The World Begins Again
"Like I believe that," Vince replied, "but it doesn't matter. Even if you gave up being your alter-ego tomorrow, it wouldn't bring back the people you've killed-"
"They're not dead here," Fleming pointed out. Vince ignored him.
"-It wouldn't change the fact that someone has to bring you to justice and that someone's going to be me."
"And how is it going to be you if you return to that world?"
"Not if, when. I am going to go home. My family-my real family-is back there. And I'm not going back by myself. You're going with me."
Fleming huffed.
"Alright, the game wouldn't be fun if you weren't here to play it," Peter admitted. He didn't allow Faraday to interrupt him. "It is a game; you might as well accept it. Anyway, this is a moot point because neither of us has the foggiest idea of how to get back to our world."
"I believe I may be of some assistance."
The three men, caught off guard, spun to see the intruder. Scales, as head of Fleming's security, inwardly cursed his oversight. If he hadn't allowed himself to be distracted by what was apparently a family dispute (albeit one he didn't understand), this bloke would never have gotten into Fleming's home.
"How'd you get up 'ere?" he asked.
"It was surprisingly easy, Mr. Raoul, is it?"
"And you are?" Peter asked.
"Mr. Wells. If you'll permit me, I can explain to you the solution to your predicament."
VFVFVFVFVFVFVFVFVFV (Welcome back to canon) VFVFVFVFVFVFVF
Tempus was exiting the building where he'd set up his campaign office when he was assaulted. A cape wrapped itself around his throat, hoisting him in the air and up against the wall.
"So you're the son of a bitch that thinks he can play with people's lives," The Cape all but snarled. Tempus glanced over Vince's shoulder, and spied Chess, in all his glory. The contacts may have kept any emotion from showing in his eyes, but his arms were crossed across his chest. For perhaps the first time, he and the hero were on the same side.
"And you're definitely not the Vince Faraday I left in your cave this morning, so Herb must be around somewhere. What are you complaining about, anyway? That I left the two of you as in-laws? You should be happy; I could've dropped you in a universe where you were lovers," Tempus said.
Peter kept his expression carefully blank, though his face went a shade paler. Vince was more than startled. Feeling nauseous, he dropped his hold on Tempus.
"He's kidding, right?"
Tempus tried to take advantage of the hero's distraction to escape, but he didn't get far before someone kicked him in the knee. Looking down, he saw his attacker, Rollo.
"I took the liberty of bringing in the cavalry," said Wells, who was right behind Rollo. "It's over, Tempus. You're coming with me."
"There you are, Herb. I'm surprised you didn't bring the Boy Scout with you. Listen, there's something I wanted to ask you…" Tempus hardly put up a fight as he was guided into the time machine. Perhaps this was due to the sight of Rollo, who looked eager to lay his hands on him. Wells didn't get into the time machine right away. He wanted to see a couple of things taken care of, first.
"Vince, is that really you?" Orwell ran up to her partner and hugged him tight. "Thank god you're back! Wells already brought back the other you and the other…" she trailed off as she felt those eyes on her.
"Jamie?" Peter pulled his mask off and approached his daughter.
"I almost forgot you were here," Orwell replied.
"Can we talk?" Peter asked.
"I'd rather we didn't. Besides, you wouldn't remember it." Her father had definitely gone off the deep end. He was still wearing his Chess contacts and he honestly thought she would talk to him?
"What do you mean I wouldn't remember it?"
"Before bringing your counterparts back," Wells began, "we had them hypnotized so they wouldn't remember today's events."
Ruvi, Vince thought. How much did he and Rollo know about what had happened?
"I would have preferred to drop you off at the precise time Tempus kidnapped you, but Orwell convinced me hypnotism would be simpler. Now that you're back where you belong and Tempus is taken care of, you'll both have to be hypnotized, too."
"Wait, why the both of us?" Vince asked.
"You both learned things today that you weren't supposed to know," Wells explained. "You both found out that Orwell is Jamie Fleming and he discovered your secret identity."
"That's only fair. Faraday knows that I'm Chess."
"But you swore that you'd kill my family," Vince reminded him.
He has you there, Peter.
"You hypnotize him," Orwell said to Vince, "and then Ruvi will take care of you. Can you forgive me, Vince?"
"It hurts that you didn't tell me and now I'm going to forget! You'd better tell me soon."
"Sure, I'll just walk up to you and say, 'guess what, Vince? I'm Chess' daughter.' I'm sure you'd react so well to finding that out."
"I can handle it. You're not your father." Vince turned towards Fleming.
"Can I at least hug my daughter goodbye, first, considering I might never see her again?" They looked at Orwell. She hesitated, and then nodded. The next thing she knew, she was being embraced tightly.
"I love you, Jamie. Don't you ever forget that," Peter said, before stepping back and facing The Cape. "I'm ready."
PFPFPFPFPFPFPFPFPFPFPFPFPFPF
The next day an upper-level ARK employee knocked on the door to Fleming's office.
"Come in, Stoykova. Have a seat," Peter said as he continued to gaze out his window.
"You wanted to see me, Mr. Fleming?"
"Yes. You're to call off the search for my daughter."
"You've given up on finding her, sir?"
"You could say I had an epiphany last night. I'm not giving up. I've just realized that if she's going to return, she has to want to come back." The feeling of loneliness, of having lost his family weighed on him stronger than it had since she first left. Worse was this nagging sense of guilt, of feeling that this was his fault, which he couldn't shake.
"Yes, sir. Will there be anything else?"
"Yes. I am also cancelling the search for the blogger, Orwell."
"But sir-"
"It's a waste of time and resources. Those resources are going to be redirected to the search for The Cape. I want him found and brought to me-alive."
"Understood, Mr. Fleming."
"That will be all, Stoykova. You may go."
Peter finally sat down at his desk and opened up a file. Hmm, a woman who had done research funded by Luthor Corp. was recently released from prison and planning to set up shop in Palm City. Could be worth looking into.
AUAUAUAUAUAUAUAUAUAU
"Hello? Just a second," Jack handed the home phone to Dana. "It's for you."
"Hello? Yes, this is Dana Thompson. What's happened? You've got to be kidding me!"
"What is it?" Jack asked his fiancée.
"You remember when the Chief of Police busted the Carnival of Crime?"
"Right, why?"
"He bailed the ringleader, my client, Max Malini, out of prison last night. I better head to Trolley Park, make sure Malini's alright and remind him he can't skip town. Then I'm going to go over to ARK and find out what kind of game Faraday thinks he's playing. See you tonight!"
THE END
Author's Note: All good things must come to an end. Hope you found the conclusion satisfying. If, however, you thought the fic could have used some slash, please check out my current crossover, "Black Bird; Green Arrow."
Thanks to popular demand, you have AU!Dana's cameo.
Once more, a huge thank you to my reviewers! And thanks to all who read this story through the end.
