No More Mystery

Disclaimer: If I owned "The Cape," the complete series would consist of a lot more DVDs.

The Public Defenders Office, A Few Days Later

Dana Faraday frowned, puzzling over the words she had overheard her son hurl at his ex-idol the other night. "'INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY' RING ANY BELLS? DAMN IT! YOU SHOULD HAVE STAYED!"

She hadn't been intentionally eavesdropping, but then, her son hadn't exactly kept his voice down. Honestly, that was no way to keep a conversation confidential. But what on earth did Trip mean? Since coming to trust the vigilante, she had assumed that he hid his identity for the same reasons all superheroes did, but now she wondered… What secret was he hiding? Had he, in fact, been in trouble with the law before donning the cape? Did he need a lawyer? If he did, surely he would have asked her for help! She'd have to ask him when she next saw him.

Dana glanced at the clock on her desk, and then jumped out of her chair, grabbed certain files and her bag, and headed out the door of her office. Damn. If she didn't hurry, she was going to be late for her meeting with one of Palm City's Assistant District Attorneys. She had some last-minute plea-bargaining to do before a client's case headed to trial.

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The Faraday Residence, That Evening

"Do you need a lawyer?" Dana asked, taking The Cape by surprise. As had become something of a routine, The Cape had come to call on Dana. Tonight, Trip was out with his friends, so they'd be able to talk without his glaring at the crime fighter, at least until the teen's curfew.

"What? What makes you think I need a lawyer?"

"Just, if you did, you know I would help. And you know you can talk to me. Whatever you told me would be covered by the attorney-client privilege-"

And what about the marital privilege? Vince bit his tongue to keep from saying that aloud. That's not how he wanted to tell Dana who he was. He cut her off as she began listing the exceptions to the attorney-client privilege, and the differences between the privilege and the duty of confidentiality.

"Dana! Why do you think that I need a lawyer?" Dana pursed her lips.

"Why was Trip shouting at you the other night?"

The Cape paused, his eyes widening.

"What do you mean, Dana? What did you hear?"

"Not much, but why is he angry with you?" Dana asked.

"He's mad at me for keeping something from you, and he's right. That's going to stop now."

"Keeping what from me? That you're married?" Dana joked. Her smile vanished when The Cape merely tensed, rather than laugh off the suggestion. "Oh my God, are you married?" Thankfully, The Cape raised his gloved hands, intent on putting her mind at ease.

"Dana, relax, it's not what you think! I have not committed adultery." Dana's eyes narrowed. Why did that sound like a lawyer-like response? Couldn't he have just said, 'no, I'm not married?'

"So what's going on?" She demanded. The Cape hesitated. That wasn't a good sign.

"Okay, you know how Trip told you that I told him that his father is still alive?" he finally began.

"Yes." Dana crossed her arms, and ignored the annoying little voice in her head that said hearsay! "Did you really tell him that? Because I can't say I approve. There was no reason to give him false hope. He needs to come to terms with the fact that his father is dead-and it's already been six years since he died!"

"Er, D-Dana, the thing about that is," The Cape began.

Is he stammering? He never stammers. Why is he so nervous? Dana wondered. Aloud, she asked, "What?"

"Okay, Dana, hypothetically," he continued. She frowned. What's with the use of a hypothetical? Don't tell me he's a law school professor by day. I wondered why he never complained when I started spouting legalese. "Hypothetically, suppose that Vince never actually died."

"WHAT?"

"Just humor me?" The Cape asked, apparently trying, and failing, to sound brave. Dana saw his eyes stray to the doorway to the kitchen for some reason.* "Suppose that Vince didn't die in that explosion, but allowed everyone to think he was dead, okay? What would you say?" Dana shuddered.

"What would I say?" she screeched. "Oh my God-you creep! Were you trying to tell me that you're not married, but I still am! That you've seduced the wife of the man who was supposedly your friend—"

"Dana, it's not like that! Okay, infidelity does not enter the equation here. At all. Now, please, humor me with the hypothetical?"

"Of course it wouldn't enter the equation. After five years of being missing, he'd have been presumed dead anyway, and I would've been able to remarry." Okay, Vince thought. Dana's in lawyer-mode. I can handle that, right? Dana looked up sharply.

"Are you saying that my husband would abandon me and my son? That he's been shirking his duties for the past six years, allowing me to raise Trip on my own…" Oh, that's not good. Why couldn't I talk Rollo or Orwell into coming with me as backup, I mean, for moral support?

"Supposing he had no choice—"

"There's always a choice," Dana interrupted.

"Oh really? Where was the choice when you're being framed, when you're being hunted down by the entire police force—"

"And what about later on? I'm supposed to believe he couldn't contact me or our son once over the years—"

"Saved by the bell," Vince joked, having heard the doorbell go off.

"Wait here," Dana instructed. "And after I see who is at the door, you're going to drop this 'hypothetical' bull, and give me some straight answers." Distracted, Dana forgot to look through the peep-hole before opening the door. She was not prepared for who she saw on the other side.

"Mr. Raoul?" The arms-dealer pushed his way passed Dana and into the apartment. The Cape rushed forwards. Vince had heard that Scales was recently released from Owl Island after his conviction for first degree murder had been overturned on appeal.

"What are you doing here, Scales?"

"What, a man can't come and say thanks to his public defender?" Vince looked at his wife.

"You didn't defend him, did you?"

"Of course I didn't!" Dana huffed. "One of my colleagues did."

"My mistake, then," Scales shrugged. Vince gestured for Dana to get behind him and, for once, she didn't argue with him.

"Why did they release you? You killed Marty!"

"Excuse me, I allegedly killed that copper."

"I WAS THERE!" Vince yelled.

"Course you were there; I was aiming for you," Scales replied. "And anyways, you never came to testify against me, did you?"

How could I have testified against you? Vince thought. In order to testify, I'd have to state my name for the record. Scales smirked, as if he'd read Vince's thoughts.

"So you got off on a technicality?" The Cape asked, his fists clenched.

"Actually," Dana spoke up from behind the hero, "his constitutional rights had been violated. After arresting him, the police questioned him without administering—"

"Dana, not now!" Vince turned back to Scales. "What are you really doing here?"

"Might ask the same of you, but I've figured that out, haven't I? An' all this time, you had us all thinkin' you were with Orwell, when the truth is, your heart's been right here, all along. It's obvious, really. You been showing up at the Faraday home too often, mate. Knew I'd find you here."

"And what? You thought you'd get my attention by threatening the Faradays?"

"Couldn't exactly invite you to tea when I tried to put bullet holes through your wrap last time we'd met."

"So you figured you'd finish the job now?"

"And be shipped straight back to the jailhouse? No, thank you. I'm here to make a deal. And," Scales continued before The Cape could object, "don't tell me you don't make deals with criminals. 'S common knowledge you've an understanding with the Carnival."

"Actually, I was going to say I don't make deals with dirty snakes, you cold-blooded son-of-a—" Vince was cut off as Scales punched him in the solar plexus.

"Your insults are about as creative now as they were six years ago," Scales said, as Vince recovered from the blow, a feat which was easier than it otherwise would have been, thanks to his suit. Before the former police officer could aim his cape at his foe's neck, the villain went on.

"That cop was a friend of yours, eh? Right. Remember who ordered that hit? Case you've forgotten, we've something in common. We've both been played by the same man: Chess." Vince jerked his head.

"I'm listening."

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It was all too surreal, Dana decided, after Scales had left, leaving her alone with The Cape. Dominic Raoul had been in her home, and instead of challenging the hero to a duel or trying to take her as a hostage, he'd come seeking a truce. Well, a temporary truce was more accurate. The two enemies were clearly itching to be at each other's throats, but in the meantime, they were united in their shared hatred of Chess, and they agreed to try to work together to bring him down.

The only thing more surreal, she figured, was that The Cape had suggested her husband was still alive. Speaking of which…

"Right, where were we? Oh, that's, right, you were telling me—"

"How much I love you," The Cape finished for her.

"Oh no you don't; you're not getting off the hook that easy."

"I wouldn't dream of it. I just want you to remember that I love you, okay?" Seeing her nod, Vince tried to steel himself for what he was about to do. He was still feeling conflicted. Wasn't the fact that Scales knew he'd be here tonight proof that he was putting Dana in danger by not letting her go? But then, it was too late to turn back now. If Dana was already in danger, it was just another reason she deserved to know everything.

"No more hypotheticals?" Dana asked.

"No more hypotheticals," Vince promised. "Here it goes: Dana, I know that Vince Faraday is still alive, because I am Vince Faraday." As he finished the sentence, he pulled off his mask in front of her.

"Vince? Oh my God!" Tears glimmered in the defense attorney's eyes. She wiped them away with the back of her hand, and then she slapped Vince.

"Ow! Dana!" He rubbed his hand over his cheek.

"You idiot! Why the hell didn't you tell me sooner?" she cried, as she launched herself into his arms, holding him tight to assure herself he was really there.

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"So what happens now?" Trip asked. He'd arrived home just before curfew to find his parents embracing on the couch; his father's mask and cape laid forgotten on the living room floor.

Dana sighed. Shouldn't everything be different? She had learned in the space of one evening that the husband she had mourned years ago hadn't been killed on live television after all, and, to top it off, was the same person she'd since fallen in love with. Her emotions were a complete mess. The deception hurt, but at the same time, she felt so relieved, so ecstatic…

She couldn't quite figure out whether she wanted to smash his head in (and claim it was justifiable), or ensconce him in her room and get him to promise to never, ever leave her again. No, as she gazed at him, she did know what she wanted to do. He might be an idiot, but he was her idiot. She wanted him to move back in with her and Trip. She wanted everything to go back to the way things had been before she woke up to a newscast claiming that her husband was Chess and was being cornered by ARK.

In short, she wanted what she couldn't have-at least, not yet.

She understood now why The Cape hated Chess with a passion that was almost unrivaled. She realized how devastating it must have been for Vince to see Marty killed right in front of him. Not only had he lost a friend, but he'd simultaneously lost any hope he might have had of having a fair trial were he to turn himself in-or be discovered.

All that had changed was that now she knew the truth, that, and they had acquired an unlikely ally in the form of Scales.

It was Vince who finally answered their son.

"We continue on as before."

"Not just the same as before?" Trip asked, frowning.

"We still have to keep the fact that Vince Faraday is alive a secret," Vince replied. "And it's dangerous for you to be seen with The Cape-"

"But, your father is going to find more time to spend with us, without the costume," Dana said firmly. Vince's lips thinned, but he said nothing. He knew better than to argue with his wife. Trip looked at his parents and smiled.

"Good to see you, Dad."

THE END

Author's Note: *Yes, Vince was looking to the kitchen because he was worried about Dana grabbing a skillet. This chapter was influenced by IronAmerica's ideas (I.e., Scales showing up).

Thank you to those who reviewed! And thank you to anyone else reading this story. So, what did you think? Not enough angst? Too cheesy? Anyone out-of-character? This was my first time writing Scales.

Let me borrow something I wrote in a different author's note: reader, you have the right to remain silent. I, in turn, have the right to interpret your silence in any way I want.

Don't Dana and Vince make a cute couple?

If, however, some of you also think that Peter and Vince make a great couple, please check out my current fic, "Black Bird; Green Arrow."