Louie stopped outside the door, taking a deep breath trying to draw up some courage. He dreaded walking through; knowing what was going to happen on the other side. But he also knew that there was no way around it either. Taking another steadying deep breath, he opened the door.

"Louie, hey there. Come over here." A voice seemingly emitting from the shadow of the room said. Devino Manselli, head of the Manselli crime family, a small but sometimes brutal crime family, sat in the dimly lit room flanked on either side of him by a bombshell. The edges of the room held his muscle which stood like stoic statues waiting to be called into action. Bulges could easily be seen sticking out from the men's jackets. Two other people played a game of pool on a table tucked away in the other corner of the room. All eyes seemed focused on him as he entered the room. Louie pushed the thought away as he approached the older man. "Hey, Devino."

"Why so serious, pal?" Devino smiled, his bright white teeth on full display. You have started on your path to riches. You did get it done, right?" His low voice grew deeper as he spoke.

"Not exactly." Louie avoided Devino's eyes.

Devino's eyes darkened, leaning forward his pale face accentuated by the light. "Do you not love your brother?"

"Of course I do." Louie said caught off guard.

"Obviously, you don't." Devino stated plainly leaning back in his seat. "Your brother comes to me; begging me to help you out. Said that he would vouch for you. Well, how could I say no to such brotherly love? I give you a simple task to do. Just stake out the location and find a good place to put some explosives. Don't you want to help me – us- get a piece of the big time? We have to show that we are able to play with the big boys. Taking down one of Chess's rivals will show we are ready to get a big piece of the pie. But, if you aren't up to the task…"

"It was The Cape." Louie said quickly trying to explain what happened.

"The Cape?" Devino raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Yeah, I was staking out the place, just like you told me, trying to find the best place. All of a sudden this kid shows up."

"A kid? " Devino cocked his head to the side slightly resting it in his palm. "I thought you said it was the Cape."

"Well, the kid hadn't been there long before The Cape showed up and started talking to him like he knew him."

"Maybe it was take your kid to work night." Devino laughed at his own joke.

"Good one, boss." Louie smiled, but quickly became serious as Devino's smile disappeared.

"While the Cape was talking to this kid, I thought this would be a good way for me to show you I belong, by taking down The Cape."

Devino's head titled back as a thunderous laugh escaped him. "Oh, that's a good one. Scales, Chess, nobody has hardly even laid a finger on this guy, and you," Devino gestured toward Louie. "And you are going to take him down on your first assignment. You are either really stupid or exceptionally lucky."

"I'm going with lucky, since I got a hit in."

"You actually had a fight with The Cape." Devino looked up and down Louie. Despite, a slightly dirty shirt nothing look off about his appearance. "You don't look like you've been in a fight."

"There was just one lick."

"Oh, so not only did you single handedly take down the Cape. You did it with one swing? Oh, this is getting good."

"While The Cape was distracted by talking to the kid, I snuck up and snagged him with a wrench."

"And he just stood there while you clubbed him?" Devino asked with a half smile.

"No."

"No?" Devino questioned.

Louie reached into his pocket, pulling out a small dart. "He tranquilized me as I was trying to hit him. I know I got him, but he was gone when I woke up."

Devino stared at the dart for a long moment. "Say that I actually believe you story, for argument's sake. You say The Cape acted like he knew this kid?"

"Yeah, said he told the kid that he didn't need to be out late and for him to get back home to his mom."

"You think you would recognize this kid if you saw him again?" Devino rubbed his chin contemplatively.

Louie nodded, seeing his exit of the situation.

"Good." Devino smiled, standing and putting an arm around Louie's shoulder. "Forgot about the explosives on the building, Louie. You are going to have an even bigger part in helping out to the big time."

Orwell wearily pulled back up in her car. She felt emotionally drained. She had no idea what must be going through Vince's head at the moment. The ride back with Tripp had been rather quiet. She wasn't going to push the kid to talk. She was certainly not the one to talk to when it came to family issues.

Yawning, she entered the shared common area and glanced over at Vince. Thankfully, he was asleep. She just wasn't sure if she would be able to have a good talk about at this time. She glanced over at her bed, her body wanted her to give in and lay down. She knew that there was something she had to take care of first before she could lay her head down.

Sun filtered in chasing the shadows away. The smell of coffee wafted through the air. Vince lay still in his bed desperately trying to cling to the dream he was having. He and his family were at the park having a picnic. Everyone was happy and laughing as the sun shone brightly down on them. The dream disappeared like a vapor and he hesitantly opened his eyes. He was then aware of the faint sound of someone typing on a keyboard and looked over to see Orwell busy at work.

He attempted to get up and involuntarily groaned in the process, the movement still causing his head to throb. He managed to get up and saw that the noise had caught Orwell's attention as she was now sitting in a nearby chair.

"So, how are you feeling?" She asked looking at him concerned.

"Like someone is playing a set of drums inside my head."

"Would you like some coffee?"

"Yeah, that would be great." Vince said looking very bleary eyed.

Orwell returned a moment later with a steaming cup. She handed it to him, sitting quietly for a moment.

He could feel her staring at him. "Go ahead and ask."

"How are you doing?"

Vince took a deep breath. "How'd it happened?"

Orwell took a moment. "I was working." She motioned toward the set of nearby computers and I heard something over your comm. Then there was silence. I kept calling your name, trying to get a response when there was suddenly a child's voice on the other end. He told me what had happened. I told him that I was your friend and was coming but I needed to know how badly you were hurt. The next thing I heard was him gasp and say "Dad." I knew that is was possible that he might remove your mask, but I felt knowing your medical condition was of the highest priority."

Vine took another deep breath. He felt torn inside. It had been wonderful to be able to see Tripp again, but he had stayed hidden for one reason. To protect his family. Now, in an instant all of that had possibly been put in jeopardy.

"Well, are you going to say anything?" Orwell asked hesitantly.

"I don't know what to do." Vince said slowly. "I just don't know what to do now. I have done all of this to try and protect them."

"You still can." Orwell looked him straight in the eye. "Let me show you what I have been working on."