saying much else. She looked like she had seen a ghost, or she had come close to the brink of death. Either way, all of this had given the Cape a sour feeling at the pit of his stomach. What could have happened in the ten minutes that it took him to get back to his partner's hideout?
Vince and Orwell approached Max before anyone else in the carnival. The vigilante caught him in one of his good moods, which was good for him.
-0-
"Hey, Max, can I bother you for a sec?" Vince asked nervously. His partner stayed close by him, not that the sandy blonde seemed to mind much.
The magician sat his glass of red wine down and quirked an eyebrow at his student. "What is it, Vincent?"
"I, uh, have a bit of a predicament on my hand," the vigilante began, revealing the petite brunette standing close behind him.
Max blinked and looked back down at his glass of wine. Did someone drug him? There was no way that Vince would be with a young girl like that. He was dedicated to getting back home, after all.
"This is my partner. She's been helping me with… well," Vince let out a light chuckle, "pretty much everything."
The magician looked to the brunette for confirmation. "And do you have a name, miss?"
"Julia," Orwell replied quickly, offering a hand out to the mentor. She had to come up with it fast. If anyone knew that her name was Jamie, she was as good as dead.
Max gently kissed the back of the nurse's hand. "Pleasure to meet you." He then looked back at Vince. "Vincent, what is this really about?"
"We need a place to stay, Max. It's only temporary. ARK found Julia's hideout and trashed it. Fleming is still working his ass off trying to find that Orwell guy and does everything in his power to search for him," Vince pleaded his eyes with the magician's.
Max sighed. "Fine. You'll have as long as you need."
The brunette nurse felt a sensation of relief wash over her. A moment or so later, she was guided out of the room. As they headed over to the other carnies to introduce them to Orwell, the vigilante gave her a quick hug, whatever the reason it was for was unknown. However, the blogger wasn't one to complain.
-0-
Peter Fleming sat at his desk and massaged his temples. He had just gotten off the phone with the team that had been looking for his daughter for years. What the head of the team had to say to the billionaire wasn't comforting. Initially, he thought that Jamie had fled to Europe. There were pictures gathered, as well as fingerprints, but Peter ruled that out entirely when he saw the images.
The CEO ran a tired hand across his face and drew out a sigh. He had been looking for his daughter for God knew how long, and it was starting to take a toll. Chess' comments weren't very reassuring either. As a matter of fact, his other half never had anything to say that wasn't condescending.
A little voice flooded into the room at that moment. The billionaire turned his chair around to see his adopted daughter standing in the doorway.
"You'll find her one day, Mr. Fleming," Rosalia tried again, this time with a little grin in place. "I think about finding big sis all of the time. We'll meet again, just like you and your daughter will!"
Peter sent a smile over to his adopted daughter. "Thank you, Rose. I do hope that you are right."
The little blonde beamed a smile and bobbed her head. She still had her nightmare fresh in her mind, but she tried to not let it get to her. After all, it was just a dream, right?
-0-
There were some things about the cape that Vince didn't know yet. He was aware of where it came from, and what is it capable of, but he didn't know the whole background to it. The cape had a dark side to it. Each of the wielders experienced some sort of darkness in them, but were able to tone it down for the most part.
The exception to this rule was Gregor Molotov. He was the most recent Kozmo and most likely the most dangerous and power hungry one, as well. Gregor committed numerous murders with that cape and was sent to prison for what he had done. Max thought that he would never have to deal with Gregor again; however, what he didn't know was that the convict escaped his Russian prison in hot pursuit for his cape.
-0-
The carnival was practicing for their next showing when Gregor decided to stop by. Vince and Orwell had pulled up chairs to act as an audience. Neither of them knew it when the convict entered the room.
Rollo was the first one to catch Gregor from the corner of his eye. "Hey! This is private property!"
Gregor just shrugged it off and headed for his mentor. At that point, all of the carnies, and Vince and his partner, stopped what they were doing to watch the scene unfold.
"Gregor Molotov," the magician prompted, surprised and a little frightened at the appearance of his incarcerated student.
"Max Malini," Gregor began with a wicked smirk. "You look great, Koz."
The rest of the group grew slightly dumbfounded when both men embraced. The look on Vince's face said everything that the others were thinking.
"I don't go by that name anymore. Around here I'm just Max," the magician replied as the hug was broken. "Now, what can I do for you?"
"You know why I'm here. I'm looking for my cape," Gregor spoke.
"I have no idea where that cape is Gregor. That thing has been missing for quite a while," Max lied coolly. There was no way he would give Vince up to this maniac.
"You promised me that cape, Max," the convict started, slowly losing his calm.
"I'll let you stay the night, but that's all that I can do," the magician spoke. Really that was all he would be willing to do. There was no way that an escaped prisoner would be welcome around in his home.
Orwell picked her head up and looked over at her partner. He was intently staring at the scene until he noticed her gaze on his. Their eyes met in that instant; this was going to be fun…
-0-
Vince knew that this Gregor guy was bad news. Even if he had been Max's student, nothing about him was settling in the very least bit. That night, Gregor had gone exploring around Trolley Park. The vigilante took it upon himself to keep an eye on the convict. He kept his hood up over his head and stuffed his hands deep inside the hoodie pockets. However, it didn't take long before Vince lost Gregor in a throng of pedestrians.
The vigilante knew it was a lost cause to try to meet up with Gregor. He just settled for walking about Trolley Park. He past a vendor with a bookshelf. While he didn't think that he would stop for anything, a particular thing caught his eye. It an issue of The Cape comic book. The framed cop grabbed a copy of it and paid the vendor before continuing on.
As Vince padded on, he came up to a back way for what looked like an abandoned, run down building. It didn't really phase the vigilante, though. He knew that he owed Orwell a new hideout. If it hadn't been for Philips calling for backup, ARK wouldn't have trashed his partner's place.
He snuck down into the window that led inside the building. Just as he expected, the place was run down. For now, it would just have to do. Besides, girls have the ability to bring any place back from the deep pits of Hell, right?
Vince flicked the lights on and inspected his surroundings. Yep. Orwell was going to kill him. The building was dark and almost cave like. There were so many different things scattered about that made it look like it was being used for storage. If his partner could make it seem like a home, he'd be surprised.
-0-
The next evening, Vince, Orwell and the carnival sat around at the dining table, much to everyone's dismay, with Gregor. There were three murders last night at Trolley Park and every cop cell in the vigilante's body pinpointed to Gregor. The convict didn't get back to the carnival until hours after Vince had on that night. Therefore, Vince had plenty of tick marks against Gregor.
Raia had cooked a feast fit for kings, as usual, and afterwards a bottle of alcohol was passed around for anyone that wanted it. Vince didn't take the opportunity to drink, mostly because he was ready to bust Gregor for murdering three people. And, the last time he checked, it wasn't easy to pin a bad guy if you were the drunk one.
"Are you not drinking?" Gregor countered the vigilante. Truth be told, he was the one to commit those murders. He spent his night playing a card game with three random guys, who he tried to get information from. Gregor did get his information, as a matter of fact. He found out that Vince had Max's cape and was using it for the good instead of the bad. When the goons were rendered useless, Gregor slit their throats with poker cards.
"No. It's my night to carry Rollo home," Vince deadpanned, looking over at the dwarf, who was chugging down the alcohol like nobody's business.
Gregor grew quiet once again. He had already shown off his over-flexibility, but there was something else that he could do to show off to the Carnival of Crime. He turned to Orwell and extended his hand out to hers.
"Palm readings were popular back home," Gregor inspected the blogger's palm closely, a smirk playing at his lips. "You've got a real live one here Max! Lots of attitude. Spoiled little rich girl, but not your ordinary princess." He looked at the brunette before him, "You've got real daddy issues. We both have something in common. We've both been in prison."
Orwell tried to snatch her hand away, but the convict tightened his grip. "I can't even tell who you are, because you don't even know yourself. But one thing's for sure, you are not Julia."
As Gregor released her hand, the nurse rolled her eyes and tucked her hand back under her chin. If he caused problems between Vince and herself, he'd be lucky to go back to prison alive.
The vigilante wasn't really sure if he believed Gregor, but he couldn't really throw it out the window, either. He barely knew anything about his partner. Vince stood up and began to pace around the table. Either way, Gregor wasn't getting away with his murders, not while Vince Faraday was still around.
"Three people were murdered in Trolley Park last night," the Cape began, his cop instincts kicking in again. "But you wanna know the strange thing about those murders?" He didn't get an answer, not that it would stop him anyway. "It was the murder weapon," Vince pulled a bloody card out of his hoodie pocket and approached Gregor with it.
"Funny right?" the vigilante grinned. "A card. So. Where were you last night, Gregor?"
"Might I ask you the same thing," the convict countered. He stared up at the sandy blonde's intense eyes and stood up soon after that. "You're a cop," Gregor concluded.
"And I put a hundred guys like you behind bars," Vince spat back.
"You gave my cape to a cop?" Gregor sent a glare back to his mentor.
"I gave it to no one!" Max corrected in annoyance.
"You're lying, Max! Just like you lied about prison! I know you're the one who sent me there…" the convict trailed off and turned back to Vince, "And you. You're just like me, with a badge. So save your soul, I've already lost mine."
"That ain't gonna happen," Vince began. In turn, all of the other carnies stood up in what was interpreted as a fighting stance. "The only place you're going is back to that Russian hell hole you crawled out of."
"I'll never go back there," Gregor growled before disappearing into a puff of smoke.
-0-
Gregor had one last request, and that was for revenge on Max. Just before their next show, he tied the magician up and threw him into a full tank of water. And just so no one else could get in the way, he tied up Rollo, Ruvi, and Raia and made an easy access for their tigers to attack them. Luckily, for Vince and Orwell, they hadn't been at the carnival during that time. When they did come back, though, they were well aware of what the convict was up to.
He had started up the show and made it seem like everything was a part of the show. The crowd went wild because of this, but the brunette and her partner knew better than that.
Vince went to free Max, and Orwell went to free Raia, Rollo, and Ruvi. The blogger was safe, but Vince was knocked down by Gregor. The villain then took the sandy blonde's cape and slipped it on.
Up until that point, the audience still thought that this was a part of the show. It hadn't been until Gregor hit the light fixture above him that everyone began to scramble.
When the audience left the Carnival of Crime screaming for their lives, Gregor grabbed a hold of Orwell and pulled her closer. The brunette instantly thought that she would need to take about ten baths just to get his grimy stench off her.
"When I read your palm, I left something out. There will be no one to miss you when you're gone," Gregor snarled into the nurse's ear.
In that instant, Vince threw a punch at the convict, sending him toppling to the floor. He took back his cape and began to strangle Gregor with it. The vigilante almost couldn't stop himself. His adrenaline was pumping and it took a great deal of an effort for him to stop. Vince was frustrated and tired; every day it looked like he was getting farther and farther away from getting home.
The vigilante ordered the carnies to take Gregor out of there. It didn't really matter where they took him. All that mattered was that the Russian convict was out of his sight.
-0-
Peter Fleming stared down at his daughter's old jewelry box. He opened it up and smiled at the melody that played while the little ballerina inside the box began to twirl around. Jamie used to love to go to her ballet lessons.
A sigh drew from the billionaire. Where in the world did it all go?
Oddly enough, back at Trolley Park, Orwell seemed to be just like the ballerina in Jamie Fleming's jewelry box. She twirled in mid air as she worked on perfecting an aerial silk dance that Raia taught her.
-0-
"Vince, if I bump into something, this is your entire fault," Orwell teased her partner as she was being led into their new hideout for the first time.
"Why would I let you bump into something?" the sandy blonde grinned. "You gotta have more faith in your partner, Orwell."
The blogger rolled her eyes. "Alright, Vince. I have faith in you." Not that she had a problem with her partner tucking his arm over her eyes, but still…
Vince chuckled. "Thanks." He took his arm away from the brunette's eyes and waited for her to inspect her surroundings.
"Where are we?" Orwell asked curiously.
"Home sweet home, believe it or not," the vigilante replied, grinning proudly.
The blogger began to pad around the perimeter. Her arms were folded across her chest with an intent expression in place. "Well, it could definitely use some TLC."
Vince sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "I had a feeling you would say that."
Orwell shrugged and threw a smile over her shoulder. "We'll work on it."
"It's the best thing that I could do. I was the stupid one who caused the ARK net to come by in the first place," the sandy blonde admitted.
The nurse passed her partner and patted him on the arm. "Good. And now you can let me have a decent night without you snoring up a storm."
Vince quirked an eyebrow as he watched the brunette. "You know that's nearly impossible."
"Oh no it's not. I'll get you one of those breathing apparatuses that keep you from snoring," Orwell began with a grin. When she noticed her partner's disbelieving expression, she continued with, "what? It'll work and I can finally work on my blog posts in peace."
The vigilante let out a chuckle. "Well, you'll be able to work on them in peace for a little while tonight, anyway. I'm going to see Trip again."
The brunette looked back at her partner worriedly. "Is everything alright?"
"He's getting into fights," Vince replied solemnly. "I wish I could be there for him, but…" he trailed off and ran a hand through his curly head of hair.
"Go on, Vince," Orwell spared him a tiny smile. "I'll be here when you get back if you still need to rant."
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